Cheap Eats Near RTP - Where to eat on a budget near Research Triangle Park

Research Triangle Park is home to many of the largest employers in the Raleigh-Durham area. Believe it or not, it's also home to some of the most adventurous cheap eats in the Triangle. So don't let the strip mall facades of these restaurants fool you: there's some serious dining value within those mall walls.

Pho N9N

2945 S. Miami Blvd , Durham
(919) 544-4496

Pho N9N serves Vietnamese-style noodle soups: beef, pork, chicken, seafood, tofu and vegetable soups loaded with noodles and served with a "side dish" of mung bean sprouts, fresh lime and cilantro. All of the soups are made with beef-based broth, so none of them are vegetarian. A small bowl of soup costs $5.95, a large one $6.95. Extra meatballs or noodles will set you back an extra dollar, and thin sliced rare steak can be added to any soup for an extra two dollars.

N9N also serves affordable "rice platters" which include such tasty dishes as lemongrass beef, pork chops, or quail served over rice for about $7.00 each. Fried rice and vermicelli dishes cost about the same. There are only two entrees that cost more than $10 on the menu: the fish and pork with lotus stem and the tamarind fish soup, and they are both in the $12-$15 range.

Danny's Bar-B-Que RTP

2945 S Miami Blvd # 118 , Durham
(919) 806-1965
M-F 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

At Danny's Bar-B-Que, it's easy to fill up for under $10. In fact, $10 will buy you a whole entire pound of barbecued pork, beef, turkey, chicken or ribs, or a barbecue plate with a half-pound of meat, your choice of two side dishes, and Texas toast.

Most of the barbecue at Danny's is served Texas-style, although North Carolina-style vinegar-based sauces are available.

Vit Goal Tofu

2107-101A Allendown Drive , Durham
919-361-9100

Located just a stone's throw from RTP, Vit Goal Tofu is a casual dining Korean restaurant that specializes in tofu, especially tofu soups. However, it is by no means a vegetarian restaurant: most of the soups contain seafood, beef, pork or other meats in addition to tofu, though tofu is the main "protein" of the dish.

Vit Goal Tofu is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week and a big bowl of soup plus unlimited refills on their Korean pickle-style side dishes will set you back about $9.00 plus tax and tip.

Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse

Greenwood Commons Shopping Center
5410-Y Hwy. 55, Durham (919) 361-2222

Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse is known as the home of some of the finest Creole cooking outside of New Orleans. Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse serves up Creole classices like crawfish etouffee and jambalaya, and also serves Creole Bar-B-Q and Po’ Boy sandwiches.
Most of the entrees on Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse’s lunch menu ring up at less than $10.00, and a half-portion po’ boy sandwich served with a side dish only costs about $6.00.

Dinner at Papa Mojo’s Roadhouse doesn’t breat the bank either: the most expensive entrees on the menu top out at about $15.00 for such specialties as crab-stuffed NC trout.

Spice and Curry

2105 NC Hwy. 54 East, Durham
(919) 544-7555
Spice and Curry is an Indian restaurant that's open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Many people claim that it is the best Indian food in Durham, and it is certainly a good place to get Indian food on the cheap: Spice and Curry has a coupon for a buy one-get-one-free lunch or dinner entrée in the Raleigh Entertainment Book(Buy Direct) .