How To Eat Cheap

APOPULAR THEORY AMONG DALLAS diners is that there are only two types of restaurants in the city. Type A comes equipped with a staff whose ethnic makeup closely resembles the General Assembly of the United Nations. The primary function of the waiter is to translate the menu for you and occasionally offer a condescending “Very good, sir” when you make your selection. And the tab at such places frequently requires a third lien.

Then there is Type B, the restaurant that comes under the basic heading of “Greasy Spoon.” Here, the proprietor takes unabashed pride in the fact that the specialty of the house will cause the diner to spend as much on Pepto-Bismol as he spent on his meal.

People usually equate quality with price in just about every consumer item, including a good meal. That’s why Dallas seems to have a growing number of dining establishments in which the lights are low. the prices are high, and the headwaiter sounds like Maurice Chevalier (even though he may in fact be from Garland).

Actually, of the almost 4000 restaurants listed in Dallas’ Yellow Pages, there are less than 100 Type A’s and a thousand Type B’s.

This leaves a vast middle ground virtually uncharted. The refreshing aspect of that is that there are dozens of little-publicized retreats throughout Dallas that might be short on amenities and atmosphere, but would easily capture the heart of Boston food critic Robert Nadeau, who insists, “All I want to know is what is on the plate.”

The key, of course, is to determine which among these nameless legions are the discoveries and which are the dogs. To make that process easier for you, we sent our staff of food reviewers out into the city in search of that vanishing American phenomenon, the cheap meal.

The results of our search were encouraging. It has been our experience over the years that when visiting a new haute cuisine restaurant, the chances that the food will be good are one in four. As we began to sample an almost infinite assemblage of foodstuffs that had been chicken-fried, stir-fried, or refried, we made an amazing discovery. The chance of getting a good meal at an inexpensive Dallas restaurant is about the same one in four you’d encounter at a continental establishment. The major difference is that the check at the continental restaurant will be about four times higher.

Most of the cheap-eats emporiums maintain the same general characteristics. Often they don’t have a liquor license or a maitre d’, and if you try to pay for a meal with a check or a credit card, they’ll probably call the sheriff. And, these places maintain a limited but loyal clientele that hopes the owner doesn’t wake up to the fact that this is 1981 and triple his prices.

Naturally, there are exceptions. We found the classiest fast-food you’ll ever want at Dalt’s in Addison (which takes credit cards and serves up some of the tastiest mixed drinks in town). And Café Cancun, the loveliest Mexican restaurant in town, offers a splendid $3.45 lunch special (minus the classic grease-covered walls that adorn many of the more economical lunchrooms).

The majority of these cheap eateries, however, are characterized by aqua, pink, or orange vinyl booths attended by waitresses named Charlene (which means they’ve still got a firm link to the Texas heritage that some nouvelle Dallasites have never experienced or are trying to forget). What they offer is more than just a meal, it is an experience in down-home culture. And the fact that you have to consult a Mapsco to locate them has to be regarded as a definite plus unless you’re the type of diner who likes to wait in lines.

The cheap eats restaurants fall into a wide range of ethnic categories, but whether the highlight of the menu is an enchilada, an egg roll, or that maximum embodiment of American know-how and ingenuity, the cheeseburger, the quality is there, and it’s consistent.

These are locations, in other words, at which you pay your money and you don’t necessarily take your chances. What follows is the poor boy’s handbook of epicurean delights – 44 fabulous locations that rate four stars on the Cheapskate’s Roll of Honor.

1. Taqueria Mexicana. $2.52 for three soft tacos and one tamale. Soft tacos are the find here. The woman behind the counter chops the marinated meat of your choice (pork in spicy sauce is terrific), places it in chewy, fresh corn tortillas (flour tortillas are also available), and sprinkles chopped onion and fresh cilantro on top. At 55￠ each, you can’t find a better bargain in or outside Mexico, and it doesn’t take much imagination to pretend you’re actually south of the border. The jukebox is stocked with Mexican recordings, the majority of the clientele is Spanish-speaking, and the surrounding neighborhood is still somewhat like a barrio. 1731 Greenville. 821-3561. Tue-Thur 9 am I pm, Fri & Sat 9 am-midnight, Sun 9 am-4 pm, closed Mon. No credit cards.

