DINING

Yelp lists 'Top 10 Erie restaurants rated best cheap eats.' Some might surprise you.

Erie Times-News
USA TODAY NETWORK

Inflation might be forcing us all to pull our belts tighter, but Erie folk cannot live on Kraft Mac for long. Luckily, a few good restaurants in town have proven themselves good values for the money, according to ratings and reviews on Yelp. Don't know what Yelp is? We got you. It's a website that collects such ratings and reviews by users who have eaten there. Yelp analysts then take that information and bundle it into lists, including this one, "Top 10 Erie restaurants rated best cheap eats." To learn more, or register your own ratings and reviews, visit the site at yelp.com.

Please keep in mind that everyone in town has his/her own best list, and any list is fodder for entertaining arguments. We're doing nothing here but reporting on the opinion of Yelp reviewers, which, incidentally, change rather frequently.

That said, enjoy this list and let it spark some conversations. Some of the locations might surprise you.

Picasso's, 960 Millcreek Mall, is the No. 1 rated restaurant in Yelp's "Top 10 Cheap Eats in Erie" list.

1. Picasso's

960 Millcreek Mall Blvd., 814-866-1183; 351 Yelp reviews

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Pineapple Eddie Southern Bistro owners, from left, Adrienne Paul, her husband, Chef Jean Paul, and her sister Karen Thomas.

2. Pineapple Eddie Southern Bistro

1402 W. 10th St., 814-454-0700; 412 Yelp reviews

More:Why Pineapple Eddie Southern Bistro has put its relocation plans on hold

Editor's note: Enrque’s Southeast Mexican Taqueria & Tortilleria is listed as No. 3, but it is closed due to a fire in February.

Bar patrons, including from near left, Raymond Garczynski and Tammy Andrzejewski, visit That Place on 26th Street in Erie on Aug. 23. GREG WOHLFORD/

4. That Place on 26th Street

1527 W 26th St., 814-459-7243; 6 Yelp reviews

Steel City Sandwich Co. was named one of Yelp's Top 10 Best Cheap Food Near Erie.

5. Steel City Sandwich Co.

4801 Peach St., 814-866-0337; 40 Yelp reviews

Big Bar, 14 E. 10th St., is open until 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.

6. Bigbar

14 E. 10th St., 814-888-9464; 48 Yelp reviews

Sean Candela, owner of Sara's restaurant, near the entrance of Presque Isle State Park, is shown March 24, 2020, at the restaurant's drive-through window.

7. Sara's

25 Peninsula Drive, 814-833-1957; 290 Yelp reviews

The new Underdog BBQ restaurant is shown on West Eighth Street in Millcreek Township on July 20, 2023.

8. Underdog BBQ

2714 W. Eighth St., 814-790-4001; 157 Yelp reviews

More:'Evolved' Underdog BBQ opens at new location in former Perkins. We talk to kitchen manager

Ugly Tuna Tavern offers patio seating just a hop up the hill from the peninsula.

8. Ugly Tuna Tavern

1012 Peninsula Drive, 814-835-6667; 56 Yelp reviews

The Shoreline Bar & Grille in the Bayfront Sheraton is listed on Yelp's Top 10 Best Cheap Food Near Erie.

9. Shoreline Bar and Grille

Courtyard Erie Bayfront, 2 Sassafras Pier, 814-636-1005; 186 Yelp reviews

More:When it comes to dinner, Erie loves to take it outside: 10 coziest spots, 10 best views

With a line out the door, Kimberly Ellman and her husband Big Mook Ellman wait to go inside for lunch at Bro Man's Birria N' Burger Joint in Erie on opening day, May 10, 2024. Big Mook Ellman said he'd tried all but one of the signature burgers and intended to try the one remaining.

10. Bro Man’s Sammiches, Birria & Burgers

2614 Glenwood Park Ave., 814-315-1237; 58 Yelp reviews