Food Network + Cooking Channel's Ali Khan returns to St. Pete FL from season 5 of Cheap Eats and goes big at Il Ritorno, one of his all time fav Italian Restaurants.

When Cheap Eats wrapped the shoot in St. Petersburg, I walked away surprised and impressed with the level of cooking happening there. Once dubbed “God’s Waiting room”, St. Petersburg has transformed from a retirement haven to a destination city on Florida’s Gulf coast. Sometimes on Cheap Eats, we feature restaurants that serve up deals despite offering a menu that upon first glance would be way out of our budget. Enter Red Mesa Cantina, whose sprawling three story set up(in an old ...

If I had to describe Cheap Eats St. Petersburg in just one word it would be this: surprising. Outside of Miami(where we did an episode of Cheap Eats in Season One) and a summer family trip to Destin in my tender Wonder Years, my knowledge of Florida eats is pretty darn minimal. Take away the heavy Cuban and Caribbean culinary influence in Miami and one might correctly assume that Southern fare becomes a big part of the edible mosaic. But ...

Ali Khan's best bites of 2021. I mean, need I say more? I think this alone should be a show on Food Network & Cooking Channel. I'll even take YouTube TBH.

I’ve never done a “best of” post before but after the year I have had in 2018 . . . there was no way I couldn’t. Between finishing Cheap Eats Season 4, shooting all of Season 5, plus numerous excursions to NYC and LA and appearing on Best Thing I Ever Ate, there are a lot of great meals to muse over. So take one long last look at the best bites I had in 2018 . . . my ...

The Vitals: the spot: Red Mesa Mercado 1100 First Ave N St. Petersburg FL 33705 the eats: Chile Relleno Burrito with Pork Colorado,   the bucks: $7.95 the full nelson: The best Bang for your Burrito Buck outside of Mexico Considering this is my third post on the food scene in St. Petersburg FL, I think it is safe to say that I am pretty impressed with the food down there. If you saw Cheap Eats St. Petersburg, you might remember the ...

Cheap Eats Season 5 premieres Wednesday August 8th 10pm EST/ 7pm PST on Cooking Channel  About the Show In each episode, Ali visits a new city to prove that great food does not have to break the bank. With 12 hours in each location and only $35 to spare, his sights are set on the biggest, most delicious, bang for his buck for breakfast, lunch, a snack, and dinner. In Season One he follows his appetite to spots in Albuquerque, Austin, Boulder, Charlestown, ...