Costco
Various locations across the U.S.
Yes, that's right, Costco, the discount warehouse club where you can buy a year supply of shampoo, cereal, gym socks, and car tires all in one trip. To quote the Village People, "...there's a place you can go...when you're short on the dough...you can get yourself clean, you can have a good meal..." and it's C-O-S-T-C-O.
Anyone can swing by Costco and with ease can get themselves a nice, filling lunch with dessert for under $5. Their plump, all-beef hot dogs are only $1.50, which includes a drink. The stands in New York run at about the same price, but are half the size (and flavor). There's chicken bakes and smoothies for those watching their figure, and for those who aren't there have ice cream. And it's all so cheap it makes my heart swell with happiness. In today's economy, it's impossible to find a meal for under $5...even in fast food joints! I find myself blowing over $7 at Wendy's and Carl's...and that's buying stuff off the value menu! Even though not everyone has a trash compactor stomach like me that requires more food than the average human, everyone does want some bang for their buck. Costco doubles that bang.
Word of advice: avoid the Costco stores that have indoor food courts, unless you have membership. Most of them now have outdoor courts, so you can stroll up there and not have to be a member of their elite club. But if you do run into one of those exclusive "members only" indoor spots, just tell the doorman you're there to buy a membership, then dash over to the food court when he's not looking. Or you can be a sheep and join.
Manna Korean BBQ
3377 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 733-8516
If you want all-you-can-eat that's actually good, Manna Korean BBQ is the place to go. We went a couple of weeks ago for my friend Kim's birthday and feasted on meat, kimchi, and soju till the cows came home (no pun intended).
The place is very simple, mainly long picnic tables out on a tent-covered patio (perfect for ridiculously large parties like ours), each with a fire pit in the center. The tables are adorned with spicy and sweet sauces and kimchi so you can create your own unique flavors for your food. The servers bring out gigantic platters of sliced raw meat to your tableside, which you cook yourself on the firepits. This isn't the kind of place to have a light, quick meal; it's more of a place for marathon eaters, who enjoy eating and taking breaks over the course of 2 to 3 hours. They offer both rice and rice sheets (kind of like fat noodles) to eat with your meat. All of this is for a flat rate of $17 a person (drinks not included).
To be quiet honest, the service is horrible unless someone in your party speaks Korean. And even then it's still slow as hell. But since you cook the meat yourself, you are less reliant on their service. I also HIGHLY recommend paying with cash and avoid any cards. Manna is possibly the worst place for a peaceful or romantic date. But for birthday parties, Manna is perfect. They serve soju and Korean beer by the bottle, and for birthdays they bring out a bottle of champagne, shake it, and pour it over the birthday celebrant's head. Since it is located in the heart of Koreatown, after dinner there are numerous karoake bars you can visit to sober up (or the opposite) and digest all that meat while singing old Celine Dion tunes.
