A few days ago I had dinner at the Cafe Luna. I'd eaten there a long time ago, but decided to give it another try. The dinner menu has a few entrees, but is mostly devoted to what it calls "tapas," but are really just small plates, about half the size of a normal entree. (I don't know how they compare to the entrees at CL, since I didn't order one.)

I ordered three of the "tapas." The first, "banana gnocchi," I ordered out of sheer curiosity. I probably should have known better. The name is actually a misnomer: they're not banana-flavored gnocchi, but regular gnocchi, cooked and served with sliced bananas and pecans. The gnocchi themselves were overcooked and gummy, and the dish as a whole just didn't work.

Much better were the french fries with grated parmesan and white truffle oil. In fact, they were among the best fries I've ever had, better than -- dare I say it -- the duck fries at Hot Doug's. And they were only four bucks. My third dish was a cheese platter, which I also liked, though I'm no expert on cheese. For dessert, I had a berry napoleon, which was excellent.

Since my post on Evo Cafe in the other thread, I've eaten there a few times. The best of the dishes I had was the "Dry Panned Lamb." I don't know why it's called that: the lamb was served in broth, in a hot pot. Anyway, the lamb was tender and tasty, and the dish as a whole was hot enough (in the flavor sense) to leave my tongue tingling, but not so much as to be painful. (Of course, your mileage may vary, depending upon your experience with hot foods.)

I'd written in the earlier thread that the Persimmon Grocery, which used to be just south of Bacaro, had closed. (Bacaro has expanded into the space.) But the gelato that Persimmon used to be sell is now being sold outdoors from a cart stationed on Taylor St. in downtown Champaign, next to Radio Maria. I presume it's only sold on the days Bacaro is open, Wed. through Sun. From what one of the vendors told me, the cart is there late afternoons and evenings, but I don't know the exact hours.

In my last post, I was mistaken about the gelato cart's hours. It's open seven days a week. Its weekday hours are 4:30 PM - 11 PM; on Saturday it opens at 11 AM, and on Sunday it opens at noon.

Here is a link to the Daily Illini's dining guide for C-U. Doesn't seem to have ratings, but the location and hours info are useful:

http://dining.illinimedia.com/

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I can't believe nobody here recommended Bayern Stube in Gibson City. The atmosphere is a touch corny and overdone in Bavarian hunting-lodge-style complete with wood floors and sort-of rustic wood furniture and LOTS of small stuffed critters and animal heads mounted on the walls. But the food is first-rate. Our meal started with a bread basket with a delish sausage spread. Next came a black forest ham and cheese plate. The ham was a touch on the salty side but very moist and tender. Entree was a very long Hungarian-inspired beef and pork sausage. Moist, juicy . Side dishes included cooked red cabbage and spätzle. I'm not a big fan of red cabbage. The spätzle was sauteed with onions and shredded swiss cheese. Fabulous! Beer selection included German stand-bys like Warsteiner, Beck's and Lowenbrau. More up-market offerings including Kostritzer Swhartzbier, Schneider Aventinus Eisbock, Schneider hefeweizen, Spaten lager and Spaten Franziskaner hefeweizen.

Bayern Stube is an unlikely place for a smallish farm city like Gibson City. But the food is high quality and the prices, while a bit steep by central Illinois standards, are commensurate with the quality of the food. Most certainly worth the half-hour drive from Champaign-Urbana... truly an experience.

Bayern Stube
209 N. Sangamon Avenue
Gibson City, IL 60936
(217) 784-8304

Well the OP asked for the Champaign/Urbana area. Gibson City is 45 minutes away.

M_Six wrote:Well the OP asked for the Champaign/Urbana area. Gibson City is 45 minutes away.

