Decent restaurant down the street from me (my go-to when I don't want to cook or drive far), I expect to pay ~$12 for lunch and ~$20 for dinner. Except, I don't go there for dinner because I can get a better meal at lunch for cheaper. If I go there around dinner, I get an appetizer, a salad and an alcoholic drink. That tends to be around $15 (happy hour). Most places, I budget about $15-20 for dinner. I tend to go out for lunch more and I take advantage of happy hours when I want to go out around dinnertime.
Last month, I took a friend to a very nice restaurant with local, sustainable and organic/pesticide-free food. We had 2 entrees and one (alcoholic) drink. The total was just under $60.
I'm a vegetarian so that impacts prices. Usually, my meal is one of the cheapest on the menu.
You can go here to look at the US government per diem rates for different cities in the US. When I was traveling on per diem for the government, I found that their rates more than covered a day's worth of food. For example, the M&IE (meals and incidental expenses) rate for my area is $71. This breaks down to: Breakfast $12 Lunch $18 Dinner $36 IE $5 You can definitely eat here, even eating out every meal, for cheaper than $66 per day. If you never splurge, I'd say $40-$45 would be enough. Even when traveling, I don't eat out every meal though. I usually hit up a grocery store and buy fruit and muffins and cheeses to keep in my hotel room. Then I go out for lunch and eat leftovers/food from store for dinner.
Prices include tips
Last month, I took a friend to a very nice restaurant with local, sustainable and organic/pesticide-free food. We had 2 entrees and one (alcoholic) drink. The total was just under $60.
I'm a vegetarian so that impacts prices. Usually, my meal is one of the cheapest on the menu.
You can go here
to look at the US government per diem rates for different cities in the US. When I was traveling on per diem for the government, I found that their rates more than covered a day's worth of food. For example, the M&IE (meals and incidental expenses) rate for my area is $71. This breaks down to:
Breakfast $12
Lunch $18
Dinner $36
IE $5
You can definitely eat here, even eating out every meal, for cheaper than $66 per day. If you never splurge, I'd say $40-$45 would be enough. Even when traveling, I don't eat out every meal though. I usually hit up a grocery store and buy fruit and muffins and cheeses to keep in my hotel room. Then I go out for lunch and eat leftovers/food from store for dinner.