2 great new Urbana restaurants

Black Dog Smoke & Ale House

Where: kind of on Water Street, near the jolly roger where, Todd & John's used to be

What I ate: 1/2 chicken, coleslaw, smoked potato, cup of bbq sauce, 2 glasses homemade ice-tea

Comments: If it takes a strong man to cook a tender chicken, those folks must be Olympic class weightlifters. The chicken was delicious, the coleslaw was a rich peppery vinegar number, and the potato was liked a baked potato with just a hint of something different. The atmosphere from where we sat, with nearly a direct view into the kitchen, was of people working very dilligently.


Xinh Xinh Cafe

Where: in one of the stores in the front of Shnucks at Vine & Main

What I ate: spring rolls, pho with every kind of meat, Vietnamese iced coffee.

Comments: the spring rolls were a true standout, a delicious crispy 1cmx1cmx10cm pork strip surrounded by about a fistfull of veggie goodness, green onions sticking out as an accent. The pho was fine, although I didn't prefer it over Thara Thai's or that place in Savoy's. The coffee was a nice twist, very different, tasty like a Thai-iced coffee, but with a much richer coffee edge. The atmosphere was light, industrial, and sophisticated.

Crane Alley

Crane Alley has gotten on my bad side, as of late. Their food is good, maybe a little pricey. I've tried decently hard to get a mythological feel for it, and it just isn't happening. It's a wonderful place to eat outside in Crane Alley itself, on a warm day, or huddling inside, on a cold day. I've taken my coworkers there for lunch several times, and it's always too slow for coders anxious to get back hacking. Dinner seems fast enough. They have great beet chips with goat cheese, but they've come out burnt (and by the time you figure out most the plate is burnt, you've eaten a third of them, so you can't send it back, etc...). They've got a solid fish sandwich. Pretty much everything is good. The atmosphere is deep and rich. I've heard the beer menu is pretty deep. Meh.

Courier Cafe

The Courier is another classic. It's a good lunch or dinner: a good place to go if you haven't been there in a while. The place aims to look old school in a way that is neither urban or country, but more like small town turn-of-the-century; this effect is aided by a large number of strategically placed antiques. It has a solid salad bar (I can get myself a spinach salad topped with other veggies, which is my main criteria). It's mostly known for it's burgers and steak-fries. I like to get the dippers, which are potato toppers. A half order of dippers is a good meal in itself. I should mention the shakes and malts. I haven't explored their dessert menu, but it seems like it could be a viable candidate.

Cafe Kopi

I'd have to say that Cafe Kopi was the first Champaign restaurant I really dug. When I wanted to wander off campus as an undergraduate, it was where I went. It's where I am now. I haven't talked to Jon Lim in years, but I remember sitting under the awning, watching the rain through the Christmas lights. I'm not a nostalgic person, but I don't need nostalgia: I have all my childhood longings for the urban world right here.

Inside, it's a warm place: wood floors, furniture, and trim, orange walls adorned with student paintings. The music will be hip and the staff will be friendly but worldly.

On to the food: the turkey and brie is great, have it with the salad. The matty pooh hummus reminds me that vegans can still eat.

For drinks I always love the apple cider during the colder times of the year. During the summer, the iced white mocha is my drink of choice.

This place was one of the first wi-fi enabled coffeehouses in CU. Respect, g.

For study, for light supper, for lunch, for snack, or for an afternoon of games, Kopi is a fine venue.

Champaign-Urbana Breakfast Spots of Note

These are some Champaign-Urbana breakfast spots of note (as in people should hear of them, if they haven't, as alternatives for eating breakfast out). They are in no particular order. Some places are deliberately excluded, since they better fit into a different category (such as 24-hour diners, bed-and-breakfasts, bakeries (which would include donut/bagel places), although this line is hardly strict). However, if you feel that there is a significant oversight, please do comment.

