Common Ground Food Co-op

Want fresh, local produce any day of the week, check the produce section at Common Ground Food Co-op!

What is a Co-op exactly? Check out the Co-op’s website to find out: 

http://commonground.coop/?page_id=103

Silvercreek

Silvercreek is a unique, natural wood-and brick restaurant that prides itself in its knowledgeable and competnet culinary staff.  It is a great location for casual fine-dining.  They use fresh, local ingredients and all of their artisan breads are baked from scratch every day.  The have a vast variety on their lunch and dinner menus and a long wine and beer list to match!

Location

402 N Race St

Urbana,IL61801

217-328-3402

Hours

Lunch: Monday – Saturday 11am-3pm

 

Dinner: Monday – Thursday 5-10pm; Friday – Saturday 5pm-11pm; Sunday 5-10pm

 

Brunch: Sunday 10am-2:30pm

Menu

Check out their menu here.

Radio Maria’s

Looking for a place to enjoy a nice dinner?  Check out Radio Maria’s located in historic downtownChampaign!  The owners are both artists who studied at theUniversityofIllinois.  They used their creativity to create Radio Maria’s unique style and delicious food creations. 

                                                 (Image source: radiomariarestaurant.com)

Location

119 N. Walnut St

Champaign,IL61820

217-398-7729

Hours

Monday 5pm-2am

Tuesday – Friday 4pm-2am

Saturday & Sunday 10:30am-2am

Menu

Check out all of Radio Maria’s menus (Dinner, Tapas, Brunch, Dessert, Late Night) here.

Try the Eggplant Frites on the Tapas menu (we love Eggplant- check out this weeks specialty crop post)

 

                                                 (Image source: radiomariarestaurant.com)

Escobar’s

Come to Escobar’s for fabulous food in a cozy and comfortable atmosphere!  There is outdoor seating for those sunny summer days and cool summer evenings.  For lunch they have a handful of tasty salads and sandwiches to choose from.  All of the sandwiches are served with sweet potato fries and mixed greens.  Want a little more than a sandwich?  Try the Fish Tacos entrée!  The dinner menu includes all the same salads and several additional entrées.

                                                                    (Image source: yelp.com)

Location and Hours

6 East Columbia Avenue

Champaign,IL61820

 Open Tuesday-Sunday

        Dinner: Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday 5-9pm; Friday and Saturday 5-10pm

        Lunch: Tuesday-Friday 11am-2pm (no lunch served on Saturday)

        Brunch: Sunday 11am-2pm

 

 Menu

Read Escobar’s menu online here.

For dinner, try the sautéed shrimp and scallops with grilled asparagus (we love asparagus- check out our Featured Speciatly Crop page on asparagus.)

Manager: Jane Anderson

Head Chef: Obdulio Escobar- also head chef at Milos inUrbana,IL

Cafe Luna

Located at 116 North Chestnut Street, Café Luna offers a delicious choice for Sunday brunch, soups, salads, and sandwiches for lunch any day of the week, and an extensive dinner menu list of unique tapas and entrees! Luna offers local produce purchased from Blue Moon farm outside of Urbana! Check out their website to view a full menu! http://www.luna-cu.com/

CRANE ALLEY

Take a stroll down Main Street in Urbana and be sure to stop at Crane Alley Restaurant & Bar.  You can spot it by its adjacent alley, literally Crane Alley, with outdoor seating in the summer. Gourmet dining and the most extensive beer selection in the area are two great reasons to check out Crane Alley.

(image source: pubcrawler.com)

Location and Hours

115 W. Main Street

Urbana, IL 61801

Open daily 11am—2am

Menu

Read Crane Alley’s menu online here.

We recommend as an appetizer beets chips served with goat cream cheese  (We love beets…check out Featured Specialty Crops).

(image source: flickr.com)

PEKARA

If you like bread, you will love Pekara Bakery and Bistro.  This traditional European bakery features 10 different types of bread, made from scratch with no artificial additives.  Pekara also features pastries, special order cakes, hot and cold sandwiches, crepes, soups, salad and pizza.  To top it off, Pekara is the go-to supplier for bread for many other restaurants in Champaign-Urbana. 

(image source: dailyillini.com)

Pekara’s Breads¹

• Baguettes – the classic crusty French Bread. It is an aromatic bread that goes quite well with cheeses and wines.
• Ciabatta – a light and airy italian bread with a crusty outer crust that is excellent for our gourmet sandwiches.
• Pain de Campagne – A hearty mix of whole wheat, rye and nine grains. This rustic bread is a testament to a time when stone ground wheat preserved all of the healthy benefits of the countryside.
• Honey Wheat – a slightly sweet, hearty wheat bread that is just slightly sweet. We use this bread on several of our sandwiches.
• Multi-Grain – Hearty wheat bread with mixed grain. Excellence sandwich bread. Vegan.
• Rye – a traditional rye flour bread garnished with caraway seeds.
• The C-U Sourdough – this is sourdough the way it was meant to be. Local wild teasts, extremely long fermentation, and a wet dough that yields a crust and crumb unlike any other bread in town.
• Sourdough Wheat – the mildly sour with soothing wheat overtones makes a fine European grilled cheese sandwich. Our sourdought comes with four different varieties. White, Whole wheat, Rye and Roasted walnut with blue cheese.
• Semolina – very chewy texture, crisp crust and a complex flavor produced by a slow fermentation makes this bread perfect for sandwiches, your favorite soft cheese, or dipping in oils.
• Focaccia – chewy, soft and dotted with air pockets. Made with fresh herbs and bursting with olive oil flavor. Great as sandwich bread or on its own.

 Location and Hours

116 N. Neil St.
Champaign, IL 61820

 Monday – Wednesday  7 am – 8 pm 

Thursday – Friday  7 am – 9 pm 

Saturday  8 am – 9 pm

Sunday  8 am – 5 pm 

Special Holiday Hours will be posted.

Get to know the Baker

Independent owner Ruzica Cuk and her family came to Illinois in 1993 from Serbia and two years later opened Pekara.  Ruzica’s, or Seka as she is known to friends, goal was to offer traditional European breads made from scratch with no preservatives or artificial additives.  Their philosophy is as pure as their breads:

“We believe every aspect of life can and should be enjoyed. Good bread only requires four basic ingredients but it takes skill and time to bring about the best flavors and textures.”²

¹ Pekara Bakery and Bistro (2008). Bakery. Retrieved from http://www.pekara-bakery.com/bakery/bakery.html#descriptions

² Pekara Bakery and Bistro (2008). Our Story. Retrieved from http://www.pekara-bakery.com/our_story/story.html