Plate of sushi at the Rice Bowl.

Outside the Rice Bowl at night Rice Bowl is a fine dining restaurant on the Esplanade that offers both Chinese and Japanese cuisines. Opened in 1958 by the Fong family and run by them for decades, the Rice Bowl was sold in the late 1990s until 2004 when the Fongs regained partial ownership. The restaurant is now run by the children of the original owners, siblings Rose, Henry, and Howard. It is said to be one of the longest-running restaurants in Chico Newsreview.com.

The layout consists of an entrance area facing the Esplanade, two traditional Japanese tatami rooms, a separate Japanese-themed dining room, a Chinese-themed dining area, and a sushi bar.

Rice Bowl accepts reservations and walk-ins, as well as take-out and delivery orders. They commonly host prearranged large parties within the restaurant or provide catering for businesses and other venues.

Besides fountain drinks, other beverages offered include hot tea, bubble tea, hot and cold sake, beer, and wine.

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Comments

2009-04-29 06:55:32   Great write up! Thanks! Hope to see you around the wiki. —RyanMikulovsky

2012-01-27 12:34:28   I couldn't relax in the dining room. Something was just off and I know that's not really a good review. Anyway, I had this idea that I was sitting in an all-American diner rather than an asian restaurant. I had their Spicy Tuna Roll as the main item in a Bento box. The bento box had a green salad with sesame sauce, marinated cabbage and carrots, a not-so-generous scoop of rice with dried crushed shrimp on top, and an orange. It was mediocre at best and lacked presentation or care. The salmon in the roll seemed fresh but was ground and in the usual spicy tuna sauce. The roll tasted fine. The roll, however, lacked any care in presentation with rice falling off and the nori not being particularly tight. It was hastily prepared. If you want me to come back for more sushi, you've really got to convince me of it. Sheesh. —RyanMikulovsky