$1 SWEDISH MEATBALL PLATE AT IKEA THIS WEEKEND

Look, we know 92.7% of CheapandEasySF readers are locals. Well, maybe we made that up. But hey, we know that 74.5% of you shop at Ikea, and better yet, there ain't nothing cheaper and easier to do when you're at Ikea than to eat there.

So, during this holiday season, when we know you have to venture out and buy some gifts or maybe a new futon or something, why not buy it all at a place that will feed you 10 of those delicious Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy and that funny bit of jelly for just $1? That's right. All weekend long, December 12 & 13, you can get that yummy meatball lunch for just one buckaroo at your local Ikea.

Local readers, our nearest Ikea stores are in Emeryville and East Palo Alto. For the rest of you looking to score that $1 Swedish meatball plate with a side of futon, groovy new rug or yes, even that lifetime supply of tea lights, click here for your nearest location.

PSSST: SAY, "VIV SPECIAL" AT LITTLE STAR PIZZA TONIGHT, GET 50% OFF A PIE

These Viv Special deals are pretty awesome. Just bop into Little Star Pizza tonight (the one at 846 Divisadero St.) between 5pm and 6:30 pm, grab a table, take a look at the menu and when your server arrives say "Viv Special" and you will get 50% off any deep dish pie. We're serious!

Special also going on tomorrow night, Dec. 10, same place, same time, same "Viv Special" password. Check it out.

"UPPER DIVERSION" PUB CRAWL, TONIGHT

Not to compete with the Divisadero Corridor, that almost-trendy strip of Divis pronounced Di-vees, you dipsticks)...or anything, but that slightly more gentrified strip of Divees, north of Geary, aka "Upper Diversion" has got a pub crawl going on tonight.

That's right. Hit the Divisadero Corridor Art Walk and score drink specials and a couple of half-priced appetizers on the lower end of this strip starting at 5 pm, then move north across Geary for more drink and food specials at the "Upper Diversion Pub Crawl".

Participating bars and restos include:

Tortilla Heights - $5 Margaritas, $5 street tacos

Godzilla Sushi - $4.50 Large House Sake, $4.50 Spicy tuna roll, $3.25 California Roll

The Fishbowl - $3 Landshark Lager bottles, $5 Three Olives Vodka cockails

Frankie's Bohemian Cafe - $4 Krusovice Drafts, $5 Buffalo Strips

Solstice Lounge - $2 Scrimshaw Pilsner drafts, $4 Four Roses Bourbon cocktails, $7 Tacos Two Ways, $10 Kobe Sliders with Fries

Tataki Sushi - $5 Sake Sangria, $4.50 Cut Rolls, $3 Hand Rolls, $4.50 Fried Calamari

Lion Pub - $5.50 Fresh-squeezed Greyhounds & Screwdrivers, $8 Fresh Fruit Mojitos

You are so there, we know you are!

SAN FRANCISCO STREET FOOD FESTIVAL - SATURDAY, AUGUST 22

La Cocina presents a one-day street food feeding frenzy! They're closing the street. They're pouring street food inspired cocktails. They're serving casual, affordable food from every corner of the globe. Admission is downright FREE, with food and drink from the multiple micro-entrepreneurs who have sprung up cityside over the course of the year available for $8 -- or LESS. That's right, nothing over eight bucks, and you'll eat like a king...or queen.

Starts at 11 am (hey, that's brunch) 'til 7 pm. Saturday, August 22, Folsom Street between 25th and 26th (aka in front of La Cocina). Admission is FREE; buy a food passport online (starting at $20) to not have to deal with reaching into your pockets for cash.

GET YOUR SHOW DOG -- OPEN NOW

Yeah, we know. We lectured you yesterday about eating junk food instead of broccoli, but what if said junk food tastes like really really good? In fact, what if it's a designer 'dog and it's National Hot Dog Month and all, and Friday and this new place called Show Dogs just opened up at 1002 Market Street? And, um, they're gonna have beer-battered corn dogs, sausages, fries, onions rings and beer on tap?

Yep, we thought you'd see it our way. Open from 11 am 'til 8 pm. Menu might be available at press time here; but if not, click here instead.

Show Dogs is at 1002 Market St.

F*CK BASTILLE DAY, WE'RE AMERICANS -- ALL-STAR GAME HAPPY HOUR AT ACME CHOPHOUSE TONIGHT

Okay, we think that headline says it all. F*ck the French and these silly Bastille Day celebrations happening around this good ol' American city we can't call Frisco. Tonight the All-Star game is playing out in Saint Louie, but you can catch the action live on the big screens at the Acme Chophouse with a Happy Hour that starts at 4:30 pm and goes 'til the end of the game. $3 draft beers, $4 wines by the glass and $5 special cocktails, plus $5 appetizers such as flat-breads, mac ‘n' cheese and prosciutto-wrapped peaches and mushrooms.

The Acme Chophouse is located at AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza (between King & 3rd Sts.).