2. Bell’s Better Burgers. $4 for special of the day with egg roll and fried wonton. The daily Chinese specials at Bell’s are so addictive that we’ve never been able to bring ourselves to try the burgers, despite the implications of the restaurant’s title. The sweet and sour pork, for instance (available on Wednesdays and Saturdays), consists of tender pork and is surrounded by fresh, crunchy, sautéed vegetables (carrots, green peppers, red cabbage, and onions). Oddly enough, the sweet and sour pork arrives without the most obvious staple: rice. However, you do get a large, meaty, and crunchy egg roll. Quite simply, this is straightforward, unsubtle food that is irresistible. 913 Ross. 741-0316. Mon-Fri 6:30 am-3 pm, Sat 6:30 am-2 pm, closed Sun. No credit cards.

3. Szechuan. $2.50 to $3.50 for lunch specials. As far as we know, this is the only Chinese restaurant in town with lunch specials available Monday through Saturday in-stead of the standard Monday to Friday availability. Szechuan also has 22 lunch specials, and that’s considerably more than any other place we’ve tried. Two reliable choices are diced chicken with cashew nuts ($3.25), or, for spicier tastes, shredded pork Szechuan style. The restaurant’s decor consists of the usual motifs that someone somewhere must have officially proclaimed “Chinese” – you know, the five-sided Chinese silk-screened lanterns hanging from the ceiling offset by red-flocked embellishment on the walls. 4117 Lemmon near Douglas. 521-6981. Lunch specials: Mon-Sat 11:30 am-3 pm. Sun-Thur 11:30 am-10:30 pm, Fri & Sat till 11:30. MC, V, AE, DC.

4. S & D Oyster Company. $3.75 for an oyster loaf sandwich. One of the best sandwiches in town (the others are at Schlotzky’s and St. Martin’s): fried oysters with catsup and tartar sauce in French bread. The sum is definitely greater than the individual components. The reward for persevering in the loathsome waiting line is that the dining area is quite cheerful and pleasant. 2701 McKinney. 823-6350. Mon-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri & Sat till 11 pm, closed Sun. MC, V.

5. Escondido. $3.25 for a #4 com- bination dinner. Escondido is so dark and cave-like that you can barely see your hand in front of your face, much less the food on the plate. It is cool, however, which makes it a special pleasure to visit on a sweltering day. (It outdoes Herrera and Guadalajara on the disreputable-looking scale.) The sour cream beef enchiladas are the ticket here, accompanied by exemplary rice and beans. The important thing to remember is that you want the Butler Escondido, not the Maple location, which serves food that is as disreputable as the Butler one looks. 2210 Butler. 631-9912. Mon-Sat 11 am-2 pm & 5-9 pm. No credit cards.

6. Highland Park Cafeteria. $2.90 for a chicken thigh, biscuit, green salad, green beans, and zucchini muffin. HPC is a state-of-the-art cafeteria, with a rare emphasis on freshness. We can think of no better place to have the proverbial “balanced” meal of which Mom would most certainly approve. Start with a fresh green salad, followed by a perfectly fried chicken thigh, a biscuit, fresh green beans, and a zucchini muffin for dessert. 4611 Cole. 526-3801. Mon-Sat 11 am-8 pm, closed Sun. No credit cards. Two new locations we haven’t tried: in Addison at Sakowitz Village on Dallas Parkway, and in Las Colinas at 225 E. Carpenter Frwy.

7. Gennie’s Bishop Grill. $3.25 for a main dish and three vegetables. Chicken-fried steak is Gennie’s raison d’ìtre. It’s always on the changing-daily menu served in the original way that has been transformed by less conscientious restaurants into a pre-fab version that costs several dollars more. Gennie’s chicken-fried is tender and flavorful, if small; the gravy is creamy and fine. The vegetables are generally good; we especially like the corn and black-eyed peas. Banana pudding is exactly what you don’t need but might want for dessert. Other en-trées are standard cafeteria fare: all-purpose fish, macaroni and cheese. An Oak Cliff institution handy for downtown workers on the Reunion Tower end of downtown. 308 N. Bishop. 946-1752. Mon-Fri 11 am-2:30 pm. No credit cards.

