Business travelers can eat well while saving Gary Stoller, USA TODAY, 1/22/2008 Business travelers can savor great food on the road without taking a big bite out of their companies' expense budgets. For about $50 per day, it's possible to enjoy three sensational meals at restaurants in the nation's largest cities. At the request of USA TODAY, Zagat Survey identified what it considers the top two restaurants in 10 cities for breakfast under $10, lunch under $12 and dinner under $30. Zagat Survey, which publishes guidebooks based on reviews by restaurant customers, rated the restaurants on food quality. In nearly every case, the eateries are in the central city. "With so many food options available in all of these cities, you really don't have to break the bank when you're on the road for business," CEO Tim Zagat says. And the winners are Diners may have to be selective about menu choices at some restaurants to adhere to a $50-per-day budget. Zagat's picks include restaurants with familiar fare, such as mouth-watering burgers and to-die-for pizza, as well as ethnic eateries with relatively unknown delights such as arancini and arepas. At Boston's Galleria Umberto, for example, Zagat Survey says diners can lunch on arancini (baked rice balls) that "taste like heaven." The No. 1 bargain restaurant for dinner in the 10 cities — Boston, New York, Washington, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle — is New York's Caracas Arepa Bar. The small East Village eatery serves "wildly satisfying Venezuelan street food," including arepas, corn-meal bread stuffed with a choice of about 20 fillings. Maribel Araujo, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Aristides Barrios, says the best one, priced at $6.75, is stuffed with shredded beef, black beans, sweet plantains and cheese. Those fillings "bring out the essence of the arepa," she says. Zagat Survey rates Seattle's Bakery Nouveau as the No. 1 bargain restaurant for breakfast, and Chicago's Hot Doug's as the No. 1 bargain eatery for lunch. Bakery Nouveau serves "scrumptious French pastries that are well worth the calories," and Hot Doug's offers "outrageously decadent sausage sandwiches." Savoring savings Corporate travel managers relish the thought of employees eating well at a bargain price. Susan Gurley, executive director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, which represents about 2,500 corporate travel managers and suppliers, says the cost of keeping road warriors fed is on the rise. "The cost of some entrees in reasonably priced chains has crept from $12.95 to $15.95, an increase of (about) 25%," she says. Many corporate travel managers pay attention most to rising airfares, hotel and car rental costs and don't focus on strategies to reduce meal expenses, says Caleb Tiller, a spokesman for the National Business Travel Association, which represents about 2,500 travel managers and suppliers. Most companies, though, have policies limiting how much can be spent on each meal or for all meals each day, he says. Tiller is familiar with the policy of one Fortune 100 company that limits meal expenses in 38 big cities to $17 for breakfast, $17 for lunch and $51 for dinner. Total: $85. Frequent business traveler Tim Burke, a director of marketing for a packaging company, has another strategy. The Denver resident says he stays at hotels with public kitchen facilities and buys food at a local grocery store. Dan Caldwell, a vice president of a company that sells software, has a different meal strategy to save company money. When the Scottsdale, Ariz., resident travels on business to Boston, he says he avoids all hotel expenses by staying at a friend's house and treating his friend to a $150 dinner. Gurley urges business travelers to seek out budget restaurants with great food if they're conveniently located. An inexpensive restaurant doesn't help a company's budget if an expensive taxi ride is required to get there. For business travelers, finding great, cheap meals brings "greater culinary diversity, a break from the typical business trip fare and something to look forward to while being away from home," Gurley says. Best food at a cheap price Zagat Survey recommends the following restaurants for eating three tasty meals for about $50 a day: City Breakfast under $10 Lunch under $12 Dinner under $30 Boston Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe, Mike's City Diner Galleria Umberto, Flour Bakery & Cafe Giacomo's, Brown Sugar Cafe Chicago Victory's Banner, Milk & Honey Hot Doug's, Manny's Lula, Buona Terra Dallas Deli-News, Kuby's Sausage House Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse, Pei Wei Asian Diner East Wind, La Duni Las Vegas Jean-Philippe, Egg & I In-N-Out Burger, Capriotti's Sandwich Shop Lotus of Siam, Firefly Los Angeles Clementine, Roscoe's House of Chicken Sweet Lady Jane, Apple Pan Tlapazola Grill, Soot Bull Jeep Miami Original Pancake House, News Cafe Pizza Rustica, Dogma Grill Hy-Vong, La Loggia New York Amy's Bread, The City Bakery Lombardi's, Shake Shack Caracas Arepa Bar, Momofuku Noodle Bar San Francisco Dottie's True Blue Cafe, La Boulange Rosamunde Sausage Grill, La Taqueria Out the Door, Chez Maman Seattle Bakery Nouveau, Glo's Buffalo Deli, Three Girls Bakery Szechuan Chef, Serious Pie Washington Breadline, Johnny's Half Shell Thai Square, C.F. Folks 2 Amys, Dukem Source: Zagat Survey             Home | Business Travel | Demo Room | Reservations | Contact Us Travel Management Program | Groups & Meetings | Club Getaway ©1997-2008 Atlas Travel International. All rights reserved.