17 verified · newest checked June 2, 2026
Midday plates, weekday-only deals, and lunch menus worth the trip. Coverage is strongest in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and the Brazos Valley today and grows where users submit. Human-verified, no account needed.
All-day lunch with hand-folded empanadas and the empanada flight
Lunch special · $$ · East Austin
Chef Reina Morris's all-day Argentine room. The empanada flight is the quickest way to taste the kitchen without ordering the lomito.
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Counter-service lunch sandwiches from $13 on house bread
Lunch special · $$ · American & Comfort · East Austin
The Odd Duck team's all-day market and bakery. Order at the counter, eat on the patio, no reservation, no fuss. The hot chicken at $13 is the most-ordered.
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Soul-food meat-and-three lunch with house mates
Lunch special · $$ · East Austin
A Manor Road soul-food room that has fed UT and the eastside since 1998. The vegetable plate is the value play; the chicken-fried steak is the reason most regulars come.
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Steakhouse bar lunch with Akaushi short rib and Frito pie
Lunch special · $$ · Downtown
Bohanan's is a $90-steak room at dinner. At lunch, the downstairs bar is one of the only ways to eat that kitchen's food without the steakhouse check.
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Enchiladas Tejanas lunch plate, $5.29
Lunch special · $$ · Tacos & Mexican · Downtown
A King William classic that holds the line on cheap weekday plates while the neighborhood gentrifies around it. The Tejanas plate is one of the few sub-$6 sit-down lunches left downtown-adjacent.
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French-style lunch sandwiches from $8.50 on house bread
Lunch special · $$ · Stone Oak
More boulangerie than coffee shop. The pesto-side-salad croissant sandwich is a quieter lunch than the Pearl can give you, for less money.
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Daily lunch specials with enchiladas, tacos, and grilled plates
Lunch special · $$ · Tacos & Mexican · Stone Oak
Aldaco has run her kitchens since 1989 and treats the lunch menu as a real menu, not an afterthought. The crema chipotle on the grilled chicken is the giveaway.
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Daily plate specials Mon-Fri — a different protein each weekday
Lunch special · $ · Tacos & Mexican · North Central
A 1937 Tex-Mex institution running a rotating weekday plate menu. The chalupa plate on Tuesday is the local order; the green chicken enchiladas on Friday are the editorial pick. Plate format means the protein, the rice, and the beans show up together for around the price of a sandwich elsewhere.
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Sandwich lunch on house bread, $15 to $19
Lunch special · $$ · Pizza & Italian · Tarrytown
A Clarksville sister to Jeffrey's that the regulars use as their lunch counter. The Italian hoagie is the order.
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Weekday lunch from $14 with pastas, salads, and pies
Lunch special · $$ · Pizza & Italian · Hyde Park
Hyde Park's long-running neighborhood trattoria, and one of the few places in central Austin that still treats weekday lunch as its own service rather than an extension of brunch.
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Lunch 2 Step: sandwich and a half side for $15
Lunch special · $$ · Asian · South Congress
Aaron Franklin and Tyson Cole's smokehouse runs the cleanest fixed-price lunch in town. Fifteen dollars, in and out, and it's still their pork.
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Weekday lunch plates and lunch fajitas under $14
Lunch special · $$ · Tacos & Mexican · Northwest / Loop 410
+1 more deal here
A patio-and-fountains Mexican institution that built its reputation on weekend mornings, but the lunch menu is the everyday reason to come. Smaller portions, same kitchen.
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Lunch six days a week with house-made pasta and cast-iron pizza
Lunch special · $$ · Pizza & Italian · Pearl District
Jason Dady's Italian room inside the Museum of Art is open for lunch when most of his peers aren't. Eat on the river-facing patio, then walk the SAMA galleries off the same ticket.
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French bar lunch with the Pascal Burger and croque madame
Lunch special · $$ · University
A French gastropub a block off the Drag where the Pascal Burger has held best-burger lists for six years running. Cheaper at lunch than at dinner, and quieter.
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Weekday lunch: $10.85 entrée or $12.75 pick-two combo, Mon-Fri 11am-2:30pm
Lunch special · $$ · Medical Center
The combo is the move: $12.75 for two entrées plus the standard wonton-rice-tea sides is genuinely below the $15-18 you'd pay à la carte. A SA institution since 1983, which the daily-special rotation honors.
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