While in New York last month I had the opportunity to eat at some amazing places. This isn’t super unusual—I make a point to eat at interesting and (hopefully) delicious restaurants anytime I travel. This time, however, the thing that struck me was that each of these eateries not only had amazing food but was very affordable as well. Not an easy task!

The first night we tried a new-ish barbeque place in the East Village called Mighty Quinn’s. You probably know I’m from Texas, where we basically invented several types of barbecue. My husband smokes briskets on a regular basis, and I have high standards. I eat it all the time at home, so it wouldn’t have been my first choice in New York. However, my sister has made it her mission to find the best smoked meat in New York, so off to Mighty Quinn’s we went. We tried the shopped beef and pulled pork, plus the burnt end beans, slaw, broccoli salad, sweet potato casserole, and the Pomme Frites. Honestly, the meat was good, but over-sauced. I like to actually taste the meat, and the sauce was the star of the show here. The sides were twists on the traditional potato salad, coleslaw, and beans, and they were fantastic. We ate every single bite of all of them (and scraped the bottom of the dish). If you are a homesick Texan this place will make you feel right at home.

The next night, my sister and I met the talented and fabulous Kat Griffin from Corporette at Crispo in Chelsea. The food was incredible, the portions were large, and the prices were solid. We started with the fig, prosciutto, and mozzarella appetizer and it was so flavorful. I had the Chicken Milanese, which was much lighter and less sauce-heavy than I’ve experienced before. My sister was very pleased with the Pasta Carbonara—she considers herself a bit of a Carbonara connoisseur, so high praise indeed. I forget exactly what Kat had—a white fish with veggies, maybe—and she also enjoyed her food. We all left feeling quite full, but still had leftovers.

The last afternoon, some guys at the office in Queens got takeout from a place called Forest Hills Station House. Y’all, if you are ever near this place for any reason YOU MUST GO. It was incredible. We got an assortment of dishes and everything I tried was superb. The meatballs—amazing. Brussels sprouts—cooked in a hard cider reduction with bacon—killer. The truffle fries were delicious. The dessert menu has a fried Snickers bar (no, I am not kidding) so of course we had to try it. It tasted as good as you would expect, only richer and more satisfying. It kind of felt like you could close your eyes and point to something on the menu and you would not be disappointed. I am kicking myself for not taking pictures of the food, but they were in ugly takeout containers. Just trust me when I tell you that I will find a way to go there again and you should too.

Readers, tried any good food lately?