FRIED CHICKEN TASTE-OFF AT OMNIVORE BOOKS TONIGHT

Do you think your grandmother's fried chicken can beat someone else's grandmother's fried chicken? Then bring your best fried chicken on down to Omnivore Books on Food tonight and compete in the Fried Chicken Taste-Off. FREE to entrants, $5 for tasters.

Starts at 6 pm, and Omnivore will provide the plates, napkins and wine! Wa-hoo. Omnivore is located at 3885a Cesar Chavez Street. Click here for more deets.

COME CELEBRATE NATIONAL HOT DOG MONTH AT DA BEEF

True to our word, with July being National Hot Dog Month and all, we're gonna bring you dog deals when we see 'em.

The Da Beef hot dog cart, located at or around 7th and Folsom Streets (closer to Langton St.) has a $5 special -- hot dog, chips and soda -- all month. And, as an added bonus, there's Hot Dog Happy Hour every day from 4-5 pm, where you can get $1 off any delicious sandwich from the cart. Da Beef pays homage to the Windy City -- so Chicago-style dogs and Italian beef rule.

Da Beef is open Monday thru Friday, 11 am - 5 pm. And remember, it doesn't have to just be National Hot Dog month to eat at Da Beef!

McMISSION STREET FOOD TONIGHT

Mission Street Food does a twisted take on fast food tonight, with guest chefs from The Moss Room at the California Academy of Science Ben Coe (sous chef), Blake Kutner (kitchen manager) and Angela Gong (assistant pastry chef) in the house.

Putting a spin on McNuggets, McRibs and Filet o' Fish all for a good cause (The Campaign for Better Nutrition) at 2234 Mission St. (The Lung Shan Restaurant) starting at 6 pm. First come, first serve. $5 corkage. Cash only. (Hey, you wouldn't use a credit card at McDonalds now, would you?)

Sample menu -- and this looks good!

Smoked Tofu McNuggets with Ancho Barbecue Sauce and Tequila-Agave Mustard $6

Cactus Fries with Habanero-Lime Ketchup $6

Filet o' Bacalao Fish with Coriander-Cayenne Slaw $10

McRib Sandwich - Pork Belly and Smoky St. Louis Rib Roulade, Cipollinis and Ancho Cress $12

Bing Cherry Pie $4 / with Malted Vanilla $6

Mmmmmm. More...

We don't think the Hamburgler will be showing his face at McMission tonight!

FREE MOVIE NIGHT AT ON THE CORNER - BULLITT

Get into the groove of the Swingin' Sixties tonight at On the Corner (literally, on the corner of Divisadero & Oak). FREE movie night tonight featuring a San Fran classic, "Bullitt" starring Steve McQueen. 9:30 pm. $2.50 beers, $3 sangria, FREE popcorn and pizza specials.

The "Bullitt" car chase scene is as famous for showing off the streets of San Fran as it is for taking some twists and turns that fling our hero Bullitt from one end of the city to the other. Take a right at Potrero Hill and you'll be in North Beach? And other impossibilities made possible only through the magic of film...oh, and now re-created on Google maps -- check out the "Bullitt" car chase on Google maps here.

YO! IT'S TACO TUESDAYS AT PARK CHALET

Yep, from 4 'til 9:30 pm, the Park Chalet's got it going on -- every Tuesday, with $2.50 tacos, 2-for-1 margs and $3 pints. And, FREE entertainment, too! Deets here.

HAPPY HOUR DRINKS AT BENDERS

Wanna go on a bender? What better place to do it than at a place so appropriately named. Benders Bar has got a Happy Hour, Monday thry Friday, from 4 to 7pm and all-the-time drinks specials like $2 PBR and $5 margs. Yeah, baby! And we keep hearing about this amazing kitchen that serves up killer accompaniments to 4 or 6 PBRs and whiskey shots, like deep fried pickles, fried catfish with Buffalo wing sauce and seitan sandwiches that'll knock yer socks off.

So, where is this place?

Benders Bar
806 South Van Ness @19th

Happy Hour, Monday thru Friday, 4 to 7pm
Kitchen opens at 6
Bar opens at 4 pm on weekends

CHICKEN & WAFFLES AT LITTLE SKILLET

'Nuff said.

Little Skillet
@ Club 330 Ritch
Now serving lunch -- and still serving late night
M-F, 11am - 2pm; after 2 am
360 Ritch (btwn Brannan and Townsend)
415-777-2777

DINE OUT FOR LIFE TONIGHT

Stop worrying about the recession and go out to dinner tonight. It's Dining Out for Life night, and participating San Francisco restaurants will donate 25% of your tab to benefit the HIV prevention programs of the STOP AIDS Project.

It's for a good cause, so indulge -- here's a list of participating restaurants.

For those of you who come to CheapandEasySF for your one thing to do each day, we realize a list like this can be overwhelming. Plus we know you are looking for things to be CHEAP and EASY -- and while scrolling through a whole list might not cost you anything, it's not exactly as simple as us telling you where to Dine Out for Life Tonight, is it?

