CJ’s Last Chance Diner

I am ashamed it has taken me so long to write a review for this place. This is, hands down, one of my absolute favorite places to eat. The negative reviews confuse the hell out of me because I’ve never had a bad experience or bad food. Everything I’ve ever tried here has been absolutely incredible, but my favorite thing — EVER — is their Honey Walnut Chicken Salad. Words cannot express how much I love that salad, if you like the ingredients the menu describes — TRY IT. When I worked on the north end of Chico I honestly ordered that salad to go once a week. Now I live in Magalia and work in Oroville so I hardly ever make it down there. But I still crave that salad…
If you’ve never been there, let me break it down for you…
When you go in, go to the counter and look at the menu. You order and pay at the cash register, and then seat yourself. Within a few minutes they bring you your food. Simple. Everything there is fresh and as local as possible. The atmosphere is casual and clean. It’s simple, country food. Yet there is NO equivalent.

Amazing burger. Had the Cow Pie which is a ¹⁄₃ pound burger topped with a huge onion ring and pulled pork. The first thing you notice is how flavorful the burger is. Crunchy at the edges and so juicy in the middle and only made better with the addition of the pulled pick. The buns are amazing. Love the relish/​sauce bar to make your burger the way you want. The CJ sauce us wonderful to dip your fries. Can’t wait to go back and try breakfast! Great atmosphere and I am sure this will become a favorite place.

Food is good, the cashier/​cook is very nice. Very odd charging for water (not for the cup) I had my own water bottle. Actually charging for water… hmmmm bad business decision in my mind. Probably won’t be back just because of this. Too bad, because I’m right around the corner.

SO GOOD! CJs is on the outskirts of town but soooo worth the trip. They have a bunch of bbq as well as burgers and stuff. I am weirdly picky about salt and seasonings. I had heard great things about CJs, so I gave it a shot. Went in on a Saturday afternoon. I was expecting ribs to be available but they did not have them. I opted for the tri tip sandwich and my boyfriend got the French dip sandwich. It was amazing! My only regret is that we didn’t share the sandwiches straight down the middle since his French dip was so dang good.
The tri tip sandwich came out without sauce but had amazingly seasoned meat. I added a bit of bbq sauce as well as onion. I got onion rings on the side which were pretty tasty!
My boyfriends French dip was A+!!! Loved it and took many bites :)
This place really has mouthwatering smoked meats and I have been craving it ever since!
I wish they were open for dinner and on Sunday’s! Xx u CJs!

I made account just to say how Delicious the food is. Got to have the pulled pork sandwich. If you get it from the food truck it will come with little onion crisps. If you go up the 99 north for about five mins and go to the building location it will come with a onion ring either way it’s still delicious. Hands down best bbq in chico ca.

Just ordered the club sandwich from here, one of the best turkey clubs I’ve ever had !!

We went to Cj’s because we love their food truck down on West 2^nd Ave. We used to eat their on the regular and enjoyed our sandwiches every time. Since we now live on the north side of town we decided to try the diner for a change. The whole experience was confusing from the start. We were asked if we would like menu’s even though we had not even been offered a seat first. We were told that we had to order before sitting so we awkwardly stood in the doorway and tried to go through a poorly organized menu. It wasn’t clear if things came with any sides when the prices would make you think that they did. We ended up spending almost $ 30 for a tri-​tip sandwich and a burger with drinks and fries. Downtown we get 4 sandwiches (the same tri-​tip sandwich only juicier) for under $ 15 with a great attitude. We will not be going back for sure.

Still make it a regular thing to have our favorite burgers at CJ’s. My favorite burger is the Mushroom and Swiss Cheese with sweet potato fries, my wife’s burger is the Bacon & Cheese.

Yummmmm! I had the pulled pork sandwich here last week and ~ I’m still dreaming about it ~ It was smoky and tender and just gosh dang delicious! We spoke with the BBQ man himself and he said it’s his own recipe and it takes two days to smoke/​prepare and it is 100% worth it. (The lady who didn’t like the pulled pork posted her review almost 3 years ago, so keep in mind that surely lots has changed since then!) I’ve also had their ribs from Ike’s Smokehouse food truck and just… omg…I can die now because best ribs ever !!!
Take away: come here and get the BBQ, you will not regret it. :)

This lunch stop was a treat! I have always have appreciated a unique place to eat with great food that is not a chain. The menu is creative and the staff is fantastic: friendly and accommodating. Our 11 y/​o son commented that it was the best burger that he has ever had. My fiancée and I had the pulled pork wrap. It was fantastic and much better than its heavy sandwich version.

A bit on the pricey side, but delicious. I’m a fan of the pastrami on focaccia and their trip tip. Even when they are busy you get your food quickly and it is always perfectly made. The sandwiches are pretty large but they save well if I want to eat the rest later. The atmosphere is casual and a bit country, and the food is not what you’d expect from a place attached to a storage facility. Yum!

Don’t waste your money. 8 dollar wrap, 50 cents worth of ingredients. Pretty sad.

