Champaign Restaurants

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Biaggi's is a very fancy looking place, without the fancy prices! They have all of your Italian favorites, as well as their own unique dishes. Try them! Everything is good here! They also have a nice choice of wines by the glass or the bottle.

They have a beautiful atmosphere, lots of room, authentic fireplaces, and elegant decor. They also have outside dining in the warmer months. The staff are pleasant and professional.

Favorite Dish: I love their black fettucini noodles with lobster. It's a divine dish!
Their "Osso Buco" is also fabulous. This is tender veal shank
with veges served with potato gnocchi. Of course, my regular
Italian favorite, "veal parmesan" is great here, too.

Escobar's is a latin inspired restaurant with inventive original cuisine. The fare includes meats, seafood, and there are several vegetarian options. The menue changes but you can always expect something special to choose from. The restaurant is a bit upscale but not stuffy. It is a place to dress up for but you don't have to. Service is great and the details are well covered. Prices are quite reasonable for lunch and get a bit pricier for dinner. However, this is about average or slightly below average in price for a nice restaurant in C-U. This is the sister restaurant to Milo's in Urbana but it is not a clone.

Favorite Dish: Be sure to try one of the pasta specials. They are always reasonably priced and very good.

Penn Station is a small chain of sandwich shops with one situated near the campus, just off of Green St. It makes its reputation on making hot, fresh sandwiches with a twist. Not your ordinary deli shop, it makes twists on the old favorites. You won't find turkey here, but chicken teriyaki, pizza (like a calzone in sandwich form), or grilled artichoke. And there are also natural-cut French fries, delicious. I highly recommend this place for someone looking for a change of pace in a sandwich.

This Champaign eatery has an eclectic mix of noodle dishes from around the world. Dive into Pad Thai, Penne Rosa, or even Mac and Cheese. All dishes can be proteined-up with a meat selection, and there's tofu or plain veg for those non-meat eaters. Their portions are generous, and the food is fresh and pretty healthy. They also offer soups and salads if you're not in the mood for noodles.

Favorite Dish: I had the trio, which is a small portion of noodles, a protein, and a side salad. My salad was Ceasar, which was flavorful and not watery, with the right amount of dressing without being heavy or greasy. The protein was a simple grilled chicken breast, which was still moist. Noodles were the Indoneasian Peanut Saute. They list it as being spicy, which I didn't find exactly true, but it was tasty and filling. A good reasonably priced lunch.

Chipotle has now gone national, bringing its organic and delicious fare to towns across the country. It prides itself on fresh, free-range or organic ingredients, and making totally awesome burritos. Although they are a chain, they act anything but one. Give them a try; you won't be disappointed.

Favorite Dish: My favorites here are the carnitas and barbacoa burritos ... the meat is succulent and beyond what you normally find at a burrito joint. The guacamole goes really well with the chips. And the corn salsa is very tasty. mmmm....

This place came highly recommended from friends, so I went to check it out. I was very disappointed. The atmosphere was more of a greasy spoon joint than a restaurant, and the food matched. The persons behind the counter were nice and welcoming, but the downstairs was poorly ventilated and had wads of flies hovering about. I'm sorry, but I cannot rate this place highly and will not go back there.

Favorite Dish: I had a calzone, which is supposed to be one of their specialties. It came very greasy and without much taste. However, it definitely was big. It could have filled me for two meals had I felt like keeping it; as it was, though, I didn't want to repeat the experience at home.

Cafe Kopi is a down-to-earth, chill place to sip a coffe (or tea; they have a huge selection of teas) and chat or read or study. Good music is always playing, usually ambient rock and such, but at a low enough level to maintain concentration or conversation. The decor is world-inspired with instruments and artifacts from around the globe. An overall great place to hang out!

Favorite Dish: I had just snacks and drinks ... the lemonade was homemade and very tasty, and the snickerdoodle went along well with it. They have a wide variety of sandwiches and salads, which sounded great, but I didn't have the stomach to eat a lot.

It seems part sports bar part restaurant. With two billiard tables and dart boards it is geared to enjoy yourself, and there is delightful outdoor seating to watch the downtown crowd pass by in the summer. There is a nice, wide variety of beers, both on draft and in bottles, which company the American pub food they serve there. Good burgers, salads, and daily specials help make you at ease and have a relaxing time. Well worth checking out.

Favorite Dish: I had the western burger, which was smothered in grilled onions, bacon, and cheddar cheese accompanied with beer-battered onion rings (you have the option of fries, rings, or cottage cheese). Washed it down with a Pyramid Apricot Ale, from California (I was glad to see they stocked some west coast beers there). They had a cheesecake that sounded delicious, but I was stuffed. Next time!