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What $13 gets you: A delicious, healthy, heartwarming meal – followed by a firm slap in the face

That was my experience, anyway.

I wandered into Nam not knowing what I was getting into. It’s located in a charming little mall just north of Harwin. It was after two and I arrived hungry. I knew right away that I had scored when I saw Press food critic’s Robb Walsh’s review from about three years ago framed and hanging on the wall.

I got the daily special, grilled snapper ($8.95), and since it was before three o’clock it came with choices of egg drop and chicken rice soups, spring or egg rolls and fried rice or vermicelli noodles. I wanted a Vietnamese coffee ($2.50) but decided instead to stick with water and lemon and leave a more generous tip.

Recommended? Yes, I recommend it, even if that does make me unadventurous, mainstream and white bread.

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What $13 gets you: Some not-too-bad barbecue from the city’s biggest corporate chain of barbecue restaurants

I never much cared for Pappas Bar-B-Q. The barbecue sauce is thin, the links and ribs are nothing special and I still don’t get the appeal of sliced beef served atop a giant baked potato. Plus, the food there isn’t expensive but it isn’t cheap either. Add fries and a drink to that sandwich and you’re up to about ten bucks.

But there are things to like – it just took me a few visits to find them.

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Olivia Flores Alvarez

Where: Candelari’s Pizzeria, 6001 Washington Avenue, 832-200-1474

What $13 gets you: We tried the lunch special which includes soup, salad, pizza, pasta, dessert and a drink for $10.50 (available seven days a week). We also tried two by-the-slice slices of pizza, salad and a drink for just under $13.

I had the sausage pizza and pepperoni pizza from the buffet, while my partner had two slices with feta cheese and red peppers. We also taste-tested the cold pesto pasta salad and hot noodles with meat sauce, both of which were about the right temperature, but lacking in flavor.

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What $13 gets you: A giant slab of crispy fried chicken, a bowl of thick cream gravy and a stack of seasoned fries so tasty you and your little ones will be saying “mmmm” with every bite.

The Press has done much to celebrate chicken fried steak but has said little about the wonders of chicken fried chicken. As a midwesterner, I'd never seen either on a menu until moving to Texas. To me, CFC is the better of the two. And Jax Grill does CFC right. As my gal likes to say, it has all the essential yellow food groups.

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What $13 gets you: A surprisingly generous portion of fresh, delicious Japanese cuisine in a swank, luxurious setting.

Good sushi for $13? Impossible, right? I thought so, too, until I recently wandered into Zake Sushi Lounge, which is set in that same little strip as the old Alabama Theater.

I stopped eating sushi a long time ago, and not because I don’t love it because I do. And it wasn’t because of that recent New York Times report on high mercury levels in sushi because, hey, we all gotta die sometime. I stopped eating sushi because I couldn’t afford it. And, anyway, it sucks to drop 60 bucks or more on a meal and still be hungry. (Note to self: raw fish followed by day-old pizza will cause tummy ache.)

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Where: Prince’s Hamburgers, 3899 Southwest Freeway, 713-626-9950

What $13 gets you: Stuffed

It seems to me that $13 at Prince’s Hamburgers ought to cover lunch or dinner for two, but it doesn’t. Even if you steer clear of the big ticket items such as the fried shrimp basket ($9.95) or chicken-fried steak ($7.95) and just get the classics – two cheeseburgers with fries ($5.45 each) and two Cokes ($1.50 each) – you wind up breaking the bank. So what to do?

Go alone and pig out.

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What $13 gets you: Okay food at an okay price

Barnaby’s Cafe, named for the owner’s deceased sheepdog, includes three locations in a relatively small area – Hyde Park, River Oaks and Midtown. At lunchtime, all get busy as hell and loud as shit. Or is it busy as shit and loud as hell? Anyhow, they’re all busy and loud.

I hit up the one on Gray, which is showing some wear as evidenced by the huge tears in the black booths. Rather than wait for a table, I grabbed one of the six stools at the tiny bar in the corner where menus double as place mats.

It’s quite a menu, and $13 will take you far. Cold sandwiches such as egg salad or turkey breast go for $8, specialty burgers with fries are all $8.50, huge bowls of salads run from $7.50 to $9.50, and even entrees such as meatloaf, barbecue chicken breast and lasagna are reasonably priced at $10.

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What $13 gets you: Breakfast with the cool kids

I lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, just as it was turning from industrial pit to arts mecca. Baby Barnaby’s Cafe is the one place in Houston that reminds me of the old Williamsburg.

Set in a small, dumpy, out-of-the-way building where the streets are narrow and parking is damn-near impossible, the breakfast-only version of the popular Barnaby’s chain is the best by far. And it’s no secret, either, so expect interminably long lines on weekends. It doesn’t help that the place fits just 35 people, but that’s part of the charm.

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What $13 gets you: A surprisingly sophisticated meal aboard an absurdly tacky fake boat

Let me start by saying I love restaurants on fake boats. There are loads of them in the Houston area, and all the ones I’ve tried are cheap and funky with super-fresh, simply prepared seafood.

On a recent Saturday, I took an assignment that led me up Texas State Highway 249 into rural Montgomery County. I left my home early in gritty Fondren Southwest figuring I’d grab a quick bite on the way but couldn’t will myself into a Schlotsky’s and got dangerously close to that point of no return in which I’ve wandered too far along some desolate farm road and end up settling for a gas-station lunch of bottled water and corn nuts.

Then, like a mirage, I came upon Pesquera’s Ocean Grill & Oyster Bar – a giant, tacky fake boat complete with a fake lighthouse and two real but sickly looking palm trees set along the highway in a large gravelly, muddy, pothole-filled parking lot. Perfect, I thought.