A) Gibson City is only 25 miles from Champaign -- maybe I'm just used to urban driving times and living in a metropolitan area that's about 100 miles from end to end, but 25 miles on uncongested highways doesn't seem like excessive driving time for a great meal;

B) It also didn't seem out of place considering there are recommendations as far away as Tuscola;

C) Sometimes threads morph into a "general information" thread to provide info to others, particularly after it has served its purpose to the OP. I presume that someone who posted a question over three years ago has already gotten their answer, and subsequent posts are for the benefit of providing information to others looking for C/U-area recommendations.

I completely agree with the Bayern Stube recommendation. I went there last month for the first time and the only thing that was a disappointment was the pretzel because it was so overpriced, but at least it was a "real" one, not the gourmet so-called pretzels one finds nowadays.

I had the schnitzel (veal, of course) with gruyère and tomatoes on top, and it was perfect! It was easily as good as any schnitzel I've had in Germany or Austria.

bellringr wrote:I had the schnitzel (veal, of course) with gruyère and tomatoes on top, and it was perfect! It was easily as good as any schnitzel I've had in Germany or Austria.

I don't know if I'd go that far (though the food is pretty decent) but the place is definitely worth a trip. In fact, the place *is* kind of a trip, sort of like the hunting lodge of a crazy bavarian packrat uncle. Go in October if you can, for obvious reasons.

Looking for a restaurant in the campus area. Help!

Welcome to LTH Forum. The first way we can help you is to point you to the "search" button near the top of the screen. There are tons of posts about Champaign already and you will learn a lot by reading past discussion. People who wrote about their favorite places rarely feel like rewriting their posts.

Here are some past threads to get you started:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=2944
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=15436
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=14278
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=12011
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=6932

Also, it helps if you can be more specific about what you want. Does price matter? Does style of food matter? Sandwiches or Indian? There are a lot of restaurants near campus. Replies will be most helpful if you give people guidance about what you are looking for.

Funny, I'm in Champaign right now. We went to the Courier for dinner last night. Solid as always. If I wanted something fancier, I'd go to TImpone's - there's also a wine tasting in the Krannert Center lobby this evening.

I visited the new Seaboat (on Kirby in Champaign) for the first time yesterday. I'm still reliving this great meal.

I had the daily special, which was called "fish and chips," but that doesn't do it justice. For about $5.50 you get two large, thin fillets that are perfectly seasoned and fried. (I don't remember what kind of fish it was). The breading is exceptional -- not to thick and a little spicy. No grease. Fries are also seasoned with a little spiciness. Coleslaw is made in-house, has little pieces of apples, and a great flavor. Tartar sauce also appears to be made in-house, though I didn't verify this.

I chatted with a guy who worked there, but was having his own lunch at the same time I was. I told him how good the slaw was and asked if he made it in-house. He pointed at a woman who had just come out of kitchen and said, "She makes everything!". This woman knows what she's doing.

I haven't been to the original location, but from what I understand, the new location has a much more expansive menu. It's also much more centrally located for people near campus.

Seaboat
New location
403 W Kirby Ave
Champaign
(217) 355-9933

Original location
1114 N Market St
Champaign
(217) 351-6209

I recently came across a couple of very good places for dessert-type goods, one that's new and one that was new to me.

The new place is Karen's Cheesecake Confections. The "cheesecake confections" are individual mini-cheesecakes in various flavors, coated with chocolate or caramel. I've been there several times, and everything I've bought has been scrumptious. You can also buy several types of non-coated mini-cheesecakes, or larger cheesecakes, both coated and not. (You have to order the larger ones in advance.)

Most of the company's business seems to be by preorder, with the store a sideline: it's only open Wed. and Thu. 11-2:30, and Fri. and Sat. 11-5. (The Wed. and Thu. hours are new, and I haven't checked them out myself.) And its location is rather uninviting: it's tucked inside the Lifeline Wellness Center, which is in the dreary, partly vacant Country Fair Shopping Center, on the northwest corner of Springfield and Mattis. I really hope that it does well.