So -- where will we go? This isn't easy -- the choices are all terrific and there's plenty of CHEAP eats in here. We're gonna close our eyes and point to one -- and our choice is: La Mediterranne at 288 Noe St. (near Castro).

FLY BAR SECOND LOCATION GRAND OPENING

If you've trucked up and down the Divisadero Corridor anytime over the past 10 years, whether for a concert at the Independent or to get your car washed, you've seen the purple and orange "Fly" sign outside the bar on the corner of Divis and Fulton. Maybe you've even stopped in for the Sake and Soju cocktails and pizzas and other bites and chilled for awhile inside the purple and orange vibe. It's a cool place and we love it.

So, as fans of the original Fly Bar, we need a damn good reason to check out the new second local location now open in the space near Polk Gulch formerly known as Brick. How 'bout two reasons?

Full liquor license and FREE video games.

That's right they've got a vintage video game section all set up and you don't need to bring those precious quarters that are so much better suited to feed meters and laundromats. Meanwhile, they've got $7 Pisco Sours, rum drinks, gin concoctions and things with vodka -- the real deal.

The New Fly Bar is at 1085 Sutter St. (@ Larkin). The old one is still at 762 Divisadero (@Fulton).

SPONTANEOUS ORGANIC COVERT LUNCHES FOR UNDER $10 @KITCHENETTESF

When we're not hangin' out, we're hangin' in the Twitterverse and that's where we first started reading these under 140 character descriptions of what is best summed up as "spontaneous organic covert nourishment" by @kitchenettesf.

It's foodie haiku at its highest form and goes something like this:

chopped spring salad with crispy greens, asparagus, peas, radishes, spring onions, farm egg, lemon-herb vinaigrette

and, this:

olive oil poached local tuna sando w/ tapanade, green garlic mayo, fennel-arugula salad…farro salad: artichokes & preserved lemon

and, just when you think you can't take another one without gnawing on your keyboard, up tweets this:

oatmeal dried cherry cookies, organic honey lemonade, 4505’s spicy chicharrones

But here's the thing, Kitchenette is as real as it is covert. They're located at 958 Illinois St. (near 20th) in the Dogpatch section of town and serve up these organic covert specialties Monday through Friday from 11:30 am 'til 1:30 pm (or until they run out). Nothing is ever more than $9 (like today's tuna sando) -- and the cookies are just .50 cents!

$1 OYSTERS AND $3.50 PINTS AT HOG ISLAND HAPPY HOUR

Gorgeous and sunny days in San Francisco are few and far between -- and in our opinion, overrated.

Give us the charming cool of the fog and limited visibility from the Ferry Building, where we head tonight for the Hog Island Oyster Company Happy Hour.

Hog Island Oyster Company
5 pm - 7 pm
Mondays and Thursdays

Fog or shine, they fill up fast. But here's the good news -- so will you!

$8 SUNDAY NIGHT DINNERS AT THE HOTEL UTAH

The Hotel Utah has got $8 dinners on Sunday night (yep, that's tonight). Kitchen's open 'til 10:30 pm and they've got burgers and other sandos plus that old-style comfort food we crave on Sundays (was it all the alcohol on Friday and Saturday?). Mac and cheese, shepherd's pie. Mmmmm. Good stuff.

Bands start at 8 pm (there's a $6 cover for that, 21+). Tonight's entertainment is Zak Belanger, Dominant Legs, Signals to the Night and Reed.

GOOD PIZZA - ALL YOU CAN EAT FOR $10

Of course we know you can get about five pizzas with a hundred and five toppings on them for $1.99 from Dial-Some-Crap, so maybe $10 for as much pizza as you can eat seems a little pricey.

But what about if you consider this pizza is good pizza -- in fact, that's the name of the game -- Good Pizza at the Good Hotel, starting at 6 pm, Mondays through Saturdays from now 'til the end of May.

Good Pizza
112 Seventh St., SOMA

Artisan thin crust pizza, made with local ingredients like cheese from Cowgirl Creamery and apple-smoked pepperoni from Hobbs, herbs grown in the kitchen garden and the opp to eat it all at the Good Hotel restaurant designed by Anthony Laurino and Nao Etsuki-Lee using green and sustainable building products. Are you there yet!?

MORTY'S DELI - DAILY SPECIALS

We heard about Morty's Delicatessen after the fact. On Tuesdays, you can get a $7 Reuben sandwich and a PBR -- for lunch. And, man were we bummed, having eaten instead a couple of rye crisps and some watered down tuna.

But then we found out that this Morty guy -- located at 280 Golden Gate Ave. @ Hyde has specials every day. And while we'll have to wait 'til next Tuesday to get the deal on the Reuben and the PBR -- today he's got Quite Possibly the Best Mac & Cheese in town, on Thursdays it's Mama Mia Spaghetti Day (and $2.95 glasses of Merlot). Then there's Fish Fry Fridays (again with $2.95 glasses of wine), $2 Blue Moons, FREE fried clams and jazz on Monday nights -- we mean, really. What took us so long to find this joint that says they offer "East Coast Soul and West Coast Style"? We're on our way there now!