8. Schlotzky’s. $2.49 for Schlotzky’s sandwich. Schlotzky’s is a Texas-based chain, serving sandwiches with what sounds like typical submarine sandwich ingredients. What separates Schlotzky’s from the legion of mediocre purveyors of mediocre sandwiches is the almost Frisbee-sized fresh, chewy bread that encases everything. The standard sandwich is composed of salami, ham, lunch meat, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, olives, onions, lettuce, and mustard. Variations – all ham, all cheese, and so forth -are possible. 14 locations.

9. Cafe Cancun. $3.45 for lunch specials. Unlike most cheap eating places (whose surroundings could be charitably described as funky), Café Cancun’s peach-hued tropical decor is as bright and appealing as the food. Most of the entrees fall within our $5 limit, if barely, but the lunch specials offer the best possible way to sample the varied delights of the menu. Margarite’s Reward, our favorite, is a cup of soup (Mexican vegetable, mushroom, and creamy corn are frequent options), a marinated pork taco, and a tostada topped with black beans, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and sour cream. 4131 Lomo Alto. 559-4011. Lunch specials: Mon-Fri 11-2. Mon-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri 11-11, Sat 5-11 pm, Sun 5-10 pm. MC, AE, V, DC.

10. HIGHLAND PARK PHARMACY. $3.40 for a ham and cheese sandwich with vanilla shake. The drugstore and soda fountain have a Norman Rock-well’s America look, but the time-warp illusion is shattered by the very Eighties, preppily attired high school girls who work behind the counter. The food is not really that exceptional, but the dining experience is so nostalgically pleasant that it will take you back to the days before the atom bomb-even if you weren’t around back then. The ham and cheese is grilled and comes with lettuce and tomato. The vanilla shake is a perfect accompaniment. 3229 Knox. 521-2126. Mon-Sat 8-8, closed Sun.

11. BAR TEJAS. $4.45 for fried ravioli marinara and lentil soup. Thebest bar food imaginable. Ourfavorite combination here is thefried ravioli stuffed with ricottacheese ($2.95) to accompany the superb Lebanese-style lentil soup ($1.50). The jukebox is easily as eclectic as that at the Eight-O; the atmosphere, in contrast, is low-key and soothing enough to encourage leisurely munching. 2100 Greenville. 828-2131. Daily 11 am-2 am. No credit cards.

12. Little Gus’. $1.65 for a burger. A neighborhood breakfast and burger place, Little Gus’ serves a classic of the greaseburger genre-the meat is thin, gray, and tasty. The fries are overcooked, even though homemade. After five, Little Gus’ stops serving burgers and serves only Greek food. We suggest you make it there by five; our experiences with the Greek entrees have been lousy. 1916 Greenville. 826-4910. Mon-Sat 8 am-9 pm, Sun 9-2. Burgers available till 5. No credit cards.

13. Eight-O Bar. $2.35 for a black-eyed pea sandwich. What the Eight-O is best known for is its studied New Wave appearance. It is nifty looking, with lavender walls, shiny black tile, and an incomparable jukebox. But the characteristic of the place that should be filed away for future reference is that it is open and serves food 365 days a year, even if the atmosphere is too frenetic to thoroughly enjoy your meal. The menu is self-consciously imaginative, but on the whole it works. You can get a good burger with a quarter-pound of ground sirloin on a poppy-seed bun. But the most unusual choice is the black-eyed pea sandwich on cornbread with a slice of red onion. The Quadrangle, 2800 Routh. 741-0817. Mon-Sat 11:30 am-2 am, Sun 11:30 am-mid-night. MC, V, AE.

14. ROSEMARIE’S. $3.25 for a main dish and three vegetables. The menu may seem remarkably similar to Gennie’s Bishop Grill, and that’s because Rosemarie’s is under the same management. Both restaurants serve chicken-fried steak daily, but other entrées are rotated between locations. If you don’t like what they have at Gennie’s one day, go over to Rosemarie’s. There is a bit of a wait, as a rule. 1411 N. Zang. 946-4142. Mon-Fri 6-9 am, 11-2 pm. No credit cards.

