Chili&#x27;s

This is a hard one for me. As a kid who grew up going here for lunch in high school always…read moreregarding it as a legendary spot, it has lost significant credibility over the years when discussing food. I remember when it was like $7 to get a special and now it is twice that (within 5 years). I do not know their lease agreement or food cost etc but this has gotten to be fairly egregious. For this reason I had to take a star down because it's just hard to quantify what I had been getting for years next to a steep price increase. There is not much to say about the service and ambiance I mean it's a small place set up like a chipotle or a subway. There's no where to eat inside so we usually ate at the outdoor seating area of the coffee shop next door. This is a place you go to bring food to work or home after work, not a place to sit down and have a nice dinner. So the ambiance is irrelevant. Service is as good as it can be in such a small place but everyone is super nice and it's stayed that way throughout the years. Honey grilled chicken on any of their options is definitely the way to go (and chipotle sauce as a side or on whatever you get). Very upsetting I could not give this place 5 stars as it is reminiscent of childhood. However I still highly highly suggest trying this place out if you are new to Champaign and want a local hotspot option.

Always fresh, flavorful and fast! Rick & crew do a great job at this no-frills walk up joint.read more

Daily Specials April 2025

Chicken Quesadilla and Chicken Taco Thursday Special

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Menu

Cowboy Monkey

3.5(93 reviews)

1.7 mi

Came for brunch on a Saturday (opens at 9:30am). Very Tex-mex forward menu. Mimosa flights can…read moreinclude flavors: original, pineapple, mango, peach, or grapefruit. Choose 4. All were excellent. Hubs & I split masa pancakes & the Sonora omelette. I loved the hash browns in the omelette (ask for onions on the side if you don't want them piled on). Masa pancakes were good, but different with the strawberry syrup.

I enjoyed Cowboy Monkey: very friendly service, flavorful salsa, crisp chips and nice tacos. It's…read morea good, casual, easy place to grab some food and catch up with friends.

The red pepper crisp

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Dos Reales Mexican Restaurant

3.9(294 reviews)

0.6 mi

Horrible food worse service. Rice and beans appetizer comes with beans and water white topping…read morenasty. Margaritas are pre made fried to order a top shelf and suddenly they couldn't speak English. Tried to short change me when I laid bill. Stay away

Always good food. Friendly and fast. Tables may not have fancy covers, but I never leave hungry.read more

This is what I had. The chicken flautas. Rice, beans and salad all freshly cooked and the meat was excellent.

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Enchiladas Suizas.

Huaraches Moroleon

4.3(351 reviews)

4.1 mi

Have not had a disappointing experience yet. Whether it's ordering in person or online everything…read moreis still amazing. Big fan of both the black and red beans.

The food is always consistently delicious. I love their tacos, tortas and ceviche. They are quick…read moreto serve and efficient. The location is small. It it's part of the charm. Love the medium smoky hot sauce.

Enchiladas suizas with shredded chicken

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Margarita

Big Grove Tavern

3.4(539 reviews)

1.6 mi

Impromptu lunch date here today. We saw the shaded patio and thought let's give it a try. The…read morehostess quickly seated us outside upon request. Our server was friendly and our food was out shortly after we placed our orders. Everything tasted delicious!!! Well seasoned, meat tender and cooked to perfection!

Very spacious typical American tavern!…read more We tried more of the not typical American items and it was slightly a miss. I think if I came back I would definitely lean into the typical American stuff because that's probably what they do best (the fries looked really yummy on other people's plates) Shrimp and Scallop Ceviche - this was an appetizer specials that I really enjoyed and highly recommend. Every bite was refreshing! Korean Salmon - Salmon was cooked well and the crust was nice and crispy. Something was just off about the flavor -- the sauce was too salty. Surf and Turf Tacos - decent tacos, would consider getting again Overall in the pricer side but it is a nicer sit down restaurant in Champaign. Comes with free popcorn sampler at the beginning of the meal! The servers were every kind. They unfortunately cannot accept visa gift cards too

Very cool!

Veal Parmesan ($37) - breaded veal with mozzarella and tomato sauce, served w/ gnocchi, spinach pesto sauce, sauteed spinach, peas

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Korean BBQ Salmon ($33) - pan seared salmon filet with asparagus, cherry tomatoes, kale and gnocchi. Requested without sauce.

La Mixteca Restaurant

4.1(82 reviews)

3.3 mi

We're from Arizona but we are in the area doing college tours with our son. We decided to stop by…read moreand see what the level of Mexican food would be out here. We didn't have high expectations going into it because of the reputation of the Midwest but we were totally wrong. The food was fantastic as good if not better than what we have back home. The place was really clean and everyone was super friendly. Highly recommend this place.

This place is sooooo good! I ordered the combo steak, chicken and shrimp fajita dinner and it did…read morenot Dissappoint! you can tell the chips here are homemade fresh and delicious. The quality is out of this world and the portion sizing for the price is impeccable. This is by far one of my favorite places here in Champaign! The food is consistently fresh and delicious ! The service here is fast, great, and very homey !!

