Across the street from Bakersfield College, at the corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Christmas Tree Lane, Hungry’s Market is operating with a food market again.
Amanda Pace has been the unofficial manager there for over a year and became the official operations manager at the beginning of 2014. Pace has had her ups and downs with the establishment and mainly, she missed having the grill operational.
In 2012, the market closed its drive-thru and food portion of the business, once named Frosty King, boarding up the drive-thru window and ignoring its large grill area.
Beginning this spring semester, under the guidance of Pace, the storeowner made the decision to reopen the food area. Pace made sure to ask for a special for the students of BC.
“When you are a student, you don’t always have a lot of money,” Pace said. “I wanted to make sure that when we did open the grill back up that we not only had good food, but we had lower prices for the students.”
Pace has extensive experience working grills and preparing food. She calls her burgers the Alice Burger and said she puts a lot into them.
“The Alice Burger is the best in town because I make each one with love,” she said.
“I cook from my heart, and add a touch of homemade when they are seasoned. I cook the Alice Burger with the most love because I love burgers.
“I try really hard to make the best tasting food so that students will feel that it is worth the time to come over and the money they have to spend.”
For a burger, fries and soda, the students would pay $4.99 for a single, and $5.99 for a double combo. Adding items, such as bacon, cheese or avocado costs 50 cents per item. You can also get the bean and cheese burrito for a dollar.
There are breakfast items, small biscuits and gravy for $2.99, large biscuits and gravy for $3.99, or a breakfast burrito for $3.99.
There are many options offered at the market that are not available at BC.
At Hungry’s Market, you can get a hot dog or chili dog for $1.49, chili fries for $2.50, chicken nuggets for $2.99, an order of onion rings for $1.99, a 6-inch submarine sandwich for $2.99 or footlong sub for $5.99.
All prices are before taxes.
BC Student Raymond Page, a regular of Hungry’s Market, said, “Some items are only a few cents cheaper, but as a student, it can make a difference.
“I would recommend Alice Burgers to anyone,” he said. “They are tastey and fill you up.”
The market used to be located in the southwest area years ago, before that location was bought out, which bodes well for BC students.
BC student Ron Holguin has said, “I like that we have more options than having to leave the campus in your car and lose your parking spot. I like that Hungry’s Market is only a 10-minute walk from my class, before lunch.
“That gives time for me to walk over, order and eat.”
Students would agree with Holguin that losing your parking spot to go to a fast food place is not worth it, especially if there is an alternative that has more options available.
“You can’t usually find food this good unless you cook it at home,” Holguin said before heading back to class, burger combo in hand.
When the grill is fired up, you cannot only hear the sizzle, but you can smell the aroma all throughout the market.
“The smell alone makes you want to spend money,” Page said, “You automatically are inclined to give Alice a reason to start the grill. The Alice Burger is an instant favorite.”