15. RANEY’S CHICK-N-BEEF. $3 for a sliced beef sandwich and fries. $3.45 for barbecued white-meat chicken with two vegetables. It’s not Sonny Bryan’s, but it’s very good in its own right, and is a convenient barbecue-lover’s haven for North Dallasites. The surroundings are typical Texana: a barbed-wire collection, lacquered-log handrails and posts, and a blue-light bug zapper. Most customers carry out and then acquire their own beer since it’s not available here. Two tips: Be sure to have the skins-on French fries, and try a half-and-half mix of the hot and mild sauce: Even the most macho will choke on the hot. Northern end of Meadow Central Mall at Meadow Road and N. Central Expwy. 369-4777. Mon-Thur 11 am-8 pm, Fri 11 am-7 pm, Sat 11:30-4 pm, closed Sun. No credit cards.

16. Rose’s. $2.70 for a burger. Talk about no frills -you can’t even get fries here. You have two choices -a hamburger or a cheeseburger. The charm of this particular greaseburger is that it is large, so large that the meat hangs out the sides of the bun. Against heavy competition, Rose’s wins the strangest-ambiance award. The place looks like an abandoned warehouse on the outside and a movie set for The Last Picture Show on the inside. Greenville near Yale. No phone. Mon-Fri approximately 11 am-2 pm. No credit cards.

17. Marvins Garden. $3.25 for Swiss cheese sandwich (loaded with bean sprouts and tomatoes) served on rye toast with corn chips. Sixties throwbacks who seemingly have evaded the past two decades are among those who frequent this natural foods nirvana. You won’t recognize the jazzed-up Swiss cheese sandwich served on natural-grain rye toast. And, for an additional 35￠ you can have a refillable glass of red zinger iced tea, or, for 75￠, a refreshing serving of homemade rice pudding. The surroundings border on the communal (there are only nine tables), so sit back and enjoy the view; you can watch the cook in the open kitchen in the corner. 6033 Oram at Skill-man. 824-5841. Lunch: Mon-Sat 11-2:30 pm; Dinner: Sun-Fri 5:30-11 pm, Sat 11-11. MC, V, DC.

18. The Mecca. $1.75 for two eggs with hash browns or grits, and biscuits or toast. The Mecca is not exceptionally cheap as coffee shop food goes, but the biscuits served with breakfast are so light and addictive they would be cheap even at twice the price. The rest of the menu is uneven, ranging from terrific homemade soups and hot rolls and corn muffins to obviously prefab chicken-fried steak and instant mashed potatoes. The atmosphere and service are unusually cheerful. 10422 Harry Hines. 352-0051. Mon-Fri 5:30 am-3 pm, Sat 5:30 am-2 pm, closed Sun. MC, V, AE, DC.

19. St. Martin’s. $4 for a ham and Swiss sandwich. Smaller and more quiet than most wine bars, St. Martin’s also serves better food than most places of its ilk. Most of the menu is over the $5 limit (lunch specials tend to be $5.50 or $5.95). What is always within cheap eating limits is the ham and Swiss sandwich, a highbrow classic (as opposed to Highland Park Pharmacy’s lowbrow classic) of good French bread, buttered and with plenty of thinly sliced ham and cheese. St. Martin’s is, additionally, an excellent and interesting place to overhear choreographers talking about dance, painters describing their latest absorbing piece of work, and writers talking about, well, just the same old thing. 3020 Greenville. 826-0940. Mon 5-11 pm, Tue-Thur 11-11, Fri & Sat 11 am-1 am, Sun 5-11 pm. AE, MC, V.

20. Texas Roadhouse. $3.80 for a burger and fries. Texas Roadhouse is a bar/res- taurant on Greenville Ave-nue that belies its formula Texas-Schlock-singles-bar appearance and serves surprisingly good food. The burger ($2.85) is one of the leanest in town and cooked medium rare, and the fries (95￠) are homemade and not in the least bit greasy. 5111 Greenville. 691-8299. Daily 11-11. MC, V, AE.

