Welcome to Champaign-Urbana, home to the flagship and largest campus of the University of Illinois system! Fun fact: the division of the two cities runs directly through campus, so half of campus is technically in the city of Champaign, while the other half is in the city of Urbana. Chances are, you’re here to do something on campus, and you need to find at least one place to eat. You could head north on Prospect or Neil and find the typical chain restaurants like Red Robin, Panera, Portillo’s, and more near Target and the local mall…or, you could go to any number of the local gems, such as one of these! Here are 10 amazing places to eat in Champaign IL!
Technically in Urbana, but Champaign-Urbana is one of those areas where the towns blend together, and you can only tell you’re in one or the other in certain parts of town. The entire area is in one of two camps when it comes to the best Mexican place in CU, Maize or Huaraches, and I am in the Huaraches Camp. Huaraches is this tiny, inexpensive, hole-in-the wall Mexican restaurant on the corner of this really weirdly shaped intersection. If you’re looking for authentic Mexican food, this is the place, and don’t just take it from me, take it from friends of mine from Peurto Rico and Mexico. My advice: get the tacos.
Complimentary chips and salsa paired with queso – normally the queso comes with jalapeños and bacon bits, but you can ask for it without the bacon to make it vegetarian-friendly! The tacos come with your choice of protein, cilantro, and onions on corn tortillas. I hate onions, so I ask for cheese instead with my chorizo and cilantro.Desthil’s original gastropub is located in Normal, Illinois, but in 2011, they opened a second location in Downtown Champaign. They always have a variety of their own beers available on tap in addition to several craft cocktails. Like Big Grove, they work with local farms as often as possible to create their menu. They also offer brunch on the weekend, but I prefer going here for lunch or dinner. My favorites: the cheese curds, pesto pasta, and the Dijon chicken
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Craving something sweet? Look no further than Jarling’s. We recently had a scare that it could be closing forever because the original owners were selling it, but no one was offering to buy it – not even with a shout-out from Tom Hanks (whom many in the local community not-so-secretly hoped might be the one to buy it)!
Fortunately, several University alumni came together to buy Jarling’s, and they’ve made some welcome changes: a new drive-through sign, updated and easier ways to order and pay, and now it’s even open year-round! Everyone has their go-to order, usually some sort of snowstorm, which is just like a blizzard from Dairy Queen, but a million times better. I have four variations of a cheesecake snowstorm that I rotate through: lemon cheesecake (Jarling’s signature lemon custard with cheesecake bits), key lime cheesecake (the lemon cheesecake blizzard with green river sauce), strawberry cheesecake (vanilla custard mixed with strawberries and cheesecake bits), and pumpkin cheesecake in the fall (pumpkin custard mixed with cheesecake bits).
Big Grove is the premier farm-to-table restaurant in downtown Champaign. They have several items which are permanent fixtures on their menu, but most of their menu items change with the season and what the chef has available from the local farms they work with. There isn’t a bad meal here, but the bottomless mimosa bar during weekend brunch makes this the best place to go for a boozy brunch. My recommendation: get their signature steak frites and follow with the chocolate bread pudding for dessert. Excuse me while I go eat that now….
Likely the most expensive place on this list, this restaurant/wine bar is an incredible place to go celebrate special occasions. Like Big Grove, they have a season-based menu and pride themselves on offering a local farm-to-table experience. Unlike Big Grove, V. Picasso is partnered with a single local farm, Willow Creek Farm located on the outskirts of Urbana, and a few times each year, the farm hosts Dinner on the Farm.
The cheese selections are incredible and come with bread and local honey – my mouth is watering just thinking about the cheese…. If you need a drink recommendation, the bartenders are more than happy to help. In fact, I recommend giving them an idea of what you enjoy drinking and letting them create something for your instead of ordering off the drink menu. You won’t be disappointed!
Several food trucks have popped up in CU within the last few years, but my favorite by far is Cracked. Cracked specializes in breakfast food on the go: think breakfast sandwiches, wraps, and tater tots with a fun and delicious twist. Cracked has two food trucks which can be found near the engineering quad and the main quad of the University campus during the week and at various events and festivals on weekends, including the Urbana Farmer’s Market during the summer. They also recently opened a storefront on Green Street in Campustown. My favorite meal: the Vegasam with basil pesto and a side of parmesan truffle tots.
Snow in mid-April calls for some comfort food: enter Cracked! Happy way to start a MondaySome of the best barbeque in town can be found in either Champaign or Urbana! The original Black Dog is located in Downtown Urbana in a tiny building, but they also opened a larger location in Downtown Champaign within the last few years. Everyone talks about the burnt ends, but I’ve never made it before they sell out for the day, so I can’t speak to those. I love ordering the BBQ sliders with the Georgia peach sauce so I can have a little bit of everything else!
There are several bakeries in the CU area, but Hopscotch is my favorite by far. Their cake is perfectly moist and crumbly, and their frosting is like a perfect cross of buttercream and whipped cream frosting: it has the density and taste of buttercream without being overwhelmingly sweet, but so light like whipped cream frosting. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good buttercream, but there always seems to be too much on my cupcake for my stomach to handle, so this frosting was perfect!
This place is located just outside of Downtown Champaign in an unassuming storefront with the most beautiful interior. You can go in for a cupcake and a latte or one of their special seasonal drinks and sit with friends to enjoy the adorable interior, or you can order a cake or other treats for an event – everything is amazing. They also have macaroons for $1 each on Wednesdays!
What looked like might be a yogurt parfait or berry cobbler turned out to essentially be a deconstructed cupcake with frosting and berry compote in a cup! On the right is my birthday cake cupcakeFor a small-ish city surrounded by cornfields in the midwest, we sure have a lot of wine bars. Sun Singer is yet another wine bar, but one with an extensive Italian-inspired menu which will make you regret even considering just going to Olive Garden for your Italian food fix. Their main draw is the ability to purchase 2 oz pours of wine so that you can sample all you want instead of just picking one from their extensive wine list for the evening. While it’s not located in either downtown area, Sun Singer does have ample parking and outdoor seating that allow you to feel less like you’re in the middle of a bustling city, and more relaxed as you enjoy your food and wine. Personally, I recommend the pesto chicken panini with the truffle fries and several 2 oz glasses of wine.
Harvest Market is an upscale local grocery store on the south end of Champaign that opened in 2016. In addition to selling groceries, many of which come from local farms, they host numerous events and classes, and have a restaurant! The restaurant hosts wine and beer tasting events about every other month; the most recent was a wine tasting and tapas event where $10 bought a plate-full of tapas, samples of 10 wines, and a large glass of your favorite wine. Everything was delicious. My favorite was the blue cheese, apple, and fig flatbread, and I can’t wait to go back!
You can enter the Farmhouse Restaurant through the store… …or through the separate entrance to the side. The lower level has a café and deli, and the upper level has additional seating, a kitchen classroom, and a bar with a separate bar menu.
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