Cheap eats in Oltrarno

For dine-in meals, Trattoria Bordino (near Ponte Vecchio) has an inexpensive daily lunch special. Trattoria Sabatino (just past Porta San Frediano - little English spoken) serves inexpensive meals and Gusta Pizza (near Piazza Santo Spirito) serves good pizza and calzone. The Sapori & Dintori Conad market near the Ponte Vecchio is very nice and has a station where you can buy prepared foods and sandwiches to take away. I believe there are a few small counters with stools right by the exit (after check-out) where you can sit and eat if you wish. There are other restaurants in the Oltrarno area offering well-priced lunch specials, so keep an eye out as you walk around. Bargain dinners are less common.

Thanks Frank!! Exactly what I was looking for! My daughter just got there this morning and is a little jet-lagged and a LOT culture shocked! She reached out to see if I could post on the forum :)

The pizzeria/ take-away rosticceria in front of S. Felice church has a restaurant as well and it is not too expensive. Osteria Toscanella (via Toscanella, near Palazzo Pitti) had once a fixed price menu at lunch that had a very good quality/price ratio, but I confess it is a couple of years I do not attend them.

I've eaten Trattoria Bordino's inexpensive daily lunch special near Ponte Vecchio' and would do so again, armed with the knowledge I gained from the experience:

The lunch special I had was the Bistecca alla Fiorentina (similar to a T-bone) with a salad. The steak was cooked at high heat for only 3-5 minutes a side, nearly charred on the outside but the interior very rare and only warm, which is how that steak is traditionally prepared. The waitress dropped a plate of pasta in front of me and quickly left. As I thought it was not included and had been forewarned of the practice in Italy and other places of trying to pad the bill with unordered items, I tried unsuccessfully to get the waitress's attention. I she pretended not to hear or understand and intentionally avoided me. I went ahead and ate it, and was charged extra at the register. I explained to the manager/owner I didn't order the pasta. Then suddenly, the waitress, all the way at the other end of the restaurant, shouted in English 'But you ate it!" "I replied, " Oh, now you speak English." I said I would report the dishonesty and the manager took it off the bill. The pasta was actually very good, and the best part of the meal; I would have paid for it if she had been honest, and told the manager so.
Just a caution, rare beef and sneaky waitress. Check TripAdvisor reviews; still the same.

A lot of young people studying abroad go to Gusto Pizza. Your daughter could ask them for tips on good cheap eats.

Edit: I've had the lunch special at Bordino 3 or 4 times without the extra food problems others encountered, but I must agree the waiters can be a little impatient and not the most friendly. The bistecca special often includes one fewer course than their other lunch specials and costs a few euro more.

Thanks for all the great recommendations! Goodman...wow!

Frank, I think in a few days her angst will subside once she gets comfortable, they haven't even had orientation yet! By the time I get there in late October she will be helping me ;) I've been raving about all the help my RS friends have been as I plan my trip so she knew she would get the low-down from me!

They are heading to The Sapori Market you recommended now! Its a 5 min walk from the apartment!