All too often, the “cheap eats” celebrated in New York City are obvious, crappy or too far out of the way to justify a trip. Or they’re not even that cheap. In this year’s Cheap Eats issue, we made sure to compile legitimately useful information about inexpensive edibles: Hungry reporters combed 11 of the city’s most heavily trafficked subway hubs—where vast numbers of people go to the office or to do business each day, people who are constantly seeking new options for low-priced sustenance—to find the best inexpensive breakfasts ($5 maximum per person), lunches (up to $10) and dinners ($17 and below). Because palates and needs vary, we singled out spots that provide vegetarian, healthy and “supercheap” dishes, and also identified “best bets,” marking an extra-special deal in each ’hood. It’s worth noting that much of the research never made it to print: For every stellar meal we enjoyed, there were several others we tasted and are trying to forget. Somebody had to do it.—James Oliver Cury, Eat Out editor

Choose a location:

• Chambers Street
• Union Square
• Penn Station
• Times Square
• Grand Central
• Columbus Circle
• Lexington Avenue and 59th Street
• West 125th Street
• 74th and Broadway, Jackson Heights, Queens
• Jay Street—Borough Hall, Downtown Brooklyn
• Atlantic Avenue—Pacific Street

Key: