But this is Chico, too

Eating out is one of life’s pleasures. When I was growing up, it was a rare event — maybe once a month. Nowadays, it’s a routine event — twice a week or more, but it’s no less pleasurable.

Chico offers innumerable dining choices at reasonable prices. Even the high-end places aren’t that expensive. You could go out for three meals a day for three months without exhausting the choices and without doing serious damage to your wallet.

The city’s ethnic offerings continue to expand. Two years ago, there were no Indian restaurants. Today there are three. So far we have no Eritrean restaurants, but I’m sure that will change before long.

So what are the best places in Chico to eat? In general, the food is so good that few establishments rise above the others. But here are my picks. Bustolini’s has the best sandwiches, mainly because of its selection of Italian deli meats. The Rice Bowl has the best Chinese food, with each mouthful offering subtle, varied flavors. In-N-Out has the best fast food hamburgers. Chili’s is the best chain. Spice Creek has the most imaginatively prepared and intense-tasting dinners.

Casa Ramos is my favorite Mexican restaurant, but I have to admit I latched on to it soon after I moved here and haven’t explored other places.

We don’t go out to Italian restaurants. My wife is content to prepare those kinds of meals at home. We don’t go to heavy-duty carnivore places. I love meat, but I went to so many steakhouses when I was growing up that I got tired of them.

Breakfast is difficult to do badly, but I will single out Jedidiah’s for its outstanding Eggs Benedict. It’s the Hollandaise sauce that makes or breaks this dish.

What Chico needs is a dessert and coffee house offering table service and live music that opens its doors at about 8 p.m. and doesn’t close until the wee hours of the morning — a place to go after dinner and a concert or theater performance.

What I’d love to see is in this town is just one eating place where nobody would be allowed to talk above a whisper. There’s far too much “din” in “dinner” these days.