I think you should defnitely try "half-clips" first. Like these: https://www.merlincycles.com/zefal-c...ips-97126.html . The Nashbar version is the "Nashbar Mini Toe Clip" and your LBS probably has an equivalent in stock.

They are cheap, compatible with most pedals and if you get a shoe where the toe is fairly rigid (like tennis shoes) and the toe volume fits snugly into the half-clip, you get very good matching. Mostly it is not for pulling up on the pedal but for keeping your toe fixed in place front-to-back. So you jam your foot forward into it and it always ends up in the exact right position relative to the pedal spindle. But if you're using the half-clips, you probably want a pedal that doesn't have any metal studs on it, unlike a big platform pedal that has a bunch of studs that are meant to give you lots of grip.

When I was riding with regular shoes in the city, I'd use these track pedals or similar https://alexscycle.com/collections/n...nuevo-a-pair-1 and the plastic half-clips. The half-clip makes the pedal hang down and that little tooth on the pedal is always facing up, so you just put your foot on it and pull and slide in. It's hard to explain in text but easy to master.