The website is here, and the phone number is (217) 391-4509. It appears to be a one-person operation, so when the owner can't be there it isn't open; if you're coming a long way it's probably best to call ahead.

The other place I discovered is Sweet Indulgence Bakery, which serves a changing selection of desserts and pastries. The Kentucky Bourbon Pecan Pie is particularly good, though expensive. It's located at 1121 W. Windsor Rd., between Prospect and Mattis, in the same strip mall that houses Sun Singer; and its phone number is 352-2433. Iirc it's open seven days a week, though on Sunday it closes at noon.

Boy, this thread is really making me miss old Champoo-Banana. I just asked Sweet Baboo if he'd be up for a road trip to there sometime in the next couple of weeks.

I know before I go I'll have to do some more careful reading of this thread and other info, because some of the places I knew are bound to be gone, and some other ones I don't know about are bound to be worth knowing.

The Gibson City mention reminds me to ask if anyone knows the name and location of a place that I remember that is outside of C-U. I'm fairly sure it's to the east, toward (but not in) St. Joseph (the place, some may remember, that was hit by the tornado in, let's see, '92? '93?)

This was a place where you picked out your cut of steak and grilled it yourself on a big communal grill table, along with Texas toast and other sides. It's the same model as Alexander's steak house near the mall in Champaign, but this is a small roadhouse kind of place. Anyone know the place?

RSMBob wrote:Just read on the Illiniboard that Harold's Chicken Shack has opened up a store at 5th and John in Champaign. IIRC from my UI days (BS '83) that's probably Johnstowne Center, former home of Giordano's years ago!

Speaking of Harold's Chicken Shack, didn't they just open a location in downtown Normal, IL, in the old Jake's Pizza space? I highly suspect it probably opened several months ago, but I dunno yet, since I took a hiatus from going to Illinois State University after the spring 2007 semester, and (surprisingly) find myself missing that area alot, especially since I found several decent restaurants in the Bloomington-Normal area, during my 11/2 years I spent going there(I'm still planning btw, to return to going to school there either next fall, or sometime in 2009).

Hi,

You may want to update this thread on Bloomington-Norma with your favorites.

Regards,

A few days ago, I found another good Chinese restaurant in Campustown. It's called the House of Gourmet, and it's not new; in fact, it's been around for years. I've never had the urge to eat there, though, because it always seemed like a typical Americanized Chinese place: they even have a "Chop Suey" neon sign in the window. But apparently they've recently added a bunch of non-Americanized dishes to the menu, so I decided to check it out.

On the recommendation of the woman behind the counter, who was very friendly, I ordered Maggi Spicy Fish Filets. (Consulting Google, I find that Maggi Spicy is a brand name for a line of soups, sauces, etc.) This was served in a shallow bowl, and featured a layer of fish filets and dried chilis in an oily broth. Under the fish filets, there was a layer of yam noodles (which I don't remember having had at a Chinese restaurant before, though I've had them at Japanese restaurants). It might not seem like these ingredients would combine well together, but the dish was very good. And though the broth was oily, I didn't end up feeling like I'd eaten a lot of grease.

As to what else they offer, while there are no intestines on the menu, there are a number of fish head dishes, as well as some dishes with intriguing names like "True Love Pork Spareribs" and "Mu-Er Tofu with Day-Lily Flower." There are also a few Thai dishes offered.

House of Gourmet
604 E. Daniel
344-7483
Closed Sunday

Tonight is the annual Chinese New Year's buffet at Bo Bo China (see upthread for descriptions). It begins at 4:30; in past years it's gotten very crowded, so I'd suggest arriving fairly early.

Speaking of Chinese buffets, I recently had a meal at Eastern Taste, a Chinese restaurant in Savoy. It features a buffet with about fifty Chinese dishes (at dinner), including some you don't usually find in buffets, such as curried baby octopus (one of my favorites) and fried mini-buns (not what you'd expect: the "bun" is like an American dinner roll, only square, and it's accompanied by a sweet condensed milk-based (I'm guessing) sauce. It's not the best Chinese cuisine in C-U, but it's good, and if you feel like trying a bunch of unusual dishes it's a good deal. It's in Savoy Plaza, on Neil St. north of Curtis (near the new Schnuck's, the Savoy 16, and Pages for All Ages), and its phone number is (217) 366-9211.

