Best Chambana restaurants and bars

[davidlee930]

Best Japanese??? It's Sarku at the mall's food court, hands down. Chicken Terryaki, Double meat over fried rice and vegetables? THE best.

Double the meat for 99 cents!!!

Best bar food: Murphys

Bars:


Firehaus

I like these choices.


Murphys I agree wholeheartedly.

Not a big fan of Firehaus food but it's decent and when the weather's nice its great for an afternoon beer and a burger.

 

[JW]

I still have my giant mug from the Mug Club.

Does anyone remember the Shark Bowls? Was that R&R's or Clybourne?

Who has the worst horror story from La Bambas?

 

[illini4everjp]

I still have my giant mug from the Mug Club.

Does anyone remember the Shark Bowls? Was that R&R's or Clybourne?

Shark Bowls were R&R's and they were excellent. FireHaus has them now but not as strong and without the shark. I'm not sure if they do it anymore but CO's used to have Ice Bombs which were essentially Shark Bowls but in a cup.

 

[JW]

Shark Bowls were R&R's and they were excellent. FireHaus has them now but not as strong and without the shark. I'm not sure if they do it anymore but CO's used to have Ice Bombs which were essentially Shark Bowls but in a cup.

Its not the same without the shark.

Does C.O.'s still have the black garbage bags covering the ceiling?

I always hated Tonic or whatever that bar/club was by Follets.

 

[illini4everjp]

Does C.O.'s still have the black garbage bags covering the ceiling?

I'm going back for Unofficial so I'll let you know.

I always hated Tonic or whatever that bar/club was by Follets.

I despised that place. The literally one time I went there, this girl overdosed (yep) and passed out right on the dance floor. No one seemed particularly interested, either. Though, I must admit that I did pick up that night (different girl) so going to Tonic wasn't a complete waste of time, at least.

 

[davidlee930]

My favorites (even though I no longer live in Champaign)... Papa Del's, Monicals, The Ribeye, Garcias, Potbelly Subs, Jimmy Johns. Kofusion is decent too.

haha Jimmy Johns

 

[JW]

I'm going back for Unofficial so I'll let you know.

I despised that place. The literally one time I went there, this girl overdosed (yep) and passed out right on the dance floor. No one seemed particularly interested, either. Though, I must admit that I did pick up that night (different girl) so going to Tonic wasn't a complete waste of time, at least.

This is the kind of story I live for.

I hated Jimmy John's and Pappa John's. I don't know if they were related but they make crappy food.

I've got this craving for a Murphy's fries and burger. And the feel of the carved-up tables under my elbows. I should be a poet.

 

[illynifan34]

Shark Bowls were R&R's and they were excellent. FireHaus has them now but not as strong and without the shark. I'm not sure if they do it anymore but CO's used to have Ice Bombs which were essentially Shark Bowls but in a cup.

Had Ice Bombs last year...Wednesday is Bomb Night!

And $7-$10 to get in

 

[illini4everjp]

I hated Jimmy John's and Pappa John's. I don't know if they were related but they make crappy food.

I'm not a fan of Papa John's pizza but they have awesome chicken strips.

Had Ice Bombs last year...Wednesday is Bomb Night!

And $7-$10 to get in

Thats absurd. I remember when Station opened and they were charging $5 and had a stupid velvet rope for the line. Made me wanna set that place on fire.

 

[davidlee930]

I'm not a fan of Papa John's pizza but they have awesome chicken strips.Thats absurd. I remember when Station opened and they were charging $5 and had a stupid velvet rope for the line. Made me wanna set that place on fire.

I gotta say, if you want chicken strips, Geovanti's is the place to go.

 

[illini4everjp]

I gotta say, if you want chicken strips, Geovanti's is the place to go.

:thumb::clappy::congrats:

True, true That place was opened my senior year and my roommate and I were there often.

