If you’re a broke student back in Richmond and already sick of the dining hall’s gray meatloaf, relax, this city won’t let you starve. The food here has always been a patchwork of dives, diners, and half-chaotic kitchens that somehow keep the student body alive. You don’t need a trust fund, just a few crumpled bills and a willingness to follow your nose down the block.
Students at VCU and VUU just got in last weekend, which means the familiar migration has begun, bleary-eyed freshmen wandering Broad Street at 1 AM, upperclassmen trying to remember which corner still sells a decent slice for less than an Uber ride. Richmond’s cheap eats aren’t just meals; they’re a rite of passage.
821 Cafe
825 W Cary St.
For broke students, 821 Café is where vegans, vegetarians, and meat-eaters can actually share a table. The pancakes are big, the biscuits hit the spot, and yeah, some plates lean on soy or tofu but they do it right. The place itself feels like a mash-up of a diner and a dive bar, affordable, filling, and unapologetically Richmond.
Aladdin Express
801 W Broad St.
Aladdin Express has been fueling broke students and barflies since flip phones were still a thing, and somehow it hasn’t bothered to change. The steak and cheese subs are greasy miracles, it’s cheap, heavy, and exactly what you want at 2 AM. Prices haven’t drifted much in twenty years, which makes it feel like you’ve stumbled into a time capsule, minus the dust. For VCU students, eating here isn’t optional.
Benny Ventano’s Pizza (aka Big Ass Pizza)
2501 W Main St.
The name isn’t clever, it’s just true: the slices here are obscene. A few bucks gets you a slab of pizza roughly the size of your torso and a soda to help it slide down. It’s the kind of food you don’t so much eat as wrestle with, usually after midnight when your better instincts have gone to bed. You won’t finish it gracefully, but you’ll remember it.
Beauvine Burger
1509 W Main St.
Beauvine isn’t trying to reinvent the burger, it just makes one of the best near campus, period. Big, messy, perfectly seared patties stacked into combos that already feel like Richmond classics. The duck fries are the move, crispy and indulgent in a way that makes plain fries feel like an afterthought. Inside, there’s a big bar for the over-21 crowd, the kind of place where you can kill an afternoon with a burger in one hand and a beer in the other. For students, it’s the closest thing to a splurge without tipping into “fine dining.”
Blanchard’s Coffee
26 N Morris St.
Blanchard’s is Richmond’s caffeine church, and students are the most faithful congregation. The coffee’s strong enough to kick you back into consciousness after an all-nighter, and with multiple locations around town, there’s always one close when you’re circling the academic drain. The vibe is clean, modern, maybe even a little too put-together for how wrecked you’ll feel when you walk in, but the brew doesn’t lie. You come here to survive exams, to plot your next bad decision, or just to remind yourself the world still exists beyond campus.
BRAVE CAPTAIN
729 W Cary St
Brave Captain feels like a dive dreamed up after one too many late-night screenings of Jaws. There’s a shrine to Quint, the salty, half-mad shark hunter, watching over the bar like a patron saint of bad decisions. Drinks are cheap, the food’s solid, and the whole place has that cozy, lived-in feel you only get when the people running it actually know what makes a good dive tick.
Christian’s Pizza
404 N Harrison St.
Christian’s is where the night really ends, not at the bar, not at the party, but hunched over a paper plate at 2 AM with grease running down your wrist. The slices are cheap, fast, and, after midnight, almost criminally underpriced. At $2.95 a pop, it’s less a meal than a mercy. Every VCU student eventually stumbles through those doors, blurry-eyed and broke, and learns the gospel: Christian’s doesn’t care who you are, it just feeds you until you can stagger home.
City Dogs
1309 W Main St.
City Dogs is proof that sometimes the simplest food is the most honest. Ten bucks or less gets you a hot dog buried under chili, cheese, or whatever mess you think counts as dinner. It’s greasy, it’s loud, and it’s exactly what you want at midnight when you’ve got just enough cash left for a dog and maybe a beer. No frills, no pretense, just meat in a bun keeping Richmond students fed.