Hi Adam,

I couldn't find any descriptions of the Bo Bo China buffet upthread. Do you know how much the buffet is? Any dishes that you can expect to see or regions represented?

thanks for the heads up!

-Laura

Ok. Now I found the Bo Bo China new years buffet description. Sounds very promising! I think I'll probably have to go there tonight.

-Laura

According to Champaign Taste, the Rubens' Chocolate store is closing, but will continue to produce chocolates to order by phone or via the internets.

This is going to take some advance planning. The chocolates are a must-have at the Roger Ebert Film Festival!

Hi,

I am thrilled they are doing what is best for their business and not closing their business. I followed Adam Stephanide's advice to go there years ago. I love their chocolate boxes for gift presentations or for stuffing with their chocolates. I wrote about them here.

Regards,

I stopped at Rubens today for what I thought would be my last visit. When I asked the owner's son whether today or tomorrow would be the last day, he told me that the business that was supposed to take their place backed out, so since they're stuck with the lease, they're staying open. While it's too bad for them, since they wanted to get out of the retail business, I can't help feeling selfishly happy.

Yes, it turns out they did close, just a bit later than originally planned. You can still order gift boxes from their website, which also has a picture of their chocolates: http://www.rubenschocolates.com/

Well, it was EbertFest 10, and we were looking for some food. On Wednesday night, we went to Jupiter Pizza. It was excellent. Cracker-like crust -- I had the proscuitto and artichoke, which was excellent. My friend had the Special K, which has a cream sauce instead of pizza sauce, and sausage, mushrooms and spinach. Both were really tasty, and the crust was extremely crisp. The cream sauce was pretty much lost on us, but the other toppings were good.

Seven Saints was a big disappointment. Granted, we got there pretty much as the EbertFest screening ended, so they were swamped. But our service was terrible. Everyone ELSE in the small room where we sat was waited on and served before we were waited on, despite our having arrived first. Our server just disappeared. We ordered hummous, which was the strangest consistency I'd ever had. It was more like a paste than a dip, but the fresh pita triangles were very good. The menu is very "slider" centric, which just means tiny sandwiches. I had the tiny cheeseburger, which was just ok. In fact, it tasted a little strange, as if it had sausage in it as well as hamburger. They were out of a number of things. All in all, I would not recommend.

Then we landed at Carmon's for crepes. This used to be a much beloved greasy spoon, but the new owner has made it an homage to La Creperie. We had curried cauliflower soup, which tasted a bit sweet but was very good, but very thin. We also had a special white bean/vegetable/ham soup which was great -- very smoky flavor and great vegies. Also the french onion soup which had a toasted crepe instead of the crouton on top. The FOS is made with 5 or 6 kinds of onions. It had a nice deep flavor, but was a little sweet. The crepes were great. We had a spinach/bacon/mushroom crepe which was very creamy, but with crispy bacon. The mushrooms were cooked separately and added a separate depth of flavor. We also had the beef stroganoff crepe and a special, bratwurst, which was mild and flavorfull. Dessert was fresh strawberry crepes and the nutella crepe with sour cream. Everything was so good we went back on Sunday for brunch. Most had crepes with scrambled eggs, but one of us had the homemade sausage gravy, which was very tasty, but a little salty. The Champaign Taste blog had mixed reviews of the restaurant, but I thought the food was great and the service was very attentive.

So, the 10th Annual Roger Ebert Film Festival was a success with good movies, and we scrounged up some good food, too.

Well my daughter qualified for the state science fair and so we are heading downstate this weekend with a handful of other 8th grade families. I graduated looooooong time ago, and haven't been back to CU for a visit in at least 17 years easily, and Im so freaking excited!

