Students can now fish for Bento Sushi in CAB

Bento Sushi has swum up to replace Filistix in the Central Academic Building, opening their second location at the University of Alberta.

The new Bento Sushi location, which opened in CAB basement on September 10, offers a range of pre-made sushi alongside hot food options including rice bowls. The new restaurant replaced the Filipino-fusion food vendor Filistix, which opened a new location in the Students’ Union Building on September 21.

After having been in operation for two weeks, Chris Redden, the director of operations for Bento Sushi in Alberta, said the team has already received numerous positive comments from students regarding their hot food options.

Redden said the chicken and beef rice bowls, as well as their pre-made dynamite and spicy California rolls, have been their most popular items amongst students.

“The rice bowls have been going over quite well with the students,” Redden said. “They’re hot and filling and at not too bad a price.”

The first Bento Sushi location at the U of A opened in Lister Hall five years ago. Redden said the team chose to open their second location on campus after Aramark, the U of A’s food service contractor, contacted them about the vacant spot in CAB after Filistix’s departure.  

“We were quite familiar with the campus already, and when the opportunity came up to move into CAB we just jumped at it,” Redden said. “We’re very happy with our relationship with the U of A and we wanted to expand on that.”

Earlier this summer, Aramark decided to terminate their contract with Filistix, leaving the CAB location vacant. An Aramark representative said they could not comment on why the decision was made.

The original closing of Filistix drew complaints from both staff and students. An online petition against the closure garnered over 1,800 signatures.

Angela Kong, a third-year cell biology student, said while she’s still dissatisfied with the relocation of Filistix away from CAB, she’s glad the location was replaced with a similarly healthy alternative.

“I think having Bento Sushi adds variety on campus,” Kong said. “It’s better than having something unhealthy like burgers and fries.”

Kong said she eats on campus about four times a week and that it’s important to her that there’s a range of healthy options available at the university. Among the three new food vendors at the U of A, including Hula Poke and Konz Pizza in SUB, Kong said Bento Sushi has been her favourite.

Kong felt the poké bowls at Hula Poke were “too salty” for her tastes and that the “novelty” aspect of Konz Pizza quickly became dull.

“I’m upset with Konz Pizza,” Kong said. “It’s expensive and not worth it. It’s not even good pizza. It tastes like a pizza pop. You would try it once but you would never go back again.”

While nothing can replace Kong’s love for Filistix, when comparing the similar prices between the three new food vendors, Kong said she would go back to Bento Sushi any time.  

“I’m glad there are more healthy options on campus,” Kong said. “Since they were removing Filistix anyways, I thought it was a good choice to have Bento Sushi than something else.”