Budget Dining

Springfield's Top 5 Affordable Places to Make an Appetite Happy

With today's hectic fast paced lifestyles, even here in laid back Springfield, Oregon, there are many times that you don't have time to prepare a big dinner meal. Maybe you've rushed home tired from work, there's nothing in the fridge or maybe you just really don't want to cook. Well not to worry, in Springfield, I've found some inexpensive yet scrumptious fare done by places you would least expect, and each of them gets big kudos in my book for diners that satisfy a hungry stomach very well.

1. Home Town Country Buffet - 3000 Gateway, Springfield, OR 97477

Approx $10.00 each for the Smorgasbord Dinner

This is the place to take everybody. A smorgasbord to delight each and every palate and the desserts are enough to guarantee a few extra pounds. Mashed potatoes like mama used to make. Roast beef so succulent that you wonder how they got the meat so soft and tender and a variety of spaghetti and pasta and meat dishes that will have you oohing and ahing all over the place. The price for all this feast of the senses is just about ten dollars for a regular sitting and seniors get discounted for about fifty cents less. Great prices for all you get to choose from and you can keep going back till your stomach tells you it can't take anymore! Great food, fantastically priced and whole lot of it! This one gets Five Bobby Belly Pats from me, and a smile to boot.

2. Sizzler's Steak House -1010 Postal Way

Salad $8.95 Dinner $6.95 - 14.95

Sizzler's has been the stable of many a person's dining experience, and having eaten at quite a few, not all of them would get any spectacular treatment or ballyhoo from me, except one. With meals ranging an average of $14 dollars and the salad bar 8.95, the one in Springfield has made a believer out of me. Succulent steaks, and a salad bar that always seems like they've just loaded it up, I have yet to find a meal there lacking in the quality that makes this tummy go yummy. Well maybe once, when we arrived a little later than dinner and the meats seemed a little tough and looked like they had been sitting a while. For what you get and the prices, I'd give Sizzler's Four Bobby Belly Pats and a half, but not a big smile... maybe a grin.

3. Izzys Pizza & Resturant - 1930 Mohawk Boulevard

Diner approx $19.00 for two

This is one that my lady fair introduced me to and from our experience there I'd say it's a keeper on the list of quaint places to eat if you're in a rush and just want to get out of the house for a nice quiet meal. Laid out smorgasbord style like Home Buffet it too has the all you eat can fare that is a favorite of mine and like Home Town Buffet, the food is plentiful, yet even at about $19.00 for two, the quality isn't always up to what one would want to rave about. The roast beef is always a good choice, albeit picked over most time and a little tough, it's still a flavorful experience. Better get there early to get the moist choice picks. The side dishes have been adequate and their desserts sometimes lack the appeal that make you rush to finish dinner, but one apple turnover had me smiling to high heaven and topping it with ice cream I was thinking about slappin' my mama. I'd give Izzy's a Three Bobby Belly Rubs and a little pat with a quirky smile.

4. Spring Garden - 215 Main Street (Chinese Food) Aprox $20 for a large meal enough for two.

Chinese food has always had the reputation that you'll be hungry again in an hour after eating, but at the Spring Garden, there is so much food you'll still be full an hour later. And it's good enough to want to tell your friends. Great Egg Rolls and Egg Drop Soup and the Prawns were as delicate as they were brown. By the way this is something I have found in Springfield, most Chinese places don't seem to know what real fried prawns are and Spring Garden was one of the few I found who really knew how to cook them. Topped off with the traditional Fortune Cookies, I'd also give them Three Bobby Belly Rubs and a Szechwan howdy again next time.

5. McDonalds - 5701 Main Street, Springfield 97478 & 3405 Gateway Street 97477 Prices vary, but very cheap eats

Can anyone not like the fries? For a quick pick me up in the morning with their Egg MacMuffins to the new dinner fare they're advertising this is the least likely place you'd think of for a night out on the town but McDonalds has revamped their stores and made dinning a pleasure with kid spaces and an atmosphere more like that of home town restaurant. The people are always courteous and as always if you need a meal that's quick and good, there always one to be found. The one in Springfield at Gateway Mall has it all and many have $1.00 Fish Sandwiches on Fridays. As far as quick and being a McDonalds, these guys get Two and a Half Bobby Belly Rubs and a great big grin for their new selections of desserts and salads.

MY five best and the most inexpensive place to dine in Springfield, Oregon that I'd recommend you check out if you in a hurry or don't want to worry about the hassle of preparing that big meal at home, but want one.