Best affordable takeout meals in Miami

COVID’s devastating impacts have completely revolutionized society’s relationship with restaurants. 

Hungry customers are relying on delivery apps to order from their favorite restaurants. The number of orders DoorDash receives tripled, even though restaurants in Miami-Dade are working at half-capacity. So, here is a list of five cheap places to order takeout.

Guacamole and chips, iced matcha latte boba tea, iced thai boba tea latte, coco curry wrap from Special Tea Lounge and Café (Julia Gomez/SFMN)

Special Tea Lounge and Café
10766 Coral Way
Miami, Florida
305-554-8327
Special Tea is a café near Florida International UNiversity’s main campus that specializes in tea. Their focus on sustainability and environmentalism separates them from other restaurants in Miami. Their delivellos vies come in eco-friendly packaging. Dishes with meat or animal byproduct have vegetarian alternatives, and most have vegan alternatives. 

Their iced boba tea latte comes in three flavors, vanilla chai, thai tea or matcha. The tea comes with a special straw to slurp up the chewy tapioca pearls along with the tea.

The tea is filling on its own, but their food shouldn’t be missed out on. The coco curry wrap is made with juicy masala curry sous vide chicken. The sweet coconut lassi dipping sauce that comes with it elevates the flavor and spice of the curry. The wrap costs $8.50 and has both vegan and vegetarian alternatives. 

Order it with a side of guacamole and chips. The guacamole has a tangy flavor but has to be eaten fresh or it could turn a brownish color sitting in the fridge. Top off the meal with a vegan chocolate chip cookie and a large specialty iced boba tea.

Steamed shrimp dumplings and pan-fried pork dumplings from Kon Chau (Julia Gomez/SFMN)

Kon Chau
8376 SW 40th St
Miami
305-553-7799
Kon Chau is a Chinese restaurant that offers dim sum, a wide range of small dishes made up of a variety of different food.  Currently, people can’t dine in, but they offer takeout and delivery. 

This restaurant stands out because of its affordable menu and big portions. The pan-fried pork dumplings at $3.75  comes with three plump dumplings that are easy to share. Their wonton noodle soup, which is different from their wonton soup, costs $7.50. Unlike traditional wonton soup, it’s a large serving of broth and noodles topped with steamed bok choy and shrimp wontons. It’s filling and the perfect dish for people looking to eat a hearty meal on a low budget.  

Todo quesadilla from Los Verdes (Julia Gomez/SFMN)

Los Verdes
2426 SW 137th Ave.
Miami
305-480-6775
Los Verdes, a Columbian restaurant, is home to the todo quesadilla. Steak, chicken breast and bacon, are covered with mozzarella cheese and wrapped in a toasted tortilla. The toasted tortilla and crushed potato chips sprinkled on top make it crunchy. The pink sauce, special pineapple sauce and Los Verdes sauce are tangy and bring out the savory taste of the meat. It’s hard to eat without making a mess. One Todo Quesadilla costs $12.50. The dish is big enough to share, but who wants to do that? 

Red velvet, s’mores, abuela’s flan and blueberry lavender cupcakes from Raffa’s Cupcakes (Julia Gomez/SFMN)

Raffa’s Cupcakes
9300 Fontainebleau Blvd.
Miami
786-614-1974
Sweets lovers rejoice! Raffa’s Cupcakes opened in summer, in the midst of the pandemic. People can order their creative cupcakes through delivery apps like Uber Eats or pick up their order from the store. 

A house favorite is Abuela’s Flan, said Raffaella Crispim, the owner. The vanilla cupcake has a flan filling and is topped with cream cheese icing and caramel. The blueberry lavender cupcake has pastel purple icing and will look gorgeous on anyone’s Instagram feed. The hints of herbal lavender and the tangy blueberries in the cupcake’s filling balances out the sugary icing. Each cupcake costs $3.50. Through Uber Eats, diners who spend $15 at Raffa’s receive a $3 discount.

Mimo Roll from Moshi Moshi (Julia Gomez/SFMN)

Moshi Moshi
7232 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami
844-466-6744
Moshi Moshi is a Japanese restaurant that offers buy-one-get-one free deals through Uber Eats. Currently, they’re offering the BOGO deal on the Mimo roll, an inside-out roll with shrimp tempura wrapped inside, topped with spicy tuna tartare and drizzled with sweet eel sauce. One Mimo roll would usually cost $14. Moshi’s sushi always tastes fresh. The rolls that aren’t on sale, like the tuna roll, are simple and satisfying. 

Dip the tuna rolls in a side of kimchi sauce to add some spice. The only downside is ordering one roll won’t be filling, and that can make Moshi Moshi the most expensive restaurant on this list.

Julia Gomez is a student of journalism at Florida International University and hopes to become an investigative journalist. She is experienced in writing about politics and pop culture, and has a passion for music and photography