A good place to stay is the B&B on Gertrudes iela/Krisjanis Barona iela. It only takes two stops by tram to downtown Riga or a 10 min walk in a pleasant area. Accomodation includes free internet, a hearty breakfast always involving eggs and the total price (approx. 50 € per night) is quite reasonable. My room was fine and I had a good/new en-suite bathroom. On the down low: streets are loud and the floor was a bit on the dirty side.
To try typical Latvian food go to the Lido chain: the self service restaurants are charming with their wooden interieur and even without language skills you can try different dishes as you choose them just by looking at the display. You can get a good 4-course meal with a drink for approx 5 Lats. I recommend the cold beet root soup, courgette filled with minced pork (that I got - God knows what else was in there).