21. Siam. $4.15 for lunch special and wonton soup. This small Thai restaurant has Dallas’ best Oriental food, if you know what to order and you order it on a good day. Fortunately, two of the best dishes here, gang ped (a rosy chicken curry with coconut milk, bamboo shoots, and fresh mint) and pud thai (rice.noodles sautéed with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, ground peanuts, and dried pepper) are available at lunch for $3.50. Add a cup of the flavorful wonton soup for 65￠, and you’ll have a lunch to remember. Bonus: At lunch, beer is only 70￠. 1730 W. Mockingbird near Harry Hines. 631-5482. Lunch specials: Mon-Fri 11-2. Mon-Sat 11-11, closed Sun. MC, V.

22. India House. $3.95 for lunch buffet. With the opening of Sahib, India House is no longer the only good place in Dallas to eat Indian food. It is, however, the cheapest. For $3.95, you serve yourself chicken tandoori, three curries (meat, lentil, and vegetable), saffron rice with peas, and fresh naan bread baked in the on-premises clay oven. It should be quite apparent that this is not the place to come if you want a light meal. 5422 E. Mockingbird. 823-1000. Lunch buffet Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30, lunch but no buffet on Sat & Sun, Sun-Thur 5-10 pm, Fri & Sat till 11. All credit cards.

23. Kinkadd’s. $1.95 for a burger. Possibly the best grease- burgers in Texas are served in this grocery-cum-hamburger stand. If you want seating or fountain soft drinks, you’re out of luck. But if you want a supreme burger, this is the place. The meat is thicker than most greaseburgers, and is on a grilled bun. 4901 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth. (817) 732-2881. Mon-Sat 10 am-6:15 pm, closed Sun. No credit cards.

24. Guadalajara. $2.75 and $3.50 for lunch specials. This is one of the few restau- rants in Dallas where punk-rockers, disco enthusiasts, Mexican aliens, cowboys, and debutantes can meet, and the best time to go is usually right after bars close at 2 am. But devotees of Guadalajara’s funky-chic charms for post-revelry Tex-Mex after midnight may be surprised to know it has lunch specials that are even cheaper. The same caveat applies: Stick to the mainstream enchiladas, tamales, and taco combinations. The more expensive dishes like came asada are bad bets. We’re particularly partial to the #9 lunch special: two chicken enchiladas with mole sauce and rice. 3308 Ross. 823-9340. Lunch specials: Tue-Fri 11-2, Tue-Sun 11 am-3:30 am, closed Mon. No credit cards.

25. August Moon. $3.25 to $4.50 for lunch specials. Like many Chinese restaurants, only the lunch specials fall in the under-$5 category. But what makes August Moon’s specials special are the surroundings (more comfortable than your typical paper-lantern-and-plastic-pagoda Chinese restaurant decor) and the generosity of the portions. It would take a pair of five-foot foo dogs to finish the top-end (4.50) happy family lunch special (beef, pork, chicken, scallops, and Chinese greens served with orange-flavored Chinese fried chicken wings). Lunches come with soup of the day (including an exceptionally flavorful egg drop) and rice. Preston at Belt Line. 385-7227. Mon-Fri 11 am-10:30 pm, Sat 5-11 pm, Sun noon-10:30 pm; lunch special served Mon-Fri 11-2. Bar by membership. MC, V, AE, DC.

26. KELLER’S. $1.05 for a burger. Had American Graffiti not been such a smash success, we wonder whether Keller’s would be the hot spot it is today. Granted, Keller’s really does have halter-topped carhops who pop their gum and still wear frosty blue eyeshadow, and even on a sweltering 98 degree summer day, Keller’s is crowded with row upon row of windowless parked cars, from ’55 T-birds to ’81 Cadillac Sevilles. The burger only costs $1.05, but with the exception of a splattering of poppy seeds on the buns, we noted little difference between the Keller’s burger and the McDonald’s version-the miniscule meat patty in both burgers disappears once encapsuled between the two hefty buns. But it is much more entertaining to gaze out into the chaotic conglomeration that is Keller’s clientele. 6537 E. Northwest Hwy. 368-1209. Daily 10 am-midnight. No credit cards.

