{"id":271297,"date":"2026-04-16T20:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271297\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T20:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T20:07:08","slug":"coachella-is-more-expensive-than-ever-here-are-5-great-meals-for-20-or-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271297\/","title":{"rendered":"Coachella is more expensive than ever. Here are 5 great meals for $20 or less"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Coachella Weekend 1 concluded with a historic performance by the festival\u2019s first Latina headliner Karol G<\/a> and now, attendees are sounding off online about their experiences and offering advice to Weekend 2 festivalgoers. Alongside the mixed reactions to Justin Bieber\u2019s YouTube-fueled set<\/a>, a key concern has emerged: the three-day festival is now more expensive than ever, including the food.<\/p>\n

General admission tickets start at $549 for Weekend 1 before taxes, and with shuttle services and on-site camping, can top more than $800. Nearby accommodations are often inflated during April\u2019s festival season and those driving into the fest are also facing a recent surge in gas prices<\/a> amid the ongoing war in Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Festival food<\/a> prices are similarly inflated, with some fans reportedly <\/a>paying $30 for a chicken sandwich and fries combo meal or upward of $40 for two slices of pizza and a beverage. While many attendees budget for food and related festival costs, Coachella also employs an estimated 10,000 temporary workers who rely on on-site food vendors.<\/p>\n

Many food and beverage vendors are traveling in from across Southern California and beyond, and face their own financial challenges, including labor, plus the same rising gas and grocery costs that festivalgoers contend with. A CBS price tracker<\/a> found that food costs have increased by 19.7% since January 2022, so if you paid $16 for a sandwich at Coachella four years ago, it\u2019s likely to cost at least $20 now.<\/p>\n

But you can still find a satisfying festival meal that won\u2019t break the bank. During Weekend 1, I skipped the multicourse Outstanding in the Field dinner series and Nobu omakase in favor of discovering more accessible options, like bean-and-cheese pupusas, pork belly ramen and a foot-long hot dog. Here are five great meals I had at Coachella for $20 or less before taxes. <\/p>\n

1. Aji verde burger at Softies Burger in Indio Central Market, $17<\/p>\n

The former Smorgasburg vendor launched its bricks-and-mortar in USC Village<\/a> last summer, so it\u2019s used to cranking out nonstop orders for college students. Word must have gotten out about the burger joint\u2019s first appearance at Coachella, as it was swamped with lines all weekend. Its popularity might also be thanks to a few under-$20 menu items, including the signature aji verde burger with a quarter-pound beef patty, white American cheese, grilled onions, pickled jalape\u00f1os, lettuce, tomato and house cilantro-garlic mayo on a Martin\u2019s potato roll. The classic Cali burger that mimics In-N-Out\u2019s off-menu animal-style burger is available for the same price.<\/p>\n

2. Chicken pesto crepe from Gabino\u2019s Creperie in Street Food Alley, $18<\/p>\n

The cheesy griddled crepe from Gabino\u2019s Creperie<\/a> was one of my favorite bites over the entire weekend, brimming with chicken, pesto, crunchy lettuce, cherry tomatoes and slices of red onion. It\u2019s filling but not too heavy, a perfect festival lunch. The entire menu is under $20, with BBQ chicken and chicken Caesar crepes and a veggie sandwich rounding out the options. <\/p>\n

3. Loaded prawn chip nachos with charred chicken from Double Dragon BBQ near the Mojave Stage, $18<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t shut up about these loaded prawn chip nachos. It\u2019s the only way I want to eat nachos moving forward. Truthfully, it eats more like a salad, with the puffy chips piled with Sichuan cucumber and woodear mushroom salad, fermented bean curd aioli and your choice of protein, though you\u2019ll have to opt for the charred chicken in order to remain under budget. Rib-eye steak increases the price to $23. <\/p>\n

4. Crunch wrap at Cena Vegan\u2019s Taco Party in Street Food Alley, $18<\/p>\n

Former Smorgasburg vendor Cena Vegan is usually limited to catering services, so I knew I had to stop by when I saw it on the food and beverage lineup at Coachella. The crunch wrap outsizes the version you\u2019ll find at Taco Bell with flour and hard shell tortillas, beans, tomato, lettuce, sour cream, cheese and seasoned ground \u201cbeef\u201d crumbles. Here you\u2019ll find a handful of options under $20, including a Mexican-style street dog for $15 and a burrito for $20, plus a munchies box that\u2019s fit for a group with two crunchy tacos, one crunch wrap, tortillas and nacho cheese for $30. <\/p>\n

5. Buldak Hotzilla Dog from Sumo Dog in Street Food Alley, $20<\/p>\n

Everything on Sumo Dog\u2019s menu is $20 or less, from a bacon-wrapped hot dog banh mi to loaded tots and the limited Buldak Hotzilla dog ($20) created in collaboration with the Korean hot sauce brand. The Hotzilla dog \u2014 a similar Godzilla version is available if you want to skip the heat \u2014 features a foot-long link on a squishy bun that\u2019s topped with miso beef chili, togarashi cheese sauce, wasabi relish, pickled peppers, spicy mayo teriyaki sauce, furikake, jalape\u00f1o and nori. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coachella Weekend 1 concluded with a historic performance by the festival\u2019s first Latina headliner Karol G and now,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[117776,49832,35078,22590,21495,117777,117778,413,117780,48,52,51,25958,47,50,49,117779,12244,35080,30635,2695],"class_list":["post-271297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-accessible-option","tag-beverage","tag-cheese","tag-chicken","tag-coachella","tag-crunch-wrap","tag-festivalgoer","tag-food","tag-former-smorgasburg-vendor","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-lettuce","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-nonstop-order","tag-onion","tag-slice","tag-tomato","tag-weekend"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}