1. BurgerFi
A new player to The Strip, BurgerFi, specializes in quality burgers made with all natural ingredients and special attention to detail. While the portions are certainly smaller than the usual $10 price warrants, you’ll never feel unsatisfied after eating a burger with flavors you can actually taste. My personal recommendation: Try the VegeFi Burger and take in all the taste of a real hamburger with none of the guilt.
2. Stefano’s Chicago Style Pizza
To put it bluntly, you don’t get what you pay for here. With the typical small pizza and drink running up to around $15, you expect to get a quality pizza for the amount of money you’ve dished out. What you get instead is a mediocre product that, while certainly stomachable, will leaving you wondering why you didn’t just order Dominoes and save yourself the trouble of going out.
3. Gus’s Good Times Deli
You didn’t think I’d leave this one out did you? A staple not only of Strip dining, but of UT in general, Gus’s offers exactly what it promises, delicious, greasy food perfect for the late night craving. While it’s certainly had a checkered past when it comes to health records, the deli more than makes up for it with food perfectly matched for the college palate. The bottom line: anywhere Peyton Manning eats is good enough for me.
4. Cookout
Let’s be honest, this place is just a step above McDonald’s. But at such cheap prices, who really cares? After a late night on the town, this place truly stands above the rest when it comes to perfect midnight food options. It’s definitely worth nothing that you should go at night without a few friends, as this place is noted for hosting its fair share of late night brawls.
5. Jai Dee Thai & Japanese Cuisine
If you’ve never heard of it, chances are you probably don’t eat sushi anyways, so just go ahead and skip this part of the list. If you are brave enough for Asian Cuisine, Jai Dee is right up your alley, not because its particularly amazing sushi, but because it's the only sushi restaurant on the strip (No, I’m not counting Chaiyos). Again, you may feel like you’re overpaying after a meal here, but the food is generally flavorful and the wide variety of both sushi and Thai allows for multiple options depending on your mood. For the especially adventurous eater, request a spice level off the 1-5 chart and put to the test just how much of a badass you think you are.
6. Sunspot
I call this my “date spot” for a reason. With a comfortable atmosphere and a diverse menu with quality options, Sunspot feels like it belongs on Market Square rather than with its college garnered competitors on The Strip. If you don’t mind spending close to $20 for a meal, call up that special someone, take in the fall air on the restaurant’s porch, and enjoy.
