¢heap Eat$

Marco Polo Restaurant

2200 S. I-35, 445-5563

Daily: lunch buffet, 11am-2pm (Saturday-Sunday dim sum, 11am-2:30pm); dinner, 5-10pm

Really cheap eats are only a bargain if the eats are good. There are too many restaurants that limit their advertising to "all you can eat," as if quantity alone is what diners seek in a dining-out experience. But we think if the quality of the fare isn't a factor, there is no bargain to be had. Marco Polo Restaurant, housed in the unlikely Clarion Inns & Suites at Oltorf and I-35, lures quantity lovers in with the promise of the never-ending lunch buffet, but diners are seduced by the surprisingly fresh and delicious choices laid out every weekday. This is no lukewarm, greasy, and cloying Chinese buffet that can be found in every burg from Boston to Beaumont. This is real food, real fresh, and real delicious. Pan-fried pork dumplings, shrimp tempura, egg rolls, General Tso's chicken, beef with broccoli, and lemon chicken, and the tastiest and best-prepared green beans this side of home are among our favorites. And the goods keep on comin', so your $5.25 midday investment can last you all day, making your nighttime meal requirements minimal or even nonexistent.