27. PEPPINO’S Too. $6 for a large pizza (for two). Pep- 27pino’s Too will never be competition for La Tosca or Mario’s. What this place is great for is feeding kids exactly the kind of pizza they like best: thin and soft crust topped with bland ingredients. The incentive for adults is that Peppino’s serves mixed drinks and good stuffed mushrooms. The pasta entrees are priced right, but the cannelloni we tried was so-so, and the spaghetti with meat sauce and mushrooms is best forgotten. Service here is outstanding. 3326 N. Fitzhugh. 521-4560. Tue-Sun 5:30-10:30 pm.

28. Rudy’s. $1 for a mariachi. If you work downtown, you’ll want to start picking up an occasional breakfast at Rudy’s when you’re in one of those everything-in-my-life-is-dull moods. A mariachi will snap you right out of the cheese danish doldrums. It’s a flour tortilla filled with a mixture of chorizo (Mexican sausage), scrambled eggs, and potato with chopped lettuce and tomato and hot sauce on the side. What you want to do is open your mariachi, distribute the lettuce, tomato, and hot sauce, and then securely wrap the whole thing up. A great form of fast food for those of the hot and spicy persuasion. Rudy’s menu is otherwise completely undistinguished. Maria-chis are served 7-10 am. Underground Thanks-Giving Square, Ervay and Pacific. 741-2595. No credit cards.

29. Kosta’s. $3.50 for a gyros sandwich. Kosta’s, a relatively new spot on the Dallas eating scene, offers Greek . cuisine to diners with champagne tastes stuck on beer budgets. The daily specials at lunch include a hot entree, soup or salad, vegetable or potato, all in the $4 range. Even the sandwiches come with soup and homemade fries. We sampled the avgolemono soup, chicken broth laced with egg and lemon. The pastitio followed, a traditional mountain of macaroni and ground lamb casserole topped with a square of baked ricotta cheese. Green peas, mushrooms, and pimentos keep the casserole company. Don’t miss the gyros sandwich wedged into a pocket of pita bread. Two sauces serve as a foil for the unusually lean lamb: a sour cream sauce light and fresh with a hint of dill and onion, and a red-hot sauce, as fiery as any picante. Greek olives dress up the $3.50 plate. And the stellar view of Bachman Lake is free. 2747 Bachman. 351-4592. Mon-Thur 11-11, Fri & Sat till midnight, closed Sun.

30. Las Columnas. $4.75 for the weekday lunch buffet. Las Columnas, the con- tinental restaurant tucked into a back corner of the Marriott Hotel on Stemmons, offers a fine buffet repast for a sterling price. Start with soup, which changes daily; our New England clam chowder was full of satiny clams and mercifully short on potatoes. Take two hands to the salad bar, stocked with the traditional greenery, then come back to the carving board of fresh baked ham and a side of beef ready for a sassy barbecue sauce. You can’t afford dessert on the $5 budget, but there’s so much food you shouldn’t have room. We would venture few who live in Dallas have set foot in this place, it is always packed with polyester-suited conventioneers in cowboy attire. 2101 Stemmons Frwy. Weekdays 11:30 am-2 pm, 6-10 pm. Sat & Sun 6-10 pm. AE, V, DC, MC.

31. BO BO CHINA. $2.99 for lunch specials. With an order of chicken chow mein or sweet and sour pork, you get an egg roll, a fried wonton, wonton soup, and fried rice. The only problem is that you’re missing the highlights of the menu that way. You can compose a perfect light meal ($5.90 for two) by sharing the extraordinary sizzling rice soup (chicken broth with shrimp, chicken, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and sizzling rice crust) and an order of pot stickers, fragrant Chinese fried “ravioli” with pork filling. 10630 Church Rd. at LBJ Frwy. 349-2411. Lunch: Tue-Sat 11-2:30, Dinner: Sun & Tue-Thur 11 am-10 pm, Fri & Sat till 11. MC, V.

