Photos: Restaurants that won’t bust the bank

Entrees start at $4.99, making it one of the best deals in town.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The toasty Salvadoran pupusa on the menu at Mis Raices in Reseda.   (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Appetizers start at $1.50, entrees start at $5.50 and pupusas are a 99-cent steal on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.   (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Before chicken shawarma gets licked by flames at this restaurant, the meat is rubbed with salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice, cumin, curry and amba, a Middle Eastern pickled mango condiment fortified with turmeric, mustard and chiles.  (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Ayala Sherf, left, runs the restaurant with husband Pinchas. The combo plates start at $7.99.   (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

Pacaya, palm flowers cooked in the typical style of a relleno, fried in an egg batter, is on the menu at El Santiagueño.  (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

Everything is cooked to order at El Santiagueño, which has a sunny patio. Appetizers start at $1.99 and entrees start at $5.99. Pupusas are $1.75.   (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)

You’ll find authentic Thai sausage on the menu at Krua Siri Thai restaurant in Thai Town. Click here for the review.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Appetizers start at $4, and entrees top out at $13. Click here for the review.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Chef Greg Daniels and his partners bring tastes of the world to tacos at Taco Asylum in Orange County, such as this lamb taco topped with ratatouille. Click here for the review.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Tacos run $5 to $6. Bestsellers include the grilled octopus taco, wild mushroom taco with fried chickpeas and parsley salad, lamb taco with ratatouille and the ghost chili pork taco.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

The parrillada Salvadorena dish at Sonsonate Grill includes grilled chicken, grilled shrimp, steak, rice and a salad.  (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Appetizers start at $2.50, entrees at $9.95 and one of the specials, parrillada for two, is $29. Pupusas are all less than $3.   (Mariah Tauger / For the Los Angeles Times)

Homey stews and braises are made into tacos or tamales at this new location from Ricardo Diaz of Cook’s Tortas. Click here for the review.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Tacos start at $2.50 and tamales run $1.50 apiece. Click here for the review.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The Tustin eatery specializes in Okinawan cuisine, in which pork is king. Soki soba, above, features noodles, crisp veggies and a pork rib in broth. Click here for the review.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Appetizers start at $2.50 and main dishes go up to $8.50. Click here for the review.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Authentic Belizean tamales highlight the menu at Flavors of Belize in Los Angeles, but don’t miss the sampler platter, above. Click here for the review.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Appetizers start at $1 and entrees go up to $15.99. Click here for the review.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Jasmine Mediterranean in Anaheim continues a century-old family business of delicious Syrian dishes made lovingly from family recipes, such as this array of appetizers. Click here for more.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Appetizers start at $1 and dinner plates are $5 to $11. Click here for more.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

The wrought-iron chandeliers let on, but the focus at La Huasteca in Lynwood is on pre-Columbian cuisine. Few bites are as blissful as the squash blossom empanadas. Click here for more.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

Nopalitos y chapulines, a salad of prickly pear and grasshoppers, as served at La Huasteca in Lynwood. Appetizers range from $3 to $13.95; soups and salads, $5 to $9.95; entrees, $10.95 to $18.95; aguas frescas and desserts, $4 to $6.95. Click here for more.  (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

It’s always a wild scene at 85C, a coffee shop, bakery and patisserie in Irvine, above. From morning through evening, hundreds of customers of every age and walk of life pour through its doors heaping their trays high with a fantastical array of baked goods and sea salt lattes. Click here for more.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

Unique as it is, 85C isn’t gimmicky. (Its name is a reference to the ideal temperature -- in degrees Celsius -- at which to serve coffee.) One favorite: The brioche-like milk pudding muffins, with a creamy vanilla center, above. Breads and coffee sweets start at a sweet 50 cents, while coffee drinks range from 75 cents to $5. Click here for more.  (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

A hot bowl of Sapporo-style ramen on the menu at Mottainai Ramen in Gardena, a good place to go when in need of a bowl of comfort. Click here for more.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Chief executive chef Natsuki Ishijima prepares a bowl of ramen at Mottainai ramen restaurant in Gardena. Prices range from $7 to $8, with add-ins $1 to $3 more. Click here for more.  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

When was the last time you had a good recommendation for breakfast? Exactly. Early birds at Uyen Thy Bistro in Little Saigon wake up to bo kho, above, a homey stew as deeply flavored as a Oaxacan mole. Click here for more.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Breakfasts start at $3.95, noodle dishes start at $4.95, and house specials and combination plates start at $10.99 to $13.95. Click here for more.  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Kuah gling with chicken, above, is a southern-style dry meat curry on the menu at Lum-Ka-Naad, a Northridge restaurant that specializes in northern and southern Thai dishes. Click here for more.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Lunch at Lum-Kaa-Naad brings in both new and returning customers. Veterans often don’t shy away from the truly hot dishes, knowing they can mitigate the fire by eating small bites with other dishes. Entrees starts at $5.95, while noodle dishes start at $6.95. Click here for more.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Front Page Jamaican Grille in Inglewood is one of those places where the guy working behind the counter will tell you, in no uncertain terms, what his favorite dish is. Above, reggae wings cook on the grill. Click here for more.  (Christina House / For The Times)

You’ll feel the cool breeze at Front Page Jamaican Grille: Entrees start at $7, fish dishes start at $15, and sides are $1 to $4. Click here for more.  (Christina House / For The Times)

Bandeja paisa, a dish of fried pork, Colombian sausage, egg, fried plantains and avocado is on the menu at El Bolivar, a Colombian restaurant in Chatsworth. Click here for more.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Marisol Lara serves the daily special to Antonio and Lucy Morino at El Bolivar. Appetizers and side dishes range from $1 to $8 and entrees range from $10 to $18. Click here for more.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Prepare to be transfixed by the fried delights of the ayam goreng kremesan, above, on the menu at Merry’s House of Chicken, a months-old Indonesian restaurant in West Covina. Click here for more.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

So who is Merry? That’s Merry Tio, above left. Prices at Merry’s House of Chicken start at -- get this -- 85 cents for appetizers, while rice, noodle and chicken dishes are in the $5-to-$11 range. Click here for more.  (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

Tropical chicken -- with guava, ginger and pineapple in a sauce served with rice and peas and fried plantains -- is one of the most popular dishes on the menu at Sattdown Jamaican Grill in Studio City. Prices start at $2.50 for patties; entrees range from $8.99 to $15.99; soups, salads and sandwiches are $6.99. Click here for more.  (Christina House / For The Times)

The menu at Sattdown Jamaican Grill in Studio City is instantly intriguing. Scanning its pages past the salmon with garlic-orange-zest crust and the shrimp seared in olive oil with jerk seasoning, to the vegetarian curry roti, you quickly realize, we’re not in Kingston anymore, Toto. Chef and owner Tony Hyde is the man in charge. Click here for more.  (Christina House / For The Times)

The kebabs at Olive Tree in Anaheim are a draw: Try them all with the combination plate: charred cylinders of ground beef, blackened blocks of lamb, tangerine-tinted chicken and blistered vegetables. Then turn it into a feast with medammas, a garlic-spiked fava bean dip that’s the Levantine response to refried beans. Prices: Meze, $3.50 to $9.99; sandwiches, $4.99 to $5.50; entrees, $6.99 to $14.99; daily specials, $10.99 to $13.99. Click here for more:  (Katie Falkenberg / For The Times)

Suzan Hassan is floor manager and Abu Ahmad owner of the 5-year-old Olive Tree in Anaheim. Their specialty is serving up the often-overlooked regional recipes of Palestine, Jordan, Syria and elsewhere. Click here for more.  (Katie Falkenberg / For The Times)