WHO DOESN'T LOVE A BARGAIN? And who doesn't love to eat? We do here at Oakland Magazine, so we're bringing you a greatest hits list of 15 fine East Bay places where you can get your fill in one seating for 10 bucks or less. Now that's a cheap meal.

We sent the (self-proclaimed) cheapest of cheapskates, freelancer Stefanie Kalem, out dining on Alexander Hamilton, as she puts it, and her cheap eats coverage samples taco trucks and cool cafes, sushi bars and pizzerias, holes in the wall and gourmet-to-go joints. She surveys Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Japanese, Chinese and vegan cuisine with an insider's palate, and then she dives right into fast-food drive-throughs, hipster hangouts and all-night waffle houses with solid tips for what not to miss. For those of you who won't dare stoop to such lowbrow fare, don't quit reading: Kalem dishes on dining deals worth knowing at respected East Bay dining institutions, too, in "Early Birds and Otherwise." You'll save some pennies and experience a tasting extravaganza of multicourse meals-if you follow her advice.

Amy Callis, another Oakland-based freelancer, offers a bit of her own advice in this issue, leading Oaklanders down a path to the East Bay's finest urban gardens, including Oakland's Marcom Rose Garden, abloom with sweet scents; West Oakland's City Slicker Farms volunteer-tended patch of heirloom fruits and vegetables; and Peralta Elementary School's veritable jungle for green thumbs, hummingbirds and butterflies. The gardens Callis explores offer respite in the heart of our bustling city.

And within our bustling city, what's the one topic that generates more conversation than practically anything else? Real estate, without a doubt. Frequent contributor Keri Hayes Troutman, whose in-laws are real estate agents, reports on adding instant value to what's likely most residents' biggest financial asset, their homes, in her handy guide to quick home improvement, "What's Your Home Worth?" If you want to know how to make your money go further for remodeling, landscaping and redesigning, and if you're looking a number of easy, construction-free methods for sprucing up your domain, this is the place for you.



Judith M. Gallman

 judy@oaklandmagazine.com