Eat Your Way Through Las Vegas, Nevada, With the Best Cheap Eats

You can never steer your budget wrong at Big Wong. One side of the menu alone has over a dozen chicken, pork and shrimp meals under $5 (£3.60). Dessert won’t upset your cash flow either – almond and mango puddings are only $1.25 (£0.90) each. Believe it or not, there are only two menu items you’ll spend more than $6 (£4.30) on: the salt-and-pepper shrimp or a whole soy-sauce chicken.

Even those in the know would be forgiven for not having Salvadoreno Restaurant on their “local gems” radar. This Latin American restaurant, a few blocks north of Fremont Street, is ready to introduce you to El Salvador’s culinary staple, the pupusa: a small, round and cheesy corn cake filled with meat or beans. With other tasty plates on the menu, like pollo encebollado (chicken with onions) and frijoles y chicharron (pork dish), you’ll wonder how this cheap Central American restaurant has been kept so quiet for decades.

Think you need to go over budget to try the most award-winning oversized donuts in the world? Think again. Donut Bar’s got the goods if you’ve got some pocket money; all cake donuts, like the red velvet and triple chocolate threat, are $2.50 (£1.80) or less. Should you have a few extra coins in your purse, yeast donuts, like the Nutella overload, Vermont maple bacon and birthday-cake Oreo, won’t run you more than $4 (£2.90). Throw a fiver (£3.60) down, and you’ll take home a vegan strawberry split or the ever-popular big poppa tart.

You could go full-on James Bond and sit at the poker table of Casino Royale, or you could place three dollars (£2.20) on a sure bet: a Foot Long Hot Dog. This foodcourt fixture within the casino sells its eponymous menu item for a cool $2.49 (£1.80) – that’s nearly $0.21 (£0.15) per inch (2.5cm) of meat. Though toppings do cost extra, you can’t beat a quick and quality hot dog for less than a bet at the blackjack table.

Throw up a shaka sign, and let your wallet hang loose at Pacific Island Taste. Huge Hawaiin grinds are only a wave away from the Strip. A half-pound (0.2kg) of poke is yours for eight bucks (£5.80), as are most of the breakfast plates. Need lighter fare that’s lighter on your budget? A handheld musubi (sushi) sandwich and the famous taro turnover are three dollars (£2.20) each, supplying lunch with a snack without washing your gambling money into the deep end.