Cheap Eats
Cheap Eats is an original food travelogue television series on Cooking Channel where host Ali Khan, author of the blog Bang for Your Burger Buck, has just 12 hours to find the best deals for breakfast, lunch, a snack and dinner — on a budget of only $35[1] The pilot episode took place in Minneapolis and aired in the fall of 2015. Season One premiered in the Spring of 2016 where Ali visits Austin TX, Boulder CO, Chicago IL, Miami FL, Albuquerque NM and Charleston SC[2]. Season 2 began airing in December of 2016 where Ali visits Pittsburgh PA, Baltimore MD, Richmond VA, Bozeman MT, Jackson Hole WY, Salt Lake City UT, Grand Rapids MI, Indianapolis IN, Louisville KY, Chattanooga TN, Omaha NE, Des Moines IA and St. Louis MO[3]. The show is produced by Sirens Media.
Host
Ali Khan, the host of Cheap Eats, had spent over a decade trying to develop, pitch and host a food show. A graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Theater, Khan originally trained as an actor before getting involved in the world of food writing. In 2003, he was named Senior Editor of BlackBook Magazine's guide to Dining and Nightlife in Los Angeles[4]. The job marked a major turning point in Khan's career. He soon began to study the work of acclaimed Los Angeles Food Writer Jonathan Gold as well as the works of Calvin Trillin and Hollister Moore. Khan then started writing for food blogs such as LA TACO and You Gotta Eat This and pursue freelance writing assignments for lifestyle sites including Urban Daddy. Fellow USC graduates who attended the reputable film school encourage Khan to merge his talents as a performer with his love of food. It was during this time that he met Jeff Mauro and pitched a male viewer oriented cooking show called Chef Jeff and Ali. While initially attracting the interest of several reality production companies as well as being packaged by United Talent Agency, the show never got off the ground. Undeterred, Khan went on to audition and subsequently get cast in an episode of Food Network's Grill It! with Bobby Flay in 2008. In 2011, Jeff Mauro went on to compete and win Season 7 of Food Network star. In 2012, Shortly after winning the competition, Jeff Mauro began hosting $24 in 24, a show similar in premise to Cheap Eats. Khan was hired to research the cities and restaurants for the series. After the $24 in 24 concluded, Khan began his blog series "Bang for your Burger Buck", a search for great burgers under $10. Khan also began development projects for various FoodNetwork hosts and chefs including Alton Brown, Mauro and Simon Majumdar. In 2013 he began vlogging with the Tastemade App. Tastemade, impressed with his ability to find hidden culinary gems, sent him to Portland Oregon to shoot several Tastemade "appisodes". His work as a blogger and vlogger soon caught the attention of reality casting producers who pitched Ali to Cooking Channel in 2014. The network developed Cheap Eats with Ali Khan and ordered a pilot in 2015, some eleven years since he first began pitching a food show.
Budget/breaking the budget
Although the show's premise features the concept that Khan has only $35 to spend, there are times where he does break the budget. The moment always happens during a dinner segment where Ali is simply too tempted to order something more, although he only goes over the budget by a few dollars.
| episode number | city | synopsis | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CCALI-101H | Minneapolis | Ali visits Hell's Kitchen for a taste of their sausage bread, takes on some authentic goat tacos, visits a tater tot food truck and ends his day with at acclaimed burger restaurant Red Cow | |
| CCALI-102H | Austin | Ali starts his day with an Austin staple: breakfast tacos before tracking down some BBQ on wheels, a decadent blondie and chicken sausage gumbo straight from a Cajun Grandmother's cookbook | |
| CCALI-103H | Boulder | It's a Mountain Feast as Ali takes on a Mancake, slurp down some truly authentic Chinese noodles, eat a chicken pot pie with his hands and check out a laid back gastropub's take on a shrimp po boy | |
| CCALI-104H | Chicago | Chi Town is a city of food dreams where Ali finds out anything is possible, even on $35. Stops include a fried chicken shack that does breakfast, the iconic Italian Beef combo, a real deal Belgian bakery with a whiz kid protegé and gourmet take on mac n cheese. | |
| CCALI-105H | Miami | Ali has a new vice and it's seafood on the cheap! Empanadas start his day before he goes on a deep sea bender for Mahi Mahi sandwiches, a cure all fisherman's stew and then mixes up Latin and Middle Eastern flavors with a killer steak rice bowl to end his day. | |
| CCALI-106H | Albuquerque | The Land of Enchantment's newest resident is looking for a taste of the Southwest on the cheap and he is willing to go venture to new ground like vegan waffles, hatch green chile cheeseburgers, spicy bacon donuts before settling down with a New Mexican classic: Carne Adovada. | |
| CCALI-107H | Charleston | Ali is in one of his favorite food cities ever but this time he is on the strict budget. That means deals on breakfast grits with every breakfast meat in the book, out of this world crab cakes, the most decadent hushpuppies ever and then he tempts fate and his budget with a full on plate of Carolina style BBQ |