The best meals and snacks for students to purchase at SBCC

Always looking for a new food to try out, I have selected the best food items at each cafe East and West Campus to get in the morning before class or as a midday grab and go snack.

East Campus Cafeteria

My favorite breakfast meal is a ham burrito with eggs, potatoes and cheese and a side of hashbrowns. Other meat options on the burrito include sausage or bacon, or no meat at all but, ham has always been my choice of meat with eggs. I sometimes finish the whole burrito but other times save half and eat the rest after class. The side of hash browns are no joke the same, if not better than the McDonald’s version. They come in a triangle shape and stay warm and crispy well after you have ordered them. The ham burrito was $6.95 and the hash browns were $2.95, a total of $9.90. For a flavored and filling breakfast this cafeteria meal under $10 is the best to eat.

The cafeteria menu includes lunch specials each week but they also have an everyday lunch menu. The best item to get is their cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles with a side of fries. It’s not a Habit Charburger or an In-n-Out Cheeseburger, but it is fresh and delicious and more like a burger you made on a grill that never fails to hit the spot. Not all fries are good fries but these fries are worth the purchase to accompany the burger. The cheeseburger was $7.95 and the fries were $2.95, a total of $10.90.

JSB Cafe 

The cafe that is run by the culinary arts students is the best spot on campus to get lunch. The prices are slightly higher than at the cafeteria, but the flavor of the food is unmatchable.  

Their special of the day on Oct. 18 was a crispy skin king salmon served on a butternut puree with sautéed spinach and melted leeks garnished with candied pecans and a sage leaf. The best salmon I have enjoyed was during summertime in Venice, Italy while I was sitting outside enjoying the scenery around me. This salmon compared very highly to that experience and taste I had in Italy, as the sides it was accompanied with enhanced the flavors.    

Campus Bookstore

More snacks and drinks are provided here but there is also a Starbucks that has bakery items, refrigerated snacks, drinks, fresh salads and sandwiches. My go-to Starbucks drink no matter the season, is a grande strawberry acai with lemonade and light ice. A super basic strawberry lemonade that costs $4.50 with a large heated chocolate croissant for $5. Almost $10 for a snack that is straight sugar and won’t provide any fuel to my body compared to the breakfast that is the same price. The ham sandwich is a better option to grab instead as it’s on ciabatta bread with spinach, red onions, sliced jack cheese and alfalfa sprouts with an aioli spread on the side. The sandwich is $8.95 which is cheaper than the snack from Starbucks, yet it’s a better meal to have for lunch. 

West Campus Snack Shop

Just like the cafeteria and bookstore, this snack shop includes similar foods like various snack and refrigerated items, donuts and a coffee station. A glazed donut and a Nesquik strawberry milk are the best to satisfy a sweet tooth. This duo comes to a total of just five cents under $5 and sends me back to my childhood as soon as I take that first sip of the Nesquik.