Editor’s Note: Every Monday, we feature one of our readers in VendrTV’s $10 A Day challenge to show how they spend $10 on street food in 24 hours! Think you can eat the street on $10 a day? Shoot me an email at amy@vendr.tv.

Eating three meals on $10 was harder than I expected. Luckily, I got off to a good start with breakfast for $2 from Captain Cream Cheese Bagels in the Short North arts district. Street food usually comes from a cart or truck, but Captain Cream Cheese is a little different. It’s housed in a converted parking attendants hut. At night, the space is used by Mikey’s Late Night Slice, but the Captain takes the helm by day.

Zach (aka Captain Cream Cheese) and his girlfriend Lindsay make their own bagels, cream cheeses, and soups from scratch. I decided that Captain Cream Cheese counted as street food, because it’s smaller than most trucks and operates entirely in line with their spirit. With outdoor seating in the parking lot, it’s a great spot to people watch.

I had an everything bagel egg sandwich with Ohio ramps (wild leeks) which are a springtime special. Zach threw in some red peppers and carrots as well. The bagels are dense and chewy, and of the hole-less variety. The egg was well-cooked and the ramps added a garlicky kick. It was an amazingly satisfying sandwich for $2.

Given my involvement with Taco Trucks in Columbus, a website that tracks, well, taco trucks in Columbus, it was pretty obvious what my lunch and dinner choices would be. But with over 25 trucks in Columbus it was hard to choose. I was craving a panbazo, but at $6 it wouldn’t leave me enough for dinner. Instead, I headed to one of my favorite trucks, Los Potosinos, on the west side of town. Los Potosinos is famous for its pollo al carbon, but with my limited budget that wasn’t an option today.

I chose one of the cheaper menu items – ‘Tostada Borrachas’. Borrachas means “drunk” and apparently this dish is the hangover cure of choice in San Luis Potosi (where the owner Lidia is originally from). It consists of a crisp tostada topped with beans, nopales (cactus), lots of hot sauce, lettuce, and some queso blanco. At $2.50, it’s an inexpensive and satisfying lunch but you’ll definitely want some money for a drink – it’s spicy hot! Lidia was experimenting with a new menu item – chiles rellenos – and gave us some to try with our lunch. Eggy batter, poblano peppers, and lots of gooey cheese. We gave her the thumbs up.

Dinner was at another favorite west side taco truck, Los Guachos. What makes Los Guachos stand out is their spit-cooked al pastor. It’s what they specialize in and what everyone orders. Whether it’s in a taco, torta, or quesadilla, it’s the stuff that cravings are made of. I went for a $3.50 gringa, which is a flour tortilla topped with grilled caramelized cheese, al pastor, pineapple, onion, and cilantro. When topped with some guacamole sauce, it is indescribably good. I wonder if this is where the idea for ham and pineapple pizza came from.

With $2 left, sure I’ll have a $1.50 al pastor taco. Hey, it’s Tuesday buy-one-get-one al pastor taco day at Los Guachos! Make that two.

With 50 cents to spare, I squeaked out three solid meals. Not bad at all.

• 

  $10 A DAY

  The Original NYC Street Food
• 

  VIDEO

  Honest Tom’s Tacos (Philadelphia, PA)
• 

  VIDEO

  Torchy’s Tacos (Austin, TX)