Cafetasia (CLOSED)

It sounds like an NYU student’s dream come true: a sleek eatery on 8th Street serving dishes for less than $10. Aptly named by combining the words cafeteria and Asia, this restaurant is filled with long, wooden communal tables and hundreds of candles—and serves a dizzying array of Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Malaysian dishes and Asian-inspired cocktails. As a neighborhood addition, Cafetasia is far more enticing than dorm food: “Crying tiger” sushi (tender slices of grilled flank steak laid over balls of chewy, multicolored sticky rice) beats mystery meat any day.