Combo Fajitas

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Traditional Mexican Veggie Tacos

Moe's Southwest Grill

2.6(55 reviews)

3.4 mi

I frequent this restaurant because the food is very good, the portions are generous, and I love the…read moregimmicks! If you download the app, you get special deals plus earn points for free food. Around the holidays, they offer the bonus gift cards too. I also find the regular employees to be very friendly. My only complaint to whomever makes the higher up decisions are; bring back the diced tomatoes. Not everyone likes cilantro do the salsa doesn't work for everyone. The "seasoned" rice is inconsistent in seasoning. Sometimes it's way too spicy. Can't you make it mild and allow customers to ask for an extra shake of hot seasoning? Finally, miss the mushrooms we used to get there.

Went here for the first time. Staff was polite and food was good. Non complaints. I would go back…read moreif I was around the area.

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The Courier Cafe

3.8(495 reviews)

3.2 mi

It had a cozy old environment. Good service. There was a…read morenice lady who was kind and very helpful. It is not a crowded place. Food was good overall.

This was a top notch place back in the day! But past owner from the 1980's, Allen Strong, has…read moreretired and the new owners don't seem to add much. A glass display case sits empty at the hostess station displaying nothing but lots of smudgy fingerprints. A fitting analogy to the current Courier unfortunately. Patrons come in for lunch and wait several minutes for somebody to seat them. The service suffers from understaffing. I ordered a Veggie Dagwood sandwich. Remember Dagwood Bumstead and his multi layer skyscraper sandwiches?? Not here! This was more of a very dry bread sandwich. Where are the layers of veggies? The layers of cheese? The alfalfa sprouts? The sauce? My sandwich was served with a stale pickle. I asked if I could order a side like potato salad. They had coleslaw - $4 up charge. The place needs to be cleaned up! Put a little pride into the menu.

Charming interior stained glass windows

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Detail on tableside light

El Toro Bravo

2.7(71 reviews)

2.5 mi

Really enjoyed our margaritas and lunch! Queso and guacamole, tamales, quesadilla! all good -…read moreespecially the house salsa! Service was really good, friendly fun atmosphere - highly recommen!

The beef fajitas had no seasoning . Taste very bland . The chips are good . I received two orders…read moreof chips that I didn't order .

They have breakfast!

Toro French Toast

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Queso Fundido- they still serve it during breakfast, so good!

Fiesta Cafe

3.5(161 reviews)

2.0 mi

Fiesta cafe is a go-to restaurant that is just a good casual place to go with your friends or…read morewhoever. I've been several times and have never had a particularly bad experience. It's also open til late compared to a lot of other restaurants (11pm), and the servers are nice without being too much. I usually get the Alex Tacos, what they're known for, which come with a mound of meat on each and these little grilled onion bulbs (I don't know what they're called) that I really love for some reason. Last night, I went for a friend's birthday dinner, and we got blended mango, passion fruit, and strawberry margarita pitchers and shared. They gave us sugar rimmed glasses with a sliced lime; it was a fun time! They also give you free chips and salsa which were gone within the first 5 minutes of us being there, but they refilled them for us :) Half of us got Alex tacos and other half got burritos. The ones that got burritos did comment that there were a lot of beans and not that much meat in them. Will still keep going every once in a while when I want some late night mexican food.

Food was fresh but they ran out of vegetables, which was a bit awkward. Servers were friendly, but…read morewe had a large party and everyone's entrees came out at mixed times, some were left waiting quite a while for their entrees.

Decoration in the restaurant

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Why does Yelp recommend reviews?

Hundreds of millions of reviews are posted on Yelp, and our automated recommendation software works in the background to showcase the reviews that it …

10 reviews that are not currently recommended

The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.

S S.

0

6

0

2 years ago

Oh Chili's, where do I start. This restaurant has truly changed my life. Every time that I rest my hand on the golden Chili door handle and enter into this fine establishment, it feels as though I am opening Pandora's box. Instead of evil, though, it is as though Chili's contains all manner of good and pleasure. The first step through the doors is characterized by a feeling of relief, due to the sights and smells of the restaurant. The second, by a feeling of comfort. The third, by a feeling of pure bliss. By the time you're at a table, Big Smasher ™ in hand, the feeling is indescribable. Thank you Chili's, for being light in a world of darkness. read more

Tom W.

0

6

0

14 years ago

The food is okay and consistant every time. But the staff is not really involved with customer service. I always get "are you ready to order" and thats about it for personality from the staff. The food gets the 3 stars the staff gets 1 star. read more

Ashley B.

Elite 18

658

639

995

11 years ago

If you've been to one, you've been to them all. Though I will say, avoid this place at all costs on the weekend, it's a madhouse.

Brody K.

0

3

0

6 years ago

Have picked up take out several times in the last few months has been great food and great service!

Mark J.

0

3

1

1 year ago

Excellent service, and the food is always consistent as it always meets expectations.

Erich M.

0

1

0

13 years ago

I've only gone to this Chili's twice and both times they messed up my order.

Tamer E.

0

1

0

4 years ago

great service the food was brought out extremely quick

Ramin A.

