Note: We traveled for 4 1/2 years in South America, and published a free eBook: Cheap Places in South America & Budget Travel Tips. This is from the ‘How To Save Costs on Food & Eating Out’ chapter.
Saving costs on food & eating out while traveling. If you are on a tight budget and stomach rumbling, it won’t take you long to discover the glory of a ‘menú del dia’ or set-lunch meal. The cheapest meal in South America, it’s rock bottom cheap at the food courts of local markets, where the locals eat lunch, sometimes under $3.00 USD.
For under four dollars ($3 USD in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru) you will be served a soup (large bowl that could easily be a meal in and of itself in many cases), main course that normally consists of a choice of beef, chicken or fish that has been fried or smothered with sauce, rice, french fries and small salad plus a drink; often times a small dessert is included.
In Colombia forget about the french fries and expect to enjoy fried plantains (similar to bananas) instead. When the portions are hearty, you rarely want more than a light-meal or snack in the evening and when skimpy, you still got fed a healthy, filling meal for next-to-nothing.
An even better – and cheaper – way to get a meal? Head to the local farmer’s market if there is one in the city or town. Not only fun and a great photo opportunity, it will have the largest selection of ‘local fare’ – what folks eat in the area who don’t have a lot of cash… like you.
Besides full three-course meals similar to the menú del dia there are stalls with 50 cent sandwiches (bread, cheese, some form of meat), ‘licuados’ (milk, ice, fruit smoothie), plates of fried this or that for under $2 USD (usually fish or chicken), empanadas etc.
When you head to the market be sure to walk around and explore its outer perimeter, a street or two away. The whole area is usually full of low-cost restaurants, pizzerias and sidewalk stand set-ups.
At nighttime when the market is closed (normally they close by 5 p.m.) this is often the best place in town to get your cheap eats fix.
Any other area frequented by tourists in the evening usually has an assortment of hamburger, grilled sausage on a stick, fried chicken with rice or ‘salchipapas’ (fried, sliced hot dog with french fries served in a paper cone) carts that start heating up the coals after 7 p.m. and are open until midnight or so.