Five Cheap Food and Bev Pairings to Hit Up This Week

What’s the point of a meal deal list if it doesn’t include burritos? Enter El Camino Cantina, the King Street restaurant serving the Tex-Mex menu of your dreams. Think giant frozen margaritas, sizzling fajitas, buffalo wings and stacked nachos. Head in on any weekday at lunchtime to score yourself a $15 burrito and beer. Choose from chipotle chicken, brisket and queso, or black bean and veg, and pair it with a 300ml beer, house wine or soft drink of your choice. It’s a deal worthy of a lunchtime pilgrimage for you and your workmates.

Image: Anna Kucera.

Located under the Flying Cock on Brunswick Street, I Like Ramen is a large casual dining venue as ideal for groups as it is a quiet dinner with your beloved. I Like Ramen might be a 100 percent plant-based restaurant, but the ramen stacks up against meatier Brisbane counterparts. The steaming bowls are packed with ingredients like chick’n strips (not to be confused with chicken), shiitake mushrooms, tofu, kimchi, pak choy and more, and covered with your choice of broth — you can choose between rich and creamy kimchi, tonkotsu, miso or a clear vegetable soup. On Tuesdays and Fridays, you can slurp down one of these hearty soups with a beer for just $20.

Serving high quality hoppy and dark beers alongside all round good vibes, Range Brewing has become Brisbane’s go-to brewery and taproom since it opened in 2018. Located a two-minute walk from Gasworks in Newstead, the brewery offers more than just fresh and tasty beer. Pizza fans can enjoy stretched sourdough pizzas, complete with ingredients like provolone, prosciutto, buffalo ricotta, truffle oil and Italian sausage. Pop in on Thursdays from 4pm to enjoy a freshly brewed beer and a stretched sourdough pizza for only $20. The Bosco pizza is an absolute must and goes down splendidly with a Range Brewing IPA.

Yep, we love Mexican food so much that we’ve found another cuisine-themed dinner and drink deal. And this one is perfect for when you’re after a little hair of the dog (or should we say duck?) on a Sunday afternoon. The Defiant Duck is here to supply the heavenly combination of margs and tacos. From 3–5pm each week, $35 will get you two delicious tacos — veggie, slow-cooked brisket or pulled pork — and two hours of margaritas to wash it down. If tequila isn’t your thing, enjoy bottomless mojitos instead. Resident artists, The Vibe Creators, will be spinning R&B tunes from 5pm onwards. The Defiant Duck has a host of other food specials throughout the week, including $5 (yes, really) burgers and hotdogs with a drink purchase on Tuesdays.

Forget about your Sunday blues, Bloodhound Bar has what it takes to put a smile on your dial with one kilo of wings and a jug of beer for $25 on Sundays. Don’t be fooled by the cheap deal — the bar oozes with character, ambience, high quality local and international craft beer and tasty meals. Above the charming, old-fashioned pub on Brunswick Street, you’ll find more relaxed seating areas, which double as a gig space and cosy seating for date night.