After you’ve launched two popular sushi joints, what do you do next?Would you believe open a high school snack bar?

That is basically what John Ra, creator of Tomo Sushi and Miyake Sushi & Mongolian BBQ, did this spring when he opened Burgers and Bowls.

And, in a way, it makes sense. The awkward location on a lonely stretch of Boulder Street is out of the way for most diners but just a block from the hungry hordes of Palmer High School. And so Ra shrewdly created a dirt-cheap menu of teriyaki rice bowls, burgers and fries to appeal to the student set.

It is not great. After all, it is tweaked for a demographic that is the driving force behind 11 kinds of Mountain Dew. But it is well-priced, fairly generous and a good option if you want fast food downtown that does not come from a chain.

The address Ra picked, tucked behind Louie’s Pizza, has been the hospice house for a number of doomed restaurants over the years that tried to cater to a trickle of adult diners but ignored students.

Ra obviously learned from the mistakes. When Burgers and Bowls moved in, he did little to renovate the space. Many of the tables are lunchroom long and scattered across the room. The carpet looks old. The counter is cheap. TVs run constantly on the walls and the music is set to 1980s new wave (golden oldies for the kids). This is a hangout. And for that, it works.

While basic, the food is not bad. Order a small chicken teriyaki bowl and for $4.60, you get much more than most people could reasonably eat: a big, tightly packed bowl of white rice with a nest of thick-cut cabbage on top, holding a generous portion of sesame-sprinkled chopped chicken thighs slathered in the sugar-garlic-soy goo that typifies takeout teriyaki. There is not much to distinguish it, but it is not bad and it’s a good deal.

Even better, and less sweet, is the yakiniku beef $6.60 — an Americanized version of the Japanese version of Korean barbecue (like ketchup is an Americanized version of the English take on Chinese sweet and sour): Thin skirt steak is marinated in soy sauce, ginger, garlic and onions. It is like a less-oily version of bulgolgi. It could use more veggies but easily qualifies as the best thing on the menu.

Generally, veggies are in short supply at Burgers and Bowls. Don’t expect a salad, or even a stir-fry.

The burgers are standard fare. A good brioche bun, nicely toasted on the grill, is undercut by an obviously frozen, not very tasty beef patty. You can, and probably should, dress it up with teriyaki and avocado ($6). The avocado is ripe and tasty. It goes surprisingly well with a salty-sweet coating of teriyaki.

The egg rolls ($1.50) are only OK — bland, with little flavor beyond black pepper. The fries and sweet potato fries on the side are typical frozen supplies. All are about what you would expect from a snack bar.

Maybe that is the point. Louie’s pizza next door offers lunch for $2.50. To survive on this block, you have to keep things simple and cheap. If that is what you are looking for, the bowls here do the job.

If you are looking for anything more interesting, keep looking.

—Keep up with Nathaniel Glen’s food adventures at Facebook.com.

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