Best Bites On A Budget -- Nancy Leson's Top 10 Cheap Eats Of '97

When all the hot dates, business lunches, birthday bashes, visiting relatives, anniversary dinners and other Important Meals Out are removed from the yearly restaurant equation, most of us spend our dining dollars on budget bites. And that means messy barbecue ribs, charbroiled cheeseburgers, slurpable udon, Caesar salads, thin-crust pizzas, garlicky gyros, spicy Phad Thai and over-stuffed burritos (to say nothing of change from a $20 bill).

I've certainly had more than my share of the above this past year - for better or (as was sometimes the case) for worse. And while you might not use the excuse that you eat for a living to explain a growing resemblance to an overstuffed burrito, I use that excuse honestly and often.

But my gain is your gain, so here, in alphabetical order, are my top 10 1997 Budget Bites restaurants - the places that made that gain especially worthwhile.

A.P. Barbara's, 4025 196th St. S.W., Lynnwood (425-672-3666). Lynnwood? Who knew? Part Greek taverna, part pancake house, part pizza parlor and part steak house - Barbara's has something for everyone. In my case, an exceptional burger, finger-lickin' baby-back ribs and Greek-accented linguine that would wow 'em down in Swelltown.

Armadillo Barbecue, 13109 N.E. 175th St., Woodinville (425-481-1417). If hell were a barbecue joint it would look like Armadillo: cracked, bare floors, blood-red walls sporting taxidermied animals, and a jug of pig snouts on the counter. But I'd go to hell and back for another slab of 'dillo pork ribs, a joint of smoky chicken and one of their hhh-hhh-hot links.

Bait House Coffee Shop, 5517 Seaview Ave. N.W., Seattle (206-784-3016). There's more to Ballard Bait & Tackle than hooks, lines and sinkers. I demolished a cheesy, grilled crabmeat sandwich in this tiny dockside cafe, downed an icy Ballard Bitter, watched sailboats slide by, cracked jokes with a crusty old fisherman and fell for the lure of it all.

Georgia's Greek Deli, 323 N.W. 85th St., Seattle (206-783-1228). Homemade pastries tempt on a counter from behind which Laki Kazakos manages to cook, then serve, radiating genuine warmth - a gift, no doubt, learned from his mother, Georgia. From Greek omelettes to horiatiki salads, moussaka to kalamarakia to gyros, they've got it and I loved it.

Gourmondo Cafe & Catering Co., 1518 Western Ave., Seattle (206-587-0190). This tiny lunchery, painted robin's-egg blue with a quartet of cafe tables, is now primarily a catering kitchen and box-lunch business. Mediterranean-accented salads, pastas and panini make this secret spot finer than any cheap-eat has a right to be.

Mona's Lounge, 6421 Latona Ave. N.E., Seattle (206-526-1188). Sometimes you just need a little soulful sophistication - and a cocktail to go with it. You'll find both here in the arty little lounge adjoining Green Lake's neighborhood bistro, Mona's. Graze through the tapas menu ($4-$6), and don't miss the mojo mussels, the meze plate or the gambas ajillo - marinated, char-kissed tiger prawns.

Noodle Studio, 209 Broadway Ave. E., Seattle (206-325-6277). Regional Thai seafood and a world of noodles - fried, sauteed, sauced and soupified - make this attractive Broadway Thai restaurant tops. I got a major kick out of the flaming "Volcano Hen" - a deep-fried bird served posing like a pinup girl on a vertical roaster, doused with cheap booze and set aflame. Now, that's entertainment.

The Original Pancake House, 130 Parkplace (Park Place Center), Kirkland (425-827-7575). I've never been a breakfast eater. But that was before I checked out the local version of Portland's legendary pancake chain, forked into a lemon-drenched Dutch Baby pancake, a stack of lacy potato pancakes and a gargantuan apple pancake, whose custard center was weighted down with tart Granny Smiths oozing warm cinnamon glaze. Never say never again.

Rain Dancer Sandwich Cafe, 4106 Brooklyn Ave. N.E, Seattle (206-634-2433). Native American decorative inspiration aside, the multiculturally oriented sandwiches are the main event here. From the apricot-sweetened, five-spice duck to the smoky-flavored fire-roasted vegetables with a Med-spread of goat cheese and pesto to Cajun-spiced salmon with mozzarella and Walla Walla sweets, these duly exalted constructions are a meal-and-a-half. Even without the pasta salad.

Zaina Food, Drinks & Friends, 108 Cherry St., Seattle (206-624-5687). Pioneer Square office-wonks stream out of their sterile cubicles and into the warm domain of this urban oasis. Kudos to the tabouli-tossing, baklava-baking, kebab-crafting, cross-cultural contingent behind the cafeteria line whose fine falafel and other eats nod distinctly in the direction of the Middle East.