 

[BananaShampoo]

Banana: Jim Gould's? ranked second??? Get OUTTTT of here. You are right, they are expensive. CERTAINLY not worth it. One of the few nice restaurants in the area so they have a monopoly in downtown Champaign. I love guidos too, their burgers are really good and really cheap -- worth the price and eating outdoors is awesome when the weather is nice. For on campus foods, a bit pricey for Chinese takeout, but I like Evo for their Indonesian Fried Rice, it is awesome. Dos Reales is one of my favorites as well.

The restaurants I listed weren't really in a rank order, just a list. Jim Gould's is on my list but probably not in the top 8 overall.

 

[BananaShampoo]

I'm tired of people saying nice things about Guidos. Please stop.

Dos Reales gives you herpes. Don't eat there.

I agree on all counts. For Mexican I much prefer El Toro to Dos Reales. Fiesta Cafe is decent, too. Believe it or not, La Bamba's is also fairly high on my list. I've also heard good things about Real Hacienda though I have yet to eat there.

 

[BananaShampoo]

Few more food listings:

Best chain: Texas Road House
Best bar food: Seven Saints, Murphys


Bars:

Cowboy Monkey in the summer
Guidos
Blind Pig
Boltini
Both Jupiters
Mike'n'Mollies - they sometimes serve until 2:30am
Illini Inn
Firehaus

All good choices. How could I forget Texas Roadhouse, or as my friends and I refer to it, "The Hoss"?

Also I forgot about Mike n' Molly's. I rememebr when that place was Gypsy's, then it got closed down thanks to an overaggressive bouncer who ended up killing a grad student. Mike n' Molly's has a better beer selection and I like their intimate beer garden in the summer.

 

[illini4everjp]

All good choices. How could I forget Texas Roadhouse, or as my friends and I refer to it, "The Hoss"?

Also I forgot about Mike n' Molly's. I rememebr when that place was Gypsy's, then it got closed down thanks to an overaggressive bouncer who ended up killing a grad student. Mike n' Molly's has a better beer selection and I like their intimate beer garden in the summer.

What about Alexander's Steak House?

 

[BananaShampoo]

What about Alexander's Steak House?

I already mentioned Alexander's in my original list. I love that place.

 

[davidlee930]

I agree on all counts. For Mexican I much prefer El Toro to Dos Reales. Fiesta Cafe is decent, too. Believe it or not, La Bamba's is also fairly high on my list. I've also heard good things about Real Hacienda though I have yet to eat there.

I've never tried Real Hacienda either. I lived a block away from La Bamba, and I hate that place. Burritos as big as your head but they taste like absolute crap unless you're wasted out of your mind and everything tastes good. :tsk:

 

[SixthandWhite]

Who has the worst horror story from La Bambas?

I once ate there sober

 

[Dan]

Also I forgot about Mike n' Molly's. I rememebr when that place was Gypsy's, then it got closed down thanks to an overaggressive bouncer who ended up killing a grad student. Mike n' Molly's has a better beer selection and I like their intimate beer garden in the summer.

Ah, enjoyed Gypsy's back in the day.

 

[davidlee930]

I once ate there sober

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

My vote for best pizza is Prime Time.

Hall of Fame for Places to Never Eat While Sober:

1. La Bamba
2. Drew's (the new pizzeria on Green, I think it opened my senior year)

 

[illini4everjp]

This thread is making me hungry.

 

[Dan]

My vote for best pizza is Prime Time.

I love the Heart Attack

 

[BananaShampoo]

As far as campus pizza places go I was never a huge fan of Prime Time. I always liked Bonnie Jean's, though.

 

[Illini_Shaun]

Surprised that no one has mentioned Po'Boys yet!

Po'Boys closed down years ago

 

[illynifan34]

Prime Time Pizza was good, if that was the kind of pizza you wanted, that thin crust kind. I was probably my favorite pizza of that type anywhere, other than Paul's Pizza in Westchester, IL.

I ate LaBamba's sober on Taco Tuesday, this was a bad, bad, bad idea.