A Victoria idea worth bringing back
Cheep Eats is back for one simple reason: it shouldn’t take 20 restaurant tabs to answer “Where can we get a good food deal tonight?”
CheepEatsVictoria.com was known around Victoria years ago for putting restaurant and pub specials in one place. The domain (it wasn’t cheep!) has a very frugal new owner now, and the fun part of CheepEatsVictoria.com is still the same: making it easier to see what’s on special before deciding where to eat.
Cheep Eats Victoria is independent. It isn’t the old site operator, and it isn’t owned by a restaurant group, pub chain or tourism organization.
I’m Don, and I was born and raised here in Victoria. I grew up in a very frugal household, so appreciating the value of a dollar was part of everyday life from a young age. A lot of my clothes were second-hand, sometimes probably third-hand, and thrift stores were a regular stop long before thrifting became trendy.
I can remember going out to eat only a handful of times as a kid, literally fewer times than I can count on one hand. Eating at a restaurant felt like a real occasion, and I still appreciate that experience today. Part of the reason I enjoy working on Cheep Eats is that a good restaurant special can make going out a little easier to justify and help more people enjoy that experience without feeling like they have to spend a fortune.
I’ve always believed there’s a difference between being cheap and appreciating good value. I still love looking for a bargain, whether it’s a great food special or an unexpected thrift-store find. I like thrift stores enough that I also built I Love Thrift Stores for people who enjoy the hunt as much as I do.
Victoria already has some good happy-hour resources. Cheep Eats goes a little wider. You’ll find daily food specials, wing nights, Taco Tuesday deals, happy-hour bites, late-night eats and other recurring restaurant bargains from around Greater Victoria.
I want the important stuff to be obvious on your phone: what the food deal is, what it costs, when it runs and where you can check it.
Cheep Eats is cheep all around. The little illustrations around the site are deliberately simple, colourful and a little frugal. We’d rather spend the time checking restaurant deals than pretending we hired a fancy food photographer.
Cheep Eats currently covers 104 Greater Victoria restaurants and pubs with 243 recurring food specials. I’d rather leave a restaurant off the list for a while than keep showing a deal that looks out of date or can’t be confirmed.
Restaurant specials move around a lot. Every deal has a check date, and each restaurant page links to the source we used. If you notice something changed, send me the update and I’ll review it before changing the listing.
I’m always open to ideas, suggestions, corrections or just a hello. Chip loves fan mail too, so send us a message anytime.