8

150

0

12 years ago

Good for dining in and catching up with friends.

Keyser S.

0

29

0

12 years ago

Service was fine

Lauren K.

0

1

0

12 years ago

.

Chili's - tradamerican - Updated October 2026

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Where to start with this review…read more... Well, the home made beef vegetable soup was good, everything else, just bad. Look at the picture of the "prime rib" for example. My expectations were not high, but this was absolutely terrible. The Blue Gill special had no flavor at all. One visit here was enough to know we will not be back. Also, covid rules do not exist in Ogden.

Fried chicken sandwich was good and basic. Buffalo chips were great. Now the potato skins had…read morepotential with a good amount of bacon but they were smothered in fake nacho cheese wtf. Like oil based fake cheese. That's lazy.

Smoke & Shine

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Not terrible. I went in as it was local to me and I needed a quick bite. The atmosphere was nice. A…read moresmall town bar, nice and clean. I came in for a to-go meal. The bartender was also the wait staff, so he seemed less than thrilled serving someone who wasn't sitting down and drinking a tab into unafordability. Not the most welcoming person, and I'd assume most of the clientele were locals, me obviously not one and I felt that way. I looked at the menu and chose the "fried bologna" sandwich. Fast forward to the sandwich. I will mention again, I got it to-go. I got home and opened it up. Was it bologna? Yes. Was it a sandwich? Yes. Was it "fried"? No. I have eaten fried bologna sandwiches at home and from Arizona to here and every state in between. It was barely browned. Real fried bologna sandwiches are typically cooked to the edge of the meat becoming black. It brings out all of the great flavors bologna offers. Now, was it good? It was edible. It was good enough and I ate every bite. Would I order it again? Not likely. If I am in that area again and hungry, I'd stop in again.

Came in for the moonshine flights that we have heard so much about and discovered a nice food menu…read moreand decided to give it a try and pleasantly surprised by the food selection and overall quality of our meal We arrived there shortly after they opened and place was very unassuming on the outside but has a lot of spaces for groups of people we entered the bar area which also had low tables to choose from we had menus at the table which was clean and seating was comfortable we saw a few menus and realized that there was also a food option which was great since we were in the mood for something We ordered flights of moonshine which we thought was a very large selection and hard to choose only 4 so we got a few flights and we were feeling pretty good at that point and needed something to eat and we started an order of a hot chicken wrap which was very good and a little bit of kick topping it off with the sweet crispy sweet potato fries that paired perfectly with the wrap. I got the trio open face sandwich which I truly enjoyed but took it apart to experience each layer of meat on this meal the coleslaw was creamy and crunchy, the pulled pork was smoked perfectly and tender as is next the beef brisket was smoked nicely and fork tender and at the bottom was the andouille sausage with a little spice and very tasty all together a great meal our server was also the bartender since it had just opened but he was on top of everything going on and our drinks came out quick and so did our meal so we were not ready for the meal was still enjoying our moonshine flights Definitely will be back to enjoy another day out at Smoke and shine

Legends Corner

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It is a seat yourself restuant, but the food overall is pretty good. A little pricy and sides are…read morea serpreate charge but overall not bad. The brisket was tender, not fatty, and had a good meat to sauce ratio, not too much meat for too little sauces and not drowning in sauce to cover a taste. Our server Cannon was attentive, checked on us and gave us the time we needed to look over the menu and decide. He kept our drinks full! A great experice for us stopping in for the night! Very clean and small place with outdoor seating as an option!

I tried the Smoked Brisket and the Grilled Chicken. Both were great. They also have the best…read morehomemade potato chips I've ever had.

Esquire Lounge

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(175 reviews)

Had a quick to go snack from Esquire and opted for the bacon cheese tater tots! The tots were a…read moreperfect amount of crispy and cooked perfectly! Though the cheese/bacon/tot ratio was optimal, the cheese definitely tasted like the slightly worse version of the fake cheese you get at concessions stand and the bacon was not crispy. I think next time I would just get the plain tots! Would love to come back and have a full meal here. Very old timey vibes! Pool costs $1 every 10 minute.

I love the Esquire Lounge. The staff know all their regulars, and the regulars know one another…read more You always have a friend at Esquire. The drinks and food are priced perfectly for the quality and quantity. It definitely won't break the bank. It's very roomy and very clean. If there is a "Cheers " bar, this is it. Great place to hang!

Bunny's Tavern

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Checked out this classic Urbana bar and grill. It has been around for a long time and still going…read morestrong. Bunny's is certainly not a fancy place but it's more modern than expected. Has a bar area and plenty of tables inside. There's also a patio great for watching live music. Best things about it are the drinks and food. It's fairly cheap as far as how popular it is. This is one of the main hangouts east of the campus area along with the Rose Bowl which is next to here and always has music on weekends. Come chill. It's about $5 to get basic mixers like Jameson and whatever. Food is better than expected. It's about $11 for an entree like a burger. These come with a side. I got a Veggie Burger. The coolest thing is they have a toppings bar where you can top it with onions, pickles, or whatever. Loaded it up and it was a glorious mess. