Whether it’s making homemade gifts, stocking up on bargain wine or doing a little more cooking than catering, we’re all penny pinching this holiday season. Chefs may be producing high-dollar cocktail parties and holiday dinners at their restaurants this time of year, but when they finally get a night off, they’re looking for a tasty bargain, just like the rest of us.

Stay tuned for more bargain finds from L.A.’s savviest food professionals — chefs, bakers, cheesemakers, wine merchants — in this recurring series.

Daikokuya

BLT Steak’s chef de cuisine Brian Moyers says he likes to cook — no kidding — even after a full week behind the restaurant’s stoves. Marinated skirt steak with grilled lettuce and burrata cheese with “patio” tomatoes (he has a small vegetable garden on his home patio) are among Moyers’ favorite Monday-night meals. But when he doesn’t feel like cooking,  he admits that “nothing satisfies me like slurping down ramen downtown at Daikokuya.”

Daikokuya, 327 E. 1st St., Little Tokyo, 213.626.1680, daikoku-ten.com

La Grande Orange and Santa Monica Seafood

Erik Oberholtzer, co-owner and chef at Tender Greens, says he’s keen on the $5 “cheap egg salad sandwich” at La Grande Orange in Santa Monica (so are we). But when he’s looking for a hot, satisfying meal, it’s the $15 cioppino at Santa Monica Seafood that he craves. He is convinced that the bowl of seafood-packed stew would set you back a lot more anywhere else.

La Grande Orange, 2000 N. Main St., Santa Monica, 310.396.9145, lagrandeorangesm.com
Santa Monica Seafood, 1000 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, 310.393.5244, santamonicaseafood.com

Tacos Mexico

Corkbar‘s executive chef Albert Aviles admits that after popping back one too many of his wine bar’s pork-belly sliders, all he really wants to do is sauté up a big mess of farmers’ market greens for his family. But when it comes to fast food, the carne asada tacos from Tacos Mexico in Echo Park are hard to beat. Sure, they may not be the most revolutionary taco in town, but it’s hard to complain when we’re talking about freshly made tacos for $1.05 (59 cents on Tuesdays).

Tacos Mexico, 1538 Glendale Blvd., Echo Park, 213.413.4823, no website

Soot Bull Jeep

The Tasting Kitchen‘s executive chef Casey Lane may be new to Los Angeles (the Texas native most recently worked at Clarklewis in Portland), but the 26-year-old has lost little time finding his favorite Korean barbecue hangout. Lane says he’s looking forward to exploring more L.A. food-lover landmarks, but in the meantime, the grilled squid and pork at Soot Bull Jeep are his current favorite cheap eats (second to his own bargain tasting menu, of course).

Soot Bull Jeep, 3136 W. 8th St., Koreatown, 213.387.3865, no website