Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10 • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#111

Post by 9x39 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:40 PM UTC

tantalor wrote: post #83

jawns wrote: post #21

This feels like GasBuddy, but for food. One of the reasons GasBuddy took off was that it wasn't just based on community reports; there was an incentive for gas stations themselves to accurately report their prices and keep them up to date. It seems like you're trying to discourage businesses from participating (e.g. by not accepting sponsored placements), and that will have implications for your growth rate. I think…

Not really. GasBuddy has a standard: price per gallon But this is just a map of the lower-priced items, which are available everywhere. You can find a cheap sandwich, bowl of soup, slice of pizza, or taco virtually anywhere. There is no corresponding standard point of comparison (no "gallon").

There's the calorie. Not always a good metric of health, but it's still a signal.

$/cal varies meaningfully between home cooking, Costco, Chipotle, fast casual, sit-down, frozen meals, etc.

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#112

Post by 9x39 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:41 PM UTC

mminer237 wrote: post #100

jaep1 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you so much gffrd. You know, my dream is to have some kind of movement where people rally to fight inflation and tipflation. Last few years, we seen some crazy food price increases and it seems like its gonna get worse. If enough people find value in affortable prices, and people go to those restaurants that offer good deals, either as lunch special or weekly promotion, more restaurant will try to offer these k…

To really stop inflation, the fed would have to ramp up interest rates, stop printing money, and Congress would have to cut spending and raise taxes. It's worth it to reward businesses who offer cheap prices, but inflation is inevitable without severe austerity measures.

Could cut demand instead, if we're imagining things.

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#113

Post by jaep1 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:42 PM UTC

mminer237 wrote: post #100

jaep1 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you so much gffrd. You know, my dream is to have some kind of movement where people rally to fight inflation and tipflation. Last few years, we seen some crazy food price increases and it seems like its gonna get worse. If enough people find value in affortable prices, and people go to those restaurants that offer good deals, either as lunch special or weekly promotion, more restaurant will try to offer these k…

To really stop inflation, the fed would have to ramp up interest rates, stop printing money, and Congress would have to cut spending and raise taxes. It's worth it to reward businesses who offer cheap prices, but inflation is inevitable without severe austerity measures.

Interest rate is killing me at restaurant, grocery and my my retirement accout T-T

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#114

Post by jaep1 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:43 PM UTC

ssl-3 wrote: post #106

jaep1 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like you can create similar meal yourself? That might actually help get more engagement from users.. not sure how much it will cost me though, AI API costs a lot these days T-T

Clever caching? There's only so many different ways to build a single item like a hamburger, or a chicken salad sandwich. Eventually, ~all of the necessary recipes will be created naturally just by using the thing, and these results can be cached forever and categorized with keywords. After that: Subsequent hits look to the cache for a good match rate on keywords, and present an already-existing recipe if it exists.

o man you are on to something here! Noted down!

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#115

Post by nonameiguess » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:48 PM UTC

I also live in Dallas and had a feeling Fuel City would be #1 or close to it. Apparently, there's a taco place a few miles away in Bishop Arts that is 2 cents cheaper, but I bet they don't have outdoor block parties with live DJs, longhorns on site, a swimming pool with a statue of a velociraptor, or a huge neon sign over a gas station saying "Where Dreams Come True." I'm sticking with Fuel City. There are downsides hard to account for with price alone, though. Riverfront Blvd has been under construction for 7 years and hasn't had usable sidewalks in longer than I can remember, so you have no choice but to drive there. Plenty of other places I can walk to, so in practice, that's usually what I do.

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#116

Post by jaep1 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:49 PM UTC

eightturn wrote: post #89

neat site. just added a spot for Savannah, GA. I submitted my email for a magic link, but nothing arrived (yet) fyi.

I see someone just posted a spot in GA! Thank you =)

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#117

Post by jaep1 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:49 PM UTC

tekla wrote: post #99

OsrsNeedsf2P wrote: post #38

거지맵 meaning beggar is a generous translation of the word

There aren't that many interesting ways to translate 거지. I suppose you could use bum, vagrant, lowlife, but beggar is close enough.

Yes, we had 100 different name for this project, but nothing really stuck. cheapfoodmap is as close I can get =)

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#118

Post by fitzroy » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:52 PM UTC

Would love a gluten-free / dietary restriction filter, or at least a filter where gluten/wheat is not an ingredient (separate from cross-contamination). Unfortunately, cheap-ish food is harder to find with dietary restrictions. Even filtering by Asian, Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, etc., would be helpful.

Also, a way to verify or link to the menu item, hours, etc., at a place would also be helpful.

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#119

Post by jaep1 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:53 PM UTC

nonameiguess wrote: post #115

I also live in Dallas and had a feeling Fuel City would be #1 or close to it. Apparently, there's a taco place a few miles away in Bishop Arts that is 2 cents cheaper, but I bet they don't have outdoor block parties with live DJs, longhorns on site, a swimming pool with a statue of a velociraptor, or a huge neon sign over a gas station saying "Where Dreams Come True." I'm sticking with Fuel City. There are downsides…

Good to see you! I justed added Fuel City as part of the list. I will actually go there to try them myself and shoot a video as well. I have been eating out and filming everyday and posting it on Instagram and Tiktok as promotion, best food deals in Dallas. Check it out if you are interested =) (@cheapfoodmap)

Re: Show HN: CheapFoodMap – A map of good meals under $10

#120

Post by jaep1 » Wed, Jul 29, 2026, 10:57 PM UTC

fitzroy wrote: post #118

Would love a gluten-free / dietary restriction filter, or at least a filter where gluten/wheat is not an ingredient (separate from cross-contamination). Unfortunately, cheap-ish food is harder to find with dietary restrictions. Even filtering by Asian, Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, etc., would be helpful. Also, a way to verify or link to the menu item, hours, etc., at a place would also be helpful.

We added direct link to Google maps since many would be preferred way to get full detail about the restaurants. (You can either click google review or dedicated Google Maps button)

We will add more filters this week!