The Marketplace Café in the Bell Memorial Union features three restaurants this semester – Chico State’s Smokehouse Deli, Monkey Bowls and Mi Taquito. Opened in July, The Marketplace Café serves a variety of food from sandwiches to smoothies to burritos.  

When ordering from the Smokehouse Deli and Mi Taquito, individuals pay beforehand at the main counter, then bring their ticket to the respective kitchen. However, when ordering from Monkey Bowls, individuals build their bowl and pay for it all at the Monkey Bowl counter. 

Prices listed on all restaurants menus are after tax.   

Chico State’s Smokehouse Deli in the BMU Marketplace Café

Sophia Mackinnon

The BMU’s Marketplace Café has three types of options for food. I decided to attend the Smokehouse Deli, which serves burgers, sandwiches and more.  I walked up to the line and decided on the smoked brisket sandwich. The description stated “this is what you came for” so I felt it was probably their specialty.

It took me a second to figure out exactly how to get your food, but after observing others give their ticket to the people working in the kitchen, I followed suit. After giving the worker my ticket, I decided to pick out my drink. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the drink selection. I love soda machines that allow you to add a certain flavor to your drink; and these machines offer lemon, strawberry, cherry or vanilla flavoring to any soda. I picked a cherry-flavored diet Pepsi — which I sadly had to drink with a paper straw —  and waited for my food. It was about five minutes before I was on my way outside with my food.

Now, this sandwich was definitely intimidating to look at. It was loaded with slaw, pickled jalapenos and onions, crispy onions, all on top of a bed of smoked beef brisket. Luckily, I had prepared myself with five napkins – and I ended up using each and every one of those. 

Upon first bite, my hands were immediately covered with grease and sauce, but I don’t mind messy foods. It was actually very delicious. The pickled vegetables were not too overpowering and the slaw was a great crunchy texture. I think the brisket was good enough but nothing special. I also wish that they had added more barbecue sauce. The presentation was a 10 out of 10 for me, though.

Overall, I think the Smokehouse Deli is one of the better options Chico State offers on campus. There are plenty of options at a variety of prices – anywhere from a $2 side to a $12.50 sandwich. I will definitely be returning to try the brisket grilled cheese sandwich. 

Monkey Bowls 

Nadia Hill

A good smoothie bowl will invigorate you for the rest of the day and for the first time on Chico State’s campus, students have the opportunity to try Monkey Bowls in the Marketplace Café. 

Students have two size options at Monkey Bowls, a 12 ounce cup and a 16 ounce bowl. I chose the cup option which is perfect for a bite walking around campus. Personally, if I ordered anything bigger it would melt in my hands.

Monkey Bowls offer vegan, dairy free, gluten free options making it one of the few places on campus that cater to dietary restrictions.

When ordering, they offer free samples of any of the bases. I tried both the mango and the coconut base – which were very sweet and a bit nutty, respectively – before setting on the classic açaí base. 

Monkey Bowls allows an unlimited number of toppings on both sizes. There are three fruit options – strawberries, blueberries and bananas – and the almonds and walnuts offered are from local vendors.

Other toppings include:

• Flax seed
• Hemp hearts
• Chia seeds
• Granola 
• Honey-cinnamon granola
• Coconut 
• Pumpkin seeds

For the toppings, I got honey-cinnamon granola, walnuts and honey. I recommend getting the honey cinnamon over the regular granola for an extra touch of crunchy sweetness. 

As a whole, this is the best açaí I have tasted. Compared to places such as Jamba Juice in which the artificial flavorings overshadow any natural aspects, Monkey Bowls’ sweetness tastes pure. For as sweet as the bowl was, it was surprisingly light and refreshing. 

The texture was soft and each bite compelled another. I gave myself a brain freeze until all the toppings were eaten and I was just left with a cup of açaí. Even though the açaí was great, the toppings did a lot of the heavy lifting so it lost my interest about halfway through the cup. This isn’t ideal. If I’m paying $10 for a meal, I’d like to enjoy every last drop. 

Money Bowls accepts cards, Apple Pay and Wildcat Dollars. However they are not accepting cash at this time. 

Overall, Monkey Bowls offers what the Chico State campus has been missing – a healthy place to go when you are craving something sweet.  

Mi Taquito  

By Dominic Curcuro

Mexican food in Chico is a competitive market, so I was intrigued by the idea of an on-campus option. My favorite Mexican dish is easily a burrito, so I decided to order a beef supreme burrito with sour cream. Honestly, the regular burrito sounded almost unorderable. I came to the conclusion it seemed far too dry after looking at its ingredients, at least in theory.

This restaurant makes your order in front of you, Chipotle-style, albeit noticeably slower. Eventually, I got my burrito wrapped in foil placed inside an eco-friendly container called the Ozzi. It was cute, and reminded me of a school lunchbox. The hot sauce was a good addition too. 

I got a fairly large burrito that seemed like it was well wrapped.

After trying this burrito, it was slightly better than expected. When I first started eating, it tasted like a good mix of veggies, protein and rice. Some restaurants overdo it with the rice, so I was relieved to have a good balance of ingredients. 

The onion for some reason was a standout ingredient. I rarely feel this way about burritos. The beef was okay, nothing too special and some pieces of it were a bit chewy, even though they were small. 

The hot sauce was also simply not great. It was kind of an empty dry heat – many people do not realize how important flavor in hot sauce is. I was disappointed by this particular inclusion.

At the end of eating this burrito, for some reason there felt like there were very little vegetables. It was mostly just meat, beans and rice. It seemed like the ingredients were somewhat unevenly distributed, which felt most prominent towards the end of my meal. 

Overall, this burrito was better than expected and I would give it a 7 out of10. It was a good portion for a reasonable price. Nothing stood out as particularly amazing, or particularly bad for that matter — besides the hot sauce. I may come back!

Sophia Mckinnon, Nadia Hill and Domonic Curcuro can be reached at [email protected].