Cheap Eats in Chico, CA

Chico is not a traditional travel destination but rather a town that many people pass through on their way to parts yonder. Of course, we have the usual Red Lobster and Applebee's right off the freeway, but that gets boring pretty fast. Chico has lots of excellent locally owned eateries, and because of the high student population, many of them fit the bill for budget travelers. Even if you aren't traveling on a budget, the change of pace from the usual corporate foodstuffs is a nice diversion from the long, boring Highway 99 corridor. Chico's downtown area has a wide variety of cuisines, with pricing to match. The restaurants listed in this journal are just a few of my favorite budget haunts.

Quick Tips:

If you just want to stretch your legs and get a bite to eat, take Highway 32 exit to the west and head downtown. At Main Street make a right. You are at the beginning of the downtown area. There is a large parking lot off of 2nd Street and also between 3rd and 4th one block west of Broadway. Parking in one of these centrally located areas puts you within walking distance of a huge variety of budget-minded lunch counters offering a dizzying array of cuisines, from Greek to Japanese and everything in between.

Best Way To Get Around:

Of course, if you are traveling through town, most likely you have a car. Chico has a fairly good public transportation system, but it really isn't geared to visitors, neither in its schedule or routes. Cabs are plentiful, though, and the Yellow Cabs are fast and friendly.

This local mainstay is such a fixture of Chico eating that even the locals can't remember a time when the Burger Hut wasn't around. Originally geared to the college crowd, the company opened a second location near the Chico Mall a few years ago to accommodate Chico's fast-growing non-student population.

Burger Hut's gimmick is a build-your-own-burger theme. Patties are grilled over an open flame visible from the dining area. When your order is done, the cook starts tossing baskets of naked burgers on the counter as he shouts your name. This is the customer's cue to pick up their sammich and pile on the fixin's. Beside the usual lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, patrons can choose from dill or sweet pickles, jalepeno pepper, pepperocinis, and Burger Hut's locally famous barbecue flavored sauce. It looks a bit like 1000 Island dressing, but it tastes nothing like it. Great not only on burgers, us hard-core fans also dip our fries in it. Umm... try it!

Portion sizes are above average, especially the fry baskets, which can be ordered a la carte, or as part of a meal basket. Chasmo and I always share a medium fry basket; a small is way more than one person can usually eat alone. In the olden days, the fries came sprinkled with barbecue salt, but in these days of low-sodium diets, the salt now sits in an aluminum shaker on the pick-up counter. If you eat salt, I highly recommend that you toss some on your spuds.

Burgers run $3 to $5 each. Two people can have a great lunch or dinner for under $15.

To get to the Hut, take the Skyway Avenue exit off the freeway and head east to Notre Dame Boulevard. Turn left at the next stop light and turn left onto Forest Avenue. Burger Hut is 1 block down Forest on the right.

If you are in the campus area, you will find the Nord Avenue location more convenient. Take West Sacramento Avenue to Nord and go straight through the light at the intersection into the parking lot; Burger Hut is to your left. This property has the added feature of an outdoor patio that is a great place to eat in the summer, but it is also right next to the creek, and the mosquitoes can be brutal, so douse yourself with a little something before you venture out back.

Chico Locker & Sausage, known locally as "The Meat Locker," is hands down the best sandwich deal in town. All of the meats are cured on the premises. Local ranchers and hunters bring their meat here for processing by the award-winning family owned plant. The deli side of the business is a little-known gem that must not be missed.

Diners can order the usual deli fare, but the best deal here is always the daily special. Whether it is roast tri-tip, ham and cheese, or pastrami, for $5 you get a medium-sized sandwich stuffed to the gills with meat and fixings, a drink, and a deli salad. If you stop in on tri-tip day, it is a no-brainer--they make the best roast in town.

Specials are just that, and when they are sold out, they are gone. If you want to catch the special, get there before 12:30pm. Besides sandwiches, you can also buy delicious freshly cured sausages, bacon, hams, and other meat treats at the deli counter, as well as a selection of specialty mustards, sauces, and other meat-related whatnots. If you are RV'ing it, get some of the meats to go. You won't find anything as good south of the Oregon border.