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Where: Sabor!, 5712 Bellaire, 713-667-6001

What $13 gets you: Delicious authentically prepared Central American specialties.

Sabor! is best known for its fajitas ($11.95) and seafood entrees, such as whole fried tilapia ($8.95) and black clams ($8.50). But I go for the simple, traditional fare – pupusas, plantains, tamales.

I don’t usually like tamales since they’re too often mushy and bland. The tamales you see in local markets come in scary fluorescent-orange husks that look greasy and gross. The tamales at Sabor! are nothing like these. They’re delicate and sweet, like moist cake.

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What $13 gets you: A sort-of hangover – cotton-mouth thirsty, red-faced tired, a little nauseous and a lot irritable.

I’m a sucker for comfort food. And the fact that I’ve been to Mama’s Cafe three times in the last several months shows I’m also a sucker for places that falsely advertise comfort food. Mama’s Cafe – which boasts several San Antonio locations – is kinda like Denny’s, I think. It’s got the whole diner-theme going on, though it’s all so neatly packaged that it’s anything but.

$13 will buy you pretty much anything on the menu – except for the shrimp and steak entrees. There’s the chicken fried chicken salad ($7.99) and a long lineup of specialty burgers such as the Texas Twister, which includes cheddar, bacon, fried jalapeno strips and chipotle ranch ($7.99). There are also a few Tex-Mex specialties, including the just-awful-sounding Sancho Panza, a chopped sirloin steak stuffed with jalapenos and cheddar then topped with chili and queso. Just thinking about it makes my forehead sweat.

If you’re like me, you’ll go for oddball comfort food such as liver and onions ($7.49) or meatloaf ($8.49). The stuff mama used to make. Well, not my mama. But somebody’s mama, right?

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What $13 gets you: Enough food to feed a family, and then some.

One visit to Pollo Riko and you’ll never buy another dried-out bird from the grocery. Here, the chicken skin is crisp and the meat is moist, if a little salty. By itself, a whole roast chicken is $8.29; a half goes for $5.09.

My family prefers the whole roast chicken combo for $10.89, which includes a stack of warm corn tortillas and a choice of two sides, including red beans and rice, roasted red potatoes, fries, corn on the cob, fried yucca, Cole slaw and a Caesar salad. Add a large Dr. Pepper for $.93 and – poof! – supper is served.

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What $13 gets you: An array of fine-dining options in an upscale but unpretentious environment.

The Belgian restaurant Café Montrose is best known for its moules frites – mussels and hand-cut French fries accompanied by homemade mayo for dipping. It has twice won in the “Best Mussels” category of our annual “Best of Houston” issue, and deservedly so. Mussels at Café Montrose are prepared seven ways, including with escargot butter, curry sauce and parmesan. A large order, which comes with fries, breaks our bank at $18; a small order, which includes about two dozen bivalves but sadly no fries, is $8.

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What $13 gets you: A dream come true

This Rice Village trattoria has such an adorably clichéd décor, it feels like something out of Epcot’s Italian Pavilion. Complete with Lady & the Tramp style red & white gingham tablecloths, plates on the walls, and olive oil and grated parmesan on every table, you’ll be happy to walk out with a full belly and no (Mickey) mouse-sightings.

Although there is an extensive menu with a variety of tempting low-cost items including paninis with smoked mozzarella or prosciutto di Parma ($5.95 to $7.50) and ten-inch thin crust pizzas with similar toppings ($6.95 to $10.95), for a mere $6.95 (weekdays only) you can choose any three items from the “Steam Table Special.” All of the dishes on this list change daily, excluding the house salad, meatballs and Italian sausage. It should be noted that although they are sectioned off TV-dinner style, all three items are served on one plate, so as tempting as that flan may sound, you may re-think it when it starts to slide towards your snapper Milanese. I was surprised to see so many of my fellow patrons going for the house salad (clearly not getting full-value), and opted instead for a trio consisting of meatball, pasta pesto, and, since there was no more chicken Vesuvio, crab cake.

The largest section of my plate held a heaping portion of the bowtie-style pasta pesto decorated generously with pine nuts. I was also pleasantly surprised to find pieces of chicken breast scattered throughout (though I will give a quick warning to vegetarians, ask before you order). Presented with a simple wedge of lemon, the lightly battered crab cake was simple and delicious. Next to the crab sat the hearty and flavorful meatball in a tangy red-sauce with a sprinkling of parmesan on top. After one bite, it was easy to see why this remains a house staple. Considering the amount of food D’Amico’s offers up, half way through my meal I realized the house salad option probably would have been a nice break.

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What $13 gets you: Carbs, tons of them. You’d think these Cubans are carbo-loading for a marathon the way they pack them on.

To my undeveloped palate, Cuban cuisine has always seemed like a poor country cousin to Mexican cuisine. Although they share many of the same ingredients—rice, beans, pork—Cuban food often comes off as bland and uninspired. Some blame Castro and the Soviets for dumbing down the menus of Cuban chefs. With local Cubans raving about La Viña, I decided it was time to reassess the state of affairs in Cuban kitchens.

I started things off with a Malta Hatuey ($2), a Guinness-like soda that’s reputed to fortify the weak and sickly. It tasted like watered-down molasses and yeast, cut with a bit of corn syrup. All the traditional Cuban favorites are here, including ropa vieja ($9) and a Cuban sandwich that looked like a bargain for under $4. I settled on a grilled chicken breast with plantains, black beans and rice for $6.95. There was not a hint of spice and the flavors were subtle, yet the meal was extremely satisfying. The chicken breast was tender and juicy, while the plantains had a candied texture that wasn’t too sweet.

I kicked myself for ordering the Malta. I could’ve skipped the beverage and had enough to for a traditional cortado ($2), an espresso with a dash of milk, like everyone else at La Viña.

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