Dirt Cheap Eats 2006

Cupcakes at Stacy's Coffee Parlor. This lovably ragtag coffee shop is a foot-tapping-free zone--the kind of place where the scruffy kid behind the counter takes an extra minute getting to your order because he's debating a book review with a customer on the couch. It's also the kind of place where you can expect indisputably homey desserts, like the adorable cupcakes ($2) brought in daily from Falls Church baker Robyn Savage. The moist cakes are dolled up with swirls of almond-scented sugar icing in shades of pink and magenta. And if you're pressed for time, they'll even tie them up in a ribboned box to go.