Cobra Cabana
901 W Marshall St.
Cobra Cabana feels like a dive bar dreamed up by a metalhead with a soft spot for vegans. The walls scream, the music growls, and the food hits harder than it has any right to. Burgers that drip, carne asada fries built for regret, and cheap drinks that don’t ask questions, it’s all here until 2 AM.
Galaxy Diner
3109 W Cary St.
Galaxy Diner is Richmond’s time warp: all chrome, neon, and a menu that doesn’t pretend to care about your arteries. Students have been sliding into those booths for years, chasing burgers with milkshakes the size of small planets. It’s not health food, not even close, but it’s cheap, and unapologetically fun.
Garnett’s Café
2001 Park Ave.
Garnett’s is small, almost too small, but that’s part of the charm. Tucked into the Fan, it feels like an oasis where the city slows down for a minute. The sandwiches are the draw, they’re stacked, messy, some of them drowning gloriously in gravy, and they’re worth showing up early for, because the tables disappear fast. It’s not a student free-for-all like some of these other spots; Garnett’s is quieter, softer around the edges, and maybe the best low-key date night in the neighborhood. A little corner of Richmond that feels like it belongs to you, at least until the next couple squeezes in.
Get Tight Lounge
1104 W Main St.
Get Tight Lounge is Richmond’s reminder that cheap beer and live music still belong together. These days they’re even slinging lunch and brunch, but the soul of the place is still night-time: loud bands, crowded tables, and students trying to stretch twenty bucks into a whole evening.
Govinda Vegan & Vegetarian Restaurant
812 W Marshall St.
Govinda is the kind of place that proves eating cheap doesn’t have to mean eating garbage. Tucked on Marshall, it serves up Indian food that’s fragrant, filling, and mercifully affordable. Vegans and vegetarians swear by it, but even the most dedicated carnivore can walk out full and happy. The spices linger, the portions are generous, and for a broke student, it feels like you’ve hacked the system.
Got Dumplings
309 N Laurel St.
The menu’s simple: dumplings, soups, a few Asian drinks to wash it all down. No frills, no gimmicks, just cheap, hot food that fills the hole and gets you back on your feet. Students shuffle in broke and tired, shuffle out fed and slightly less miserable. It’s not trying to be anything more than it is, and that’s exactly why it works.
Greenbriar Cafe and Coffeehouse
1211 W Main St.
Tucked on Main, it’s got that Fan District vibe: sunny mornings, steady people-watching, and coffee that actually tastes like coffee. The bagel sandwich with house-made sausage, egg, and cheese is the move, greasy in the best way and strong enough to soak up last night’s mistakes. It’s breakfast without pretense, just the right start before class or whatever else the day throws at you.
GWARbar
217 W Clay St.
GWARbar is exactly what it sounds like, a dive soaked in the spirit (and maybe the fake blood) of Richmond’s most infamous export. It’s rough around the edges, proudly weird, and built for students who like their burgers messy and their company even messier. The food’s solid, the drinks cheap, and the regulars look like they walked out of a GWAR show twenty years ago and never left.
Halal Munchies
815 W Grace St.
Halal Munchies is Richmond’s no-nonsense answer to the eternal late-night hunger crisis. A casual spot slinging gyros, lamb platters, and their beloved chicken over rice. Portions are huge, flavors bold, and the staff treat you like family even if it’s your first time through the door. It’s the kind of spot that turns skepticism into addiction like one platter and suddenly you’re a regular. Students, delivery drivers, locals, everyone knows this place is a lifeline.
Harrison Street Cafe
402 N. Harrison St.
Harrison Street Café has been quietly keeping Richmond’s vegetarians and vegans fed for years, no lecture required. It’s a cozy spot right on campus where the coffee is strong, the menu rotates just enough to keep things interesting, and the plates are cheap enough to make you forget how broke you are. The vegan burrito’s a classic, the beer-battered tofu sandwich is amazing, and if you catch the vegan mac & cheese before it disappears again, count yourself lucky. Even carnivores cave here because good food is good food.
