Find bargain bites for your belly in San Francisco

Sure, we’d all love the luxury of paying $300 for a 15 course meal, every day, but for the most of us that is not reality. Especially in today’s financial times. With this in mind the Chronicle recently polled San Francisco’s best spots to drop $10 and be rewarded with a full stomach. Here are a few of our favorites:

Little Skillet – 360 Ritch St. (off Townsend, between 3^rd and 4^th streets)

Tel. (415) 777-2777

Classic American cuisine at low prices, deliciously tender, spiced-up fried chicken paired with made-from-scratch buttermilk waffles with house syrup and powdered sugar and fluffy biscuits. Open from 10:30-2:30 on weekdays and from 9:30-2:30 on Saturdays. Order by phone and pick up by foot or bike recommended.

 Turtle Tower

-       Little Saigon at 631 Larkin Street – (415) 409-3333;

-       Outer Richmond at 5716 Geary Boulevard – (415) 221-9890;

-       SoMa at 501 6^th Street – (415) 904 9888.

Vietnamese cuisine, open from 8:30-7:30 daily. The delicious chicken pho, the flavorful broth, and the tender noodles make you not notice anything else around you and just enjoy the tasty food. The highest price you’d pay there is $14.95 for a large dish of grilled catfish filet with green onion, dill and vermicelli noodles, unexpected for such a cuisine, but nonetheless welcomed.

Balompie Cafe & Restaurant

-       3349 18^th Street (at Capp) – (415) 648-9199;

-       3801 Mission Street – (415) 647-4000.

Salvadoran cuisine with a variety of regular or specialty pupusas – loroco y queso, italiana y queso, camaron y queso – or yucca cocida o frita, to which you can choose your favorite topping. The most expensive dish doesn’t ask for more than $15 – pescado frito y camarones or bistec con camarones. The name of the place means soccer in Spanish and you can notice that the moment you step in: two large plasma screens honor their love for this sport broadcasting soccer games from all over the world.

Here is the complete list with the finalist bargain eateries. Enjoy!