Chicken parmesan
with salad bar
$18.50
Who wants to be inside cooking a labor-intensive dish like chicken parmesan during the summer? Not this writer. That makes most Italian food a decadent treat at Selkirk Pizza, which does calzones, pasta, sandwiches and pizzas. (The personal pan sizes range from $10-$13 are another cheap eats option.) Their chicken parmesan entrée is a meal in itself for $14.25; add the salad bar for just $5.25 more (cheap eats single gal trick: bag half the parm for later and fill up on salad). Family-friendly with a kids' menu and game room, full bar, convenient access... no wonder Selkirk is an Inlander reader fave. Selkirk Pizza & Tap House, 12424 N. Division, selkirkpizza.com
Full churrasco
lunch and buffet
$15
Their slogan asks why you'd settle for just one entrée when you can try them all. Indeed, at Grille from Ipanema, the churrasco experience offers diners an endless supply of grilled meats — two flavors each of pork, chicken and beef — as well as grilled pineapple and veggies delivered to your table. Waddle over to the hot and cold salad bar for beans and rice or a hearts of palm salad and wash it all down with a glass of the tropics like passion or mango fruit ($4.75) to keep your tab under $20 and your taste buds humming. Grille from Ipanema, 2380 N. Old Mill Loop, Coeur d'Alene, grillefromipanema.com
sampler plate
$16
We like places that offer you lots: choices, flavors, food on your plate. The Blackbird does all that with its Sampler Plate combining the standard barbecue types, meats and accompaniments. Choose two of Kansas City-style beef brisket, a Carolina-style pulled pork, a Louisiana-style "hot" link or St. Louis-style pork rib, plus two sides; choose from baked beans, coleslaw, mac and cheese, potato salad and roasted corn salad. The Blackbird, 905 N. Washington, blackbirdspokane.com
Hibachi dinner
$13.75-$19.95
What is it about watching someone cook that's so fascinating? Maybe in the case of hibachi-style cooking — also known to American diners as teppanyaki — the chef cooks food quickly over a large flat griddle, often entertaining audiences with their kitchen tricks and banter as they go. So, for under $20, you get dinner and a show, from vegetables or chicken on the lower end to steak, shrimp, salmon, red snapper or calamari on the higher end. Dinner includes soup, salad with tangy dressing, stir-fried vegetables and either fried rice or noodles. Kobe Hibachi, Sushi and Bar, 2819 N. Division, facebook.com/kobespokane
Shared plate breakfast
$19.50
It's like fine dining service at everyday dining prices. For a decadent and unusual, yet very affordable, breakfast feast, flip bacon-and-eggs on its ear at Honey. Have bacon-wrapped dates ($5) and add the chorizo deviled eggs ($5). Have a few buttermilk biscuits with honey ($7) — of course — and some coffee ($2.50) and you're set for the morning... or afternoon, or whenever, because breakfast food is just a matter of perspective. Honey Eatery & Social Club, 317 Sherman Ave., Coeur d'Alene; honeyeateryandsocialclub.com ♦