32. HERRERA. $3.75 for Mexican Dinner No. 1. Only one item – carne asada-on Herrera’s menu is over $5. The way you recognize where on Maple Avenue Herrera is located is to look for the line of casually dressed people snaking into what appears to be a shack ready for condemnation. Upon gaining a table, you will be immediately rewarded by truly great tostadas and hot sauce. We like the basic Mexican Dinner No. 1 – an enchilada, tamale, beef taco, tostada com-puesta, chile con carne, rice, and beans. This is as satisfying as Tex-Mex gets. If only the cheese were not the standard greasy day-glow cheddar, it would be perfect. Bring your own beer. 3902 Maple Ave. 526-9427. Mon, Wed & Thur 9 am-8 pm, Fri-Sun till 10, closed Tue. No credit cards.

33. Tandy Edition. $3.39 for a fried catfish lunch with French fries, coleslaw, and hush puppies. Bill Martin did downtown Fort Worth a big favor when he opened this place to go with his Second, Third, and Fourth Editions in other parts of town. Martin became famous in this area years ago as a master purveyor of fried fish with his Zuider Zee restaurants. In the mid-Sixties, he sold to a national chain, which turned Zuider Zee into a national disaster. But Martin is again serving delicious fried fish. Evening diners will find the prices slightly higher, but the fish is stacked higher, too. 201 Throckmorton, Fort Worth. (817) 336-2667. Mon-Sat 11 am-7 pm. AE, V, DC.

34. BURGER AND SHAKE. $1 for a burger. Burger and Shake has bounced around down-town Fort Worth for several years fleeing from the onslaught of new development. Loyalists would follow it anywhere for the marvel-ously simple burgers with mustard, pickles, and onions; they’re served wrapped in paper and steaming hot, and most diners finish them before they are cool enough to start eating. Breakfast is another winner: two eggs cooked to order, four strips of bacon, toast, jelly, and coffee for $1.80. 207-A W. 7th. (817) 336-7520. Mon-Fri 6:30 am-3:30 pm. No credit cards.

35. NATURAL EATS. $2.19 for a mushroom rarebit sandwich. Natural Eats provides one healthy, leafy, green respite in a sea of how-to-eat-cheap grease. The premises are clean, airy, and plant-filled. The menu offers an assortment of sandwiches in pocket bread that are quite good, but the salads would be better if they were based upon something other than iceberg lettuce. Six locations.

36. D & D. $3.75 for a chicken-fried steak dinner. Red and white neon lights on the ceiling, fake wood paneling on the walls, jukeboxes at every table with only country/western oldies, and waitresses who could easily be Alice extras. All the food is made to order, so plan to wait at least 20 minutes if you decide to order the half a fried spring chicken dinner ($3). You’ll get three times as much chicken as coating, and it comes with a mountain of fries, peppery cream gravy, and Texas toast. The chicken-fried steak dinner was equally as satisfying; the pinto beans were spicy and good, the coleslaw chunky and flavorful, and the fries hot but not greasy. 2735 Samuell, (off RL Thornton). 827-1148. Mon-Sat 6 am-8:45 pm, closed Sun. No credit cards.

37. McCullough’s. $2.30 for lunch special. If this is Tues- day, this must be chicken- fried steak. Wednesday it’s pot roast and so on with a different meat specialty every day of the week at McCullough’s, downtown Fort Worth’s gift to nutrition-minded, cheapskate diners. Lunch includes meat, three vegetables, cornbread, and butter. Dining at this legendary institution is a privilege, not a right. Shirts and shoes must be worn at all times. You get one refill of iced tea. You can’t order pie and coffee during the lunch hour unless you also order lunch. You can’t bring your own food. And if you’re intent on grinding out cigarette butts on the floor, the management requests that you please eat at home. 208 W. Third St., between Throckmorton and Houston. Unlisted phone. Mon-Fri 7 am-3:30 pm, closed Sat & Sun.

38. Dalt’s. $3.75 for a steak sandwich. North Dallas slick at its best. Dalt’s is a visual pleasure, with marble, brass, and an art deco look. The menu is vast, and includes fine burgers. Unlike its sibling, TGI Friday’s, Dalt’s is no singles bar. It numbers lots of families among its clientele, possibly a result of the soda fountain serving milk shakes, malts, ice cream sodas, and sundaes. 5100 Belt Line. 385-8606. Daily 11 am-2 am. MC, V, AE, DC.