Hot For Pizza
1301 W Leigh St.
Hot For Pizza looks like it was built by someone who never let go of their 80’s posters. The neon screams, the slices sprawl across the plate, and the whole place feels like a love letter to cheap beer and bad decisions. You come here hungry, you leave full, and maybe with a new drinking buddy you didn’t ask for.
Jamaica House Restaurant
416 W Broad St.
Jamaica House doesn’t need Instagram to tell you it’s good, the food does all the talking. The Jamaican patties are cheap, flaky perfection, and the jerk chicken could probably feed you twice for under ten bucks. It’s unpretentious, filling, and unapologetically bold, the kind of spot that keeps students alive without ever pandering to them.
Little Mexico
1328 W Cary St.
Little Mexico has been feeding broke VCU students since forever, and it hasn’t lost its edge. Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, the usual suspects, done right and cheap enough to keep you coming back three nights a week. The chips and salsa hit the table before you can blink, and the guac has earned its reputation as some of the best in Richmond. It’s not fancy, it’s not polished, but it’s exactly what you want after class.
Main Street Dragon
1537 W Main St.
Main Street Dragon wears its anime heart on its sleeve and keeps its prices student-friendly. It’s the spot for bao buns, ramen bowls, and a happy hour that actually respects a budget. The vibe is relaxed, the crowd is welcoming, and the menu won’t punish your wallet.
ALADDIN EXPRESS
801 W Broad St.
Aladdin Express has been fueling broke students and barflies since flip phones were still a thing, and somehow it hasn’t bothered to change. The steak and cheese subs are greasy miracles, it’s cheap, heavy, and exactly what you want at 2 AM. Prices haven’t drifted much in twenty years, which makes it feel like you’ve stumbled into a time capsule, minus the dust. For VCU students, eating here isn’t optional.
Nate’s Bagels
21 S Allen Ave.
Nate’s doesn’t just make bagels, it makes the best bagels in Richmond. Boiled, baked, chewy in the right places, with enough heft to carry whatever you pile on top. Students line up early, because when they’re gone, they’re gone.
Rick’s Pizza
913 B W Grace St.
Rick’s isn’t pretty, but pizza rarely is when it’s this good. Their curry-base pie with pesto has become the stuff of Richmond student lore is weird on paper, perfect in practice. Six toppings are included, which makes every order feel like you’ve beaten the system. The danger is that you’ll keep ordering until your wallet waves a white flag.
Sticky Rice
2232 W Main St.
Sticky Rice is part sushi joint, part dive, part karaoke stage and somehow it all works. The sushi is cheap, the Tuesday karaoke is unhinged, and the bar has been keeping students upright (or not) for decades. For many, Sticky Rice isn’t just a restaurant, it’s the backdrop to half their college stories. Read our story HERE.
Sugar Shack
1001 N Lombardy St.
Sugar Shack is Richmond’s donut dealer, and for students it’s basically a food group. Coffee and a glazed will get you through the morning, but the real dare is the Luther Burger, a full-on burger jammed between two donuts. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Sugar Shack is proof that sometimes excess is the point.
Thai Top 10
911 1/2 W Grace St.
Thai Top 10 is Richmond’s low-key Thai haven, serving pad Thai and curries that taste like they should cost twice as much. Whether you go tofu or chicken, the portions are solid and the prices are almost suspiciously fair. It’s the kind of hidden gem that students cling to, because it feels like a secret worth keeping.
Village Cafe
1001 W Grace St.
Village Café has been holding court for half a century, and for good reason. It’s the city’s all-purpose dining room for breakfast, burgers, milkshakes, whatever you need to make it through another semester. Students, eccentrics, lifers like everybody ends up here eventually. To eat at Village is to join the lineage of Richmond itself.
VCU On-Campus Food Carts – Monroe Park Campus
The food carts scattered across VCU’s campus are the wildcards, the scrappy street-food operas that play out between lectures and libraries. Planted near Shafer Street and the James Branch Cabell Library, they’re not polished, but they make the backpack trot worth it. Mediterranean wraps rub elbows with noodle bowls, empanadas sizzle alongside plant-based and gluten-free options. Every cart feels like a roaming embassy of taste, serving up global flavor without needing your entire meal plan.
Photo from Benny Ventanos Richmond, VA
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