Pekara (116 N Neil St, Champaign): Although Pekara has many lunch and dinner options, it is first and foremost a bakery. It features an array of pastries and breads, as well as the best breakfast coffee in town (which I understand to be a variety at Columbia Street Roastery, although I've never followed that up). Wifi is also provided. If you're looking for a danish and a coffee while you surf on your laptop and wait for lunch, this is a great way to go. Pekara is always trying out new dishes, so take a careful look and ask what's new. It's a friendly but experimental place, with changing art exhibits.

Courier (111 N Race Street, Urbana): Courier is an Urbana mainstay. It's build to resemble it's precessors, having many antique relics adding a great ambiance to the place. As for breakfast food, it's fairly undersampled by me, but I love what I've had. In particular, the morning addition, which is a croissant, sausage, and egg sandwitch on which I put orange marmalade. Dang tasty. The only reason I don't go more often is because it is a pretty far walk from where I live. The coffee is pretty decent. Courier is a nice, intimate place, but get a booth or it's loud.

Todd and John's Bar and Grill (next to the Jolly Roger, which is at 118 W Water St, Urbana): Evan Donahue turned me on to this place: skeezy bar by afternoon and night, but mornings transform it into a breakfast specialty place, with five specials. Last time I went, I had this great spanish omlete with chorizo, twice-baked potatoes, and coffee. The twice baked potatoes were spectacular. The coffee isn't that great, though. This place will only become a more popular breakfast spot after the new smoking ban. I don't think it will ever lose it's friendly bar ambience, though.

The Originial Pancake House (1909 W Springfield Ave Ste B, Champaign): this place is a favorite of Sarah's (my girlfriend), and I really like it too. The coffee is astonishingly good, and at one time was my favorite in town, although I find now that it gives me headaches for completely unexplained reasons. The cinnamon french toast is a stand-out, although the Farmer's Scramble, which comes with pancakes, is the dish to pick if you want all around favorites. They have fresh squeezed orange juice, too. This place is strictly breakfast-lunch only. The place has a very deliberate homestyle-country ambience.

Le Peep (2215 S Neil St, Champaign): A breakfast-lunch only place. I really like the skillets, but I've been told that people have had the best omlettes they've ever had here. Sarah is more lukewarm about this place. The coffee is good, and comes by the pot. Water also comes by the caraffe. I like this place a lot for the ambiance, where they are trying for a fresh feel.

Flat Top Grill (607 S. Sixth Street, Champaign): This place just opened. They do breakfast-lunch-dinner. The breakfasts are an all-you-can-eat affair, where you select what dish you want using a system of sticks, and choose the toppings you want (say fruit and butter for French toast, and a simply astounding array of vegitables, with a few breakfast meats, for a scramble). You can make scrambles, omlettes, eggwhite-only omlettes, pancakes, and frenchtoast. with a wide variety of vegitables. Fresh fruit and muffins are provided for between-course snacking. The coffee is quite fine. The ambiance is preppy yet respectful.

Radio Maria (119 North Walnut, Champaign): Radio Maria is in the breakfast list on the merits of the Sunday Brunch alone. However, the merit is substantial. They provide omlettes equal in quality to anywhere else for a price that's just as good, if not better. Plus, their upward range is difficult to limit. Their coffee is great, and they have a Mexican coffee that has too much cinnamon for me, personally. People who want to venture out into great, new foods will find the opportunity here, while the brunch affords some more conservative options to those who might normally not want to venture into the Radio Maria wilds. In terms of atmosphere, it has a legendary 1930s meets Latin American Voodoo feel that would leave Gomez Addams feeling quite at home.

Welcome

Welcome to "One Year of Champaign-Urbana food." After I learned that a friend of mine was moving, we set out to eat at "All of the places in Champaign-Urbana that we have not eaten that aren't too expensive that have any chance of being good." I've decided to create this blog to review those places, and places we had already been. There are many great places to eat in Champaign-Urbana, and I hope to inform Champaign-Urbana residents and visitors what the opportunities are.

I'm posting this from Pekara, which will be covered soon and often.