Mala Beef Noodle Soup from Noodles & Dumplings by Peter Chang (Photo by Beth Furgurson)
Mala Beef Noodle Soup, $11, with Kung Pao Chicken Bao, $3, at Noodles & Dumplings by Peter Chang
11424 W. Broad St., 804-918-1352
Nearly everything on this spot’s freshly retooled menu fits the price guidelines, but an order of this hearty cauldron bubbling tender hunks of beef tendon and house-made noodles with cabbage and bok choy, when paired with a steamed bun half the size of your face, will leave you with at least one leftover meal. If it doesn’t, color me impressed. —Stephanie Breijo
Sunday Supper, $15 at Café Rustica
414 E. Main St., 804-225-8811
When it comes to date night, Sunday is the new Saturday. Three full-sized, seated courses for $15 means a dedicated eat-up, grown-and-sexy style. It’s a meal equally perfect for lesser-traveled pairings — Vegetarian? No worries, chilled borscht and butternut ravioli could be options — or more comforting choices (the pot roast rocks). A rotating menu, with dessert included, keeps things interesting. —Genevelyn Steele
Vegetarian Platter, $10.99 at Elsa Ethiopian Cafe
912 North Boulevard, 804-840-3843
You could walk right past this spot — but don’t. The vegetarian platter, with yellow split peas and red split lentils, carrots, green beans, cabbage, and greens packed with onion, is dauntingly colossal atop injera. (Kitfo, raw chopped beef beautifully spiced with mitmita, is equally large for $11.99.) With an ABC license forthcoming, add a brew for a bit less than $15 total. —Robey Martin
Pizza and beer at Arianna's (Photo by Maggie Pope)
Pizza and Beer, $15 at Arianna’s Grill
700 N. Sheppard St., 804-353-6002
The brick oven at Arianna’s is fired up for intensely crisp pizza. A margherita — fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, basil and Italian oregano — and any draft beer will only set you back $15. On Monday nights, there is cause for a mini-celebration: This pairing is only $8. So go ahead, add an extra topping for 50 cents. —RM
Moussaka, $11.99 at More Than Greek
8161 Atlee Road, 804-569-2190
That dense casserole of soft-baked eggplant and potato with a duo of meat and cream sauces arrives with warm pita bread and tomato-soaked green beans. Greek wedding cookies, snowdrifts of nuts and sugar, are $1.25 plain or $1.50 dipped in dark chocolate and made in house. —GS
Pasta with Black Olive Purée, $9, and Sautéed Endive, $6, at Bacchus
2 N. Meadow St., 804-355-9919
It’s hard to go wrong with any pasta at Bacchus, where penne or linguine arrives coated in garlic and olive oil and fills the plate — and you — to the brim. For a briny, deep and textured dinner, the black olive purée clings to al dente noodles for a comforting take on pasta alle olive. Add endive with garlic, dried cherries and almonds for a subtly bitter, wholly delectable side. —SB
Large Pho, $7, with Barbecued Pork Rice Paper Rolls, $3, at Pho Tay Do
6328 Rigsby Road, 804-288-3861
While I sometimes rotate my order of pho with eye-of-round steak, flank steak and soft tendon, I never skip the side of barbecued pork rice paper rolls. Create a meal trifecta with the pickled lemonade, $2.50, and slurp in bliss surrounded by some of the most endearingly strange décor in all of Richmond. Be warned: This Horsepen hideaway is cash-only. —SB
Transylvanian Sausage, $10.99 at European Taste
10604 Patterson Ave., 804-741-1638
On the menu, it’s called “Transylvanian Sausage,” but when owner Adrian Sava serves dinner, he cheerfully shouts “Mici!” (pronounced “meetsch”) as he lowers the four house-made links of beef and pork mixed with summer savory to the table. In the season’s heat, opt for vegetables or the French fries with spicy mustard as your side over the heartier mashed potatoes. He’ll still sing their praises. —GS
Jerusalem Maket & Deli owner Bilal Khatab and his son, Majd, 13, with a lamb kebab (Photo by Jay Paul)
Kefta Kebabs, $8.95 at Jerusalem Market & Deli
7226 Hull Street Road, 804-864-2728
Kefta, moored on basmati, hold a bevy of kebsa spices — cinnamon, cardamom, dried lime and a half dozen others — which season the mixed ground lamb and beef kebabs. Warmed knafeh, phyllo under sweet cheese, syrup and pistachios — a steal at $2.99 — and Egyptian coffee complete this Middle Eastern plate. —GS
Whole Chicken, $14.95 at Chicken Fiesta
2311 W. Broad St., 804-355-3136; 7648 Midlothian Turnpike, 804-320-1112; 7925 W. Broad St., 804-527-0009
If Chicken Fiesta were a poker hand, it’d be a royal flush. The spit-roasted charcoal chicken is my weeknight ace in the hole. A cool $14.95 nets an entire bird with two sides: black beans, rice, yucca fries, French fries, coleslaw, salad or tortillas. My strategy? Make the rice at home and double down on yucca with green sauce. It’ll feed a full house. —GS