Absolutely great tasting food! Worth the drive out, prices are great. My favorite is the Beef Dip, but the pulled pork with homemade slaw, hot pastrami with home smoked and seasoned pastrami, and sweet walnut salad with homemade champagne vinaigrette won’t disappoint either! Nice country atmosphere, feels like being back at mom’s house for lunch! Can’t say enough good thinks about this! Check out Ike’s Smokehouse, as well. It’s one of the owners other business which is a food truck! Find him on Facebook! Lots of great smoked meat choices!

Best place to have lunch!!! The BBQ is amazing, burger and fries are great and I love their special dipping sauce! I always get their side salad because I love their ranch too!

Their menu is more limited and basic than I expected with a few sandwiches, a few salads, and burgers. I expected much more variety and a greater focus on barbecued meats. I was disappointed that barbecued chicken (pulled or otherwise) was not a sandwich choice. I went with the beef dip and it was enjoyable and tasty although a little bland. The food was fresh along with being prepared and presented well. For almost $ 8 the sandwich did not come with any sides so I paid another $ 4 for some sweet potato fries and finally a refillable fountain drink. Lunch for two was over $ 25. Ouch. The dining area was clean. I enjoyed the background music and even more so the smokey smell in the air. The staff were friendly. I believe the owner was there and he went around asking people how their food was which was nice to see. I’ll give CJ’s another try sometime but not before I try their mobile street food version.

my husband and I like to stop by this hwy 99 favorite. I am a sucker for beer battered onion rings so they get brownie points for that. They also make a booomb diggity blue cheese bacon burger. Service is always prompt and friendly and the décor is very homey you feel like your on the farm without the smell of cow pies.
Oh! They also have a catering truck that comes out sometimes near my work. OMG it blows kinders out of the water. I get the BBQ chicken sandwich with cheddar and it knocks my socks off every fricken time.

By far the most creative (peanut butter burger) and delicious burgers in Chico. The drive is super simple, just a few mikes north if the city limits. Great little dining room, clean! Prices are great and the staff is very friendly. Have to try them

I was craving some good BBQ — not grilled meats, but real smoked tender goodness. Ribs in particular sounded great… I checked out Unilocal and decided to try CJ’s. The smoky aroma hit me as soon as I walked in! :) The place was pretty empty when I got there around mid-​afternoon and I was surprised that it was half market and half restaurant. The décor is cute and country-​looking though and very clean. I asked about ribs and was informed that they only have them on Fridays and Saturdays and you better come early or they may run out. I put that in my memory bank and decided on what to order. I picked the pulled pork sandwich which I thought would also quell my craving for BBQ. It came with coleslaw and I also added an order of fries and an Arizona Iced Tea which added up to $ 11. (See photo 6)
I sat at the bar while my meal was prepared. To my amazement, they got a plastic bag of meat from the refrigerator and took out a portion to heat up on the grill. They sauced it and put it on a toasted, store-​bought bun. A pretty tiny serving of coleslaw and my fries accompanied my sandwich of a very cute country-​style plate. The amount of meat on the sandwich was not generous. I went to the condiment bar and picked out some pickles and tomatoes and extra sauce. The bar was not in the best shape and the tomatoes were mushy and the sauces had «stuff» in them from previous users.
I decided to keep an open mind and give this sandwich a shot. The meat tasted very smoky which I liked. The texture was strange to me, as it was very wet from the heat-​up, but was definitely cooked well. Not over-​cooked or under-​cooked in my opinion. Unfortunately, all of the «wetness» made the bottom bun pretty soggy, which was disappointing. The coleslaw was different and tasty — not a mayo based slaw, but a tangy vinaigrette style. The fries were shoestring and tasted good.
The service was friendly and helpful. That smoky aroma I had noticed was from pork being smoked. Apparently, they only smoke it on certain days of the week. Based on the limited choices in Chico for good BBQ, I would come back to CJ’s again sometime. I would really like to try some «fresh» BBQ here and think I will come back for the ribs on a Friday or Saturday.

CJ’s has genuine diner ambiance: stained and mottled cement floors, an open kitchen, and friendly people to serve you. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich, which was smoky, juicy, very salty, and minimal considering the price I paid. My wife ordered a grilled chicken hoyasin salad which she watched being prepared bare handed by the guy who took our money. She was so concerned that she asked him if he washed his hands before making the salad. He assured her that he did. Nonetheless, it is disconcerting to see a food handler working without gloves.
The salad was small, and contained romaine, mandarin oranges, slivered almonds, a teaspoon of feta cheese. The chicken was nicely grilled. My wife told me the hoyasin dressing was tasty but extremely salty.

This is by far, the best barbecue in town. Hands down. We had the chopped chicken sandwich, which was topped with coleslaw, it was really, really great. The seasoning on the chicken is divine! The pork tacos though… It’s all about that pulled pork! This guy totally knows what’s up. He smokes his meats on site with mesquite, makes his own rubs and sauces, and everything I have tasted so far is excellent! Onion rings, sweet potato fries… Also great!
I can’t say enough good things about the food and the service was right on, too. Great people! Great food! Now all I need to figure out is when I can get here next! It’s well worth the short drive.