There are a few small tables for dining in, and one lonely picnic table in the parking lot that is often occupied in the summer. The meat locker is close to Bidwell Park, though, so if there is a crowd (which there often is), just head north on Mulberry a half a mile to the One Mile recreation area for a great picnic.

To find the meat locker, take the Highway 32 exit to the west off the freeway. At Broadway, turn left. When you cross Ninth Street (the next corner), Broadway becomes Park Avenue. At 14th Street, turn left. The meat locker is at the end of the block on the corner.

La Comida is another old-time Chico staple that has been around for so long that generations of family members have all worked there as teenagers. In contrast to the numerous local taco wagons, La Comida's brand of Mexican food was born out of the Taco Bell era's ignorance of what real Mexican food is. Consequently, the food is distinctly not authentic--but it is still good, and reasonably priced nonetheless.

Great chips and salsa are served at the tables to all diners. A favorite cheap lunch of the local high school students is to order bean dip and a soda, then gorge themselves on the chips and salsa. At under two bucks, it's a quick, cheap fill-up. Most of us, however, are looking for a good, cheap meal, and La Comida has been obliging for over 30 years.

When you enter, get into the counter line immediately to order and pay. Your drinks will be served on a tray, and you can then find a table while you wait for them to call your order number.

A two-item plate runs around $5 and includes beans and rice. Sodas and iced tea are $0.90; a draft beer is still $1.25. My favorite meal is an a la carte beef-only tostada with oil and vinegar dressing, an iced tea, and a side of bean dip. This fast, filling meal runs under $5. Chasmo likes the two-item plate with a tostada and an enchilada. With a drink, this runs around $6. Top it all of with the excellent free chips and salsa and you won't find a better meal value any where in town.

Find La Comida by taking the E. 1st Avenue exit to the west off the freeway. Follow it to the second traffic light, Mangrove Avenue, and turn left. La Comida is located in an unassuming little strip mall called Mangrove Plaza. It is across from the cemetery on Mangrove, about 2 blocks off of 1st Avenue.

Any of you who have ever driven through the small towns of central California probably know what a taco wagon is. For those of you who don't, a taco wagon is a small kitchen-equipped van like the one you buy your corn dogs from at the county fair. They are mobile, family-owned diners on wheels that serve very simple, authentic Mexican food, usually very inexpensively.

Today, taco wagons are as prolific in California as McDonald's; it seems like there is one parked every 2 blocks. Twenty years ago, though, there was one lone taco wago in Chico. They didn't advertise--all business was word-of-mouth--and if you didn't know how to find it, you would probably miss it. The wait for lunch could be as long as 2 hours, but broke students planned accordingly and timed their orders so that they could bike over and pick up their burritos between classes. As business grew, the family was able to buy the little plot of land they parked their truck on. Eventually, they started construction on a small building behind their parking spot. Regular patrons watched for years as the restaurant slowly grew from a foundation to a full-fledged eatery. Today, Tacos Cortez is an institution.

The menu is simple: tacos, burritos, beans, rice, and a few other Mexican staples. A hungry diner can stuff his face and wash it down with a cold soda for well under $7. Starving students know that the super burrito, the best meal deal in town, can easily be stretched into lunch AND dinner. You will be relieved to know that the wait is no longer 1 or 2 hours to get your food but generally 15 to 30 minutes. A few nice picnic areas have been added to the property and make a great place to dine in the summer.

Tacos Cortez is a bit off the beaten path but not difficult to find. From the Highway 99 freeway, take the Highway 32 exit to the west. Follow this one-way street about 2 1/2 miles, until it ends in a T intersection at Walnut Ave. Turn left onto Walnut and go straight through the next intersection over the little bridge. Tacos Cortez is located at the corner of Dayton and Walnut on the left, just past the bridge.

***UPDATE: Tacos Cortez has opened a second location near downtown Chico at 1530 Park Ave.***