39. Sonny Bryan’s. $1.80 for a sliced beef sandwich; $3.89 for rib plate with beans and slaw. This is barbecue for those who like to do things the hard way, although the object -succulent beef doused with perfectly peppery sauce -is well worth the trouble and the wait. Sonny Bryan’s is cramped, grimy, and almost always crowded around feeding time. But the barbecue is close to the best in Texas, a little sweeter than some, but good enough to make you happy for the rest of the day if you’re a barbecue fan. Warning: even Sonny’s inconvenient hours (who’s eating barbecue at 7 am?) are subject to the exigencies of the day’s supply. We’ve arrived at 2 pm on a Saturday to see the place closed. 2202 Inwood. 357-7120. Mon-Fri 7 am-5 pm, Sat 7 am-3 pm, Sun 11 am-2 pm. No credit cards.

40. The Pita Place. $2.90 for a falafel sandwich and tabouli salad. One of our best cheap eats discoveries; now even more of a find since it moved from a small, dingy cubicle smothered in the midst of downtown to a refreshingly comfortable suite in The Corner Shopping Center. The vegetarian choices here are superb (and preferable, we think, to the beef dishes, which tend to be overcooked). Particularly palate-pleasing was the falafel sandwich – fresh pocket bread stuffed with deep-fried falafel balls (seasoned ground chick-peas and fava beans) and tahini (sesame seed paste dressing). Sounds strange, but it tastes great. We also like the tabouli salad of cracked wheat, chopped parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mint, all marinated in lemon juice and olive oil. Another intriguing option is the $3.25 combination salad plate, an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink conglomeration of all seven available salads. The Corner Shopping Center, 9820 Central Expwy at Walnut Hill. 987-3226. Daily 11-10. MC, V, AE.

41. Bailey’s. $1.73 and $2.10 for small and large sliced beef sandwiches. If you want to take a chance on a fly-by-night operation, try Bailey’s Barbecue. Bailey’s recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in downtown Fort Worth. Bailey is gone, but owner Buddy Pratt, who apprenticed under Bailey, has been around since 1946. The barbecued bologna, with mustard, relish, sauce, and onions for $1.40 deserves a place in the junk sandwich hall of fame. 826 Taylor, Fort Worth. (817) 332-0006. Mon-Fri 9 am-5:30 pm, closed Sat & Sun,

42. Texaco Lunch Box. $3 for daily special with egg roll and fried wonton. This is more of a find for its unlike- liness than for the excellence of the food. Texaco Lunch Box is most certainly the only place in town that will fill up both your car and your stomach. Although entirely edible, the Chinese lunches and egg rolls are more noted for their generous portions than culinary excellence. The owner wants everyone to leave happy: He gives large portions to men and daintier portions to women. The gas station is worth a try just so you can say you’ve been there. 3801 Ross at Washington. 821-5036. Mon-Sat 9 am-4 pm. No credit cards.

43. Snuffers. $2.80 for a burger. A small, woodsy-fernsy bar/restaurant with a limited menu that it executes very well. The burger-thick and rare -is the thing. We’ve had tasty nachos and creditable boiled shrimp here, but 90￠ buys a huge quantity of homemade fries -which would be a steal if they weren’t overcooked. 3526 Greenville. 826-6850. Mon-Sat 11:30-2 am, Sun noon-2 am. MC, V.

44. RICHELIEU GRILL. $2.25 for a bowl of chili. The Richelieu Grill used to be located in the Main/W. Lancaster area, which was frequented by winos and drifters. In 1970, the business moved to make way for the Water Gardens. Occasionally, winos drop by to talk about the good ol’ days, but they usually receive a cool reception from manager Theoplies James. Richelieu’s serves a mild, unusual chili with the meat ground finer than is customary. The recipe is said to be over 100 years old. Beef stew is popular here, especially with potato lovers. For spendthrifts, chili and stew are $2.25 each; an order of hamhock and beans costs $1.25. 415 Main, Fort Worth. (817) 332-9730. Mon-Thur 7 am-11 pm, Fri & Sat till midnight.