Choolaah serves up masala flavors, halal chicken, paneer
By Christopher Pimentel Jr., September 1, 2026
Choolaah, a new Indian barbeque style restaurant, had its grand opening in Campus Center Marketplace at the start of the fall semester, offering students halal chicken and customizable bowls and wraps.
Choolaah offers two different sizes for its bowls that are similarly customizable like Chipotle or Qdoba. A regular bowl costs $11, and the large bowl costs $12.
The bowls include a choice of a base, a masala, which is a spiced sauce or blend, a protein including paneer and tofu and toppings or sauces. Choolaah offers different bases, including rice or salad, with a variety of masala sauces. The sauce options include chickpea, tikka, butter and yellow lentil, alongside four protein options, including spicy chicken, chicken, paneer and tofu. Choolaah also has its own signature sauce drizzles as the final touch to the meal, with options including Choolaah ranch, sweet tango, spicy mango and mint yogurt.
Aside from the bowls, Choolaah also offers wraps, garlic naan and samosas. Alongside Indian cuisine, it also offers specialty drinks such as a mango lassi, mango lemonade, chilled or hot chai and a mint lemonade.
Before becoming Choolaah, it was Fresh Escape, a salad, wrap and sandwich restaurant that allowed students to customize their toppings. While Fresh Escape closed after the 2024-25 academic year, Cal Poly Pomona Director of Dining Services David Corral said the process of finding a replacement started two years before closing as the restaurant never regained traction after COVID-19.
Fresh Escape’s equipment did not meet the correct specifications to be considered a halal serving establishment. As a result, Corral said CPP Dining Services extended the timeline to conduct more research in developing a backroom that not only meets the criteria but also fits the building’s layout.
“The way that halal needs to be prepared is that it needs to be prepared on separate equipment, and the process is different,” Corral said. “Campus Center Marketplace, when adding new equipment, involves different construction processes in the back end, and understanding the campus building prolonged the opening.”
When CPP was still brainstorming ideas, Corral noted the restaurant needed to be healthy and offer a diverse menu to properly represent other cultures on campus. Corral said a “co-creation” process involving people of different cultures and backgrounds was used to ensure the food met the authenticity CPP Dining Services wanted to achieve.
Although Choolaah wasn’t the first option that CPP had in mind when it came to looking for a new restaurant, when meeting with the company at a conference its service and food aligned with the idea of offering something unique for students, according to Corral. He said students enjoy the idea of creating their own bowl or wrap, plus vegan and vegetarian options.
Some students have mixed feelings about Choolaah when it comes to price, food quality and portion sizes.
“The food is alright,” political science student Ruben Romero said. “I got the regular bowl and it doesn’t fill me up like a dinner as it feels more like a light lunch. It’s not really worth the money and they are charging too much for such a small portion.”
Other students, such as electromechanical systems engineering technology student, Ricardo Sanchez, said the food smelled good and liked that the line was not long compared to Panda Express or Burger Envy.
Shift lead and criminology student Kennedy Walker said if a student has never eaten Indian cuisine, then they may not care as much for the food. However, she said the food is authentic to an extent, as she feels it is westernized like Panda Express with Chinese food.
“Honestly, come try Choolaah and see how you like it,” Walker said. “We also offer samples if you wanted to taste anything. We have these tiny cups, and we offer samples to the customers whether it is for our masala or any of our proteins.”
According to Corral, the opening of Choolaah embodies the become by doing motto at CPP, accepting feedback from students and learning to provide better service. He also said CPP Dining Services wants to continue serving and embracing students and their needs to continue delivering at a high level.
Even though Choolaah is brand new, Corral said the CPP Dining Services team will be looking for feedback to understand and learn what students want. He also said if in a couple of years Choolaah doesn’t spark more interest in the students or align with their needs, then CPP will be willing to look elsewhere for food services.
Corral said when CPP co-creates a restaurant idea with other people, it typically tends to do well and lasts a long time. He also said the lines have been consistently busy, and CPP Dining Services has received a lot of good feedback in the limited time it has been operating.
