Why go: Slow-cooked food at fast-food prices. That’s the MO of this no-frills Afghan cafe. Succulent halal-meat kebabs are sided with warm, cooked-to-order flatbread—a good way to mop up sauces and scoop heartier stewed vegetables.

What to get: Sultani Kabob platter, with both lamb and chicken kebabs and rice dusted with sumac; qabli palaw, lamb chunks with rice, shredded carrots, almonds, and raisins; daal chalaw, a comforting stew of yellow lentils with herbs; sambusa, a fried pastry filled with spiced meat; bolonee, similar to the sambusa but filled with potato and herbs.

Best for: An affordable and relaxing sit-down dinner with friends.

Insider tip: When mulling an order, have a plan B. On a recent visit, the kitchen was out of the stewed-pumpkin dish known as chalu kadu, the yogurt drink doogh, and rice for the qabli palaw.

Open daily for lunch and dinner.

See all Cheap Eats 2008 restaurants