Where I Went: Aladdin Crown Pizza; 260 Crown Street

What I Ate: Steak and Cheese Grinder

What It Set Me Back: $4.95 plus tax

The dining halls have been closed for hours and Alice’s Savory Herb Meatballs aren’t quite holding you over until breakfast. What’s a hungry Yale student to do? Alas, be not weary, you kings of Tupperware and queens of Ramen noodles, because in this and subsequent pieces I will attempt to explore fully the late night snack scene in New Haven, looking to guide my fellow students to the best cheap, hearty and unique after-hours bites!

This week I hit up Aladdin Crown Pizza, a joint that stays open into the wee hours of the morning and shares a street with such heavyweights as Bar and Louis’ Lunch. A dive in the best sense of the word, Aladdin focuses on Middle Eastern comfort food and pizza, which it churns out at ridiculously low prices. This time around I decided on getting their Steak and Cheese Grinder, which at the incredible price of $4.95 is easily the cheapest on campus.

A full 12 inches long, this grinder definitely gives you more than your money’s worth, and the taste is on par with the best cheesesteaks in the Elm City. Not stuffed with steak, but in no ways skimping, the sandwich provides the quintessential cheesy, greasy and meaty goodness that should perhaps constitute most memorable late-night eats. And while the roll isn’t quite the masterpiece of Italian bread you would discover in Philadelphia, it more than holds its own.

Aladdin Crown Pizza is open until 2 a.m. from Sunday to Wednesday, and until 3 a.m. on the weekends.