Best Cheap Eats Budget Brilliance Restaurants in St. Bens

Serving North Center since the 1950s, Pete's Pizza pairs its thin-crust pies with baked cheese and meat lasagna trays that feel tailor-made for family dinners. The room stays casual and busy, with regulars ordering lasagna for dine-in, carryout, and catering alongside old-school pizza combinations.

Tucked into a strip mall near Lane Tech, Pi-Hi blends shawarma plates, falafel, and wood-fired “Pi” pizzas into one of the area’s best low-cost Mediterranean options. National attention from Yelp’s Top 100 list and steady crowds for takeout underline its status as a long-running neighborhood favorite.

Run by a Salvadoran-Nicaraguan family, this tiny North Center storefront specializes in griddled pupusas alongside tacos and other antojitos. The space is simple, but the masa work and house salsas draw a steady stream of regulars.

O’Donovan’s is a historic North Center pub with a big beer garden, sports on TV, and a menu of burgers, bar snacks, and simple American plates. It’s more about atmosphere and convenience than chef-y food, but locals lean on it for casual group outings and neighborhood hangs.

Since the late 1990s, Big Boy Gyros has been a Roscoe Village/North Center standby for classic Chicago-style gyros, Greek fries, and char-grilled burgers. It’s a no-frills counter where portions are big, prices stay low, and the menu runs from breakfast omelettes to late-afternoon gyro plates.

A compact counter-style Japanese kitchen where the move is quick onigiri, simple rolls, and hot comfort sides for an easy grab-and-go meal. Treat it like a focused lunch stop—two onigiri plus one roll or side—so the order stays fast and satisfying.