Planning on having Papa Del's on Friday night, and will DEFINITELY be stopping at Lil Porgy's on the way home....17 years later I still remember that "mix" heat sauce. Mmmm. We used to go to Courier Cafe for breakfast, how cool that it's still open.

I was happy to see Custard Cup still around, but disappointed that I couldn't find anything about Ye Olde Donuts. We used to traipse over there for the 3 (or was it 4?) a.m. opening and scarf those babies down. Anyone know when this closed? Also, anyone remember Lox Stock and Bagel? Man I loved their tuna salad.

Any other tips, looking for local and nostalgia?

I also remem

Hi,

Two years ago, Ye Olde Donut had changed hands. The new owner expanded the business to include Ye Olde BBQ in addition to the donuts.
I remember long ago when Ye Olde Donuts ran out of donuts, then they simply closed.

I like Lil'Porgy's, too. The mix sauce has been so reliably inconsistent, as in too hot sometimes, I personally don't order it. I believe they now have a sauce hotter than hot. My favorite way to occupy my time there is to read the Thrifty Nickel.

Regards,

Also, anyone remember Lox Stock and Bagel?

Always a pizza bagel when I had a couple extra bucks. And after that, a stop at Cookies, Etc.

Please think of me when you're having Papa Del's and the Custard Cup!

Great memories of C-U food. I've got to get back someday soon!

Cakes on Walnut is a bakery specializing in cupcakes (in fact, that's all they bake), which opened ten days ago. I've been there several times, and their cupcakes are delicious. They're freshly baked, the cake is fluffy, and the frosting is light and very creamy. So far I've had the salted caramel, the green tea, and the strawberry balsamic (not recommended unless you like vinegar on your cupcakes). They also sell vanilla, chocolate and red velvet. I've never been a cupcake fan, but Cakes on Walnut converted me. In fact, it may be the best dessert place in C-U.

It is a bit pricier than you'd expect: a small cupcake costs $2.75, and a large one $3.25 (though the large ones are at least twice the size of the small ones). But for goods of this quality, this is a bargain.

There are plenty of tables for in-store eating. And they also serve gelato, sandwiches, and other things, none of which I have tried.

Cakes on Walnut
114 N. Walnut, C. (across the street from Bacaro)
(217) 355-5400

11 AM - 11 PM Tue. - Sat.
11 AM - 7 PM Sun.
Closed Mon.

Thought I'd give a brief report about my trip to CU this weekend, and thank everyone for commenting in the past few days.

We took a large group to Papa Del's on Friday night...waited a long time for a table (just like the old days LOL) and had some less than stellar service though our waiter certainly tried hard. Pizza was good, not as great as I remembered.

Didn't wake up early enough to get to Courier Cafe for breakfast, but did manage to get to Lil Porgy's in Urbana for lunch. It was ok. I loved the sauce (brought some home) but wasn't overwhelmed with the beef, pork or ribs. Actually liked the beef a little more than the pork, which is unusual for me. Still glad we went. My daughter hated it and she had Potbelly's. LOL

Custard Cup...celebrating their 25th anniversary in Champaign with lots of specials and promos (large quantity stuff, no freezer to transport it home). AS GOOD AS I REMEMBERED!!! I had a cold fudge sundae with toasted almonds and could've had more after I finished. It was great and I strongly recommend making a stop there if you're anywhere nearby.

Campus is way different than I remember. Campustown/Green street is very suburban, lots of chains and not a lot of the old charm I remember. Zorba's is still there, Mabel's is not. The White Horse Inn sign is up but there's a huge "for lease" sign on top. Tons more campus buildings, different street configurations, Coslow's space is empty, Lox Stock is a tanning salon, no Murphy's fish sandwiches (I knew it was gone).

Hope my daughter gets in a few years from now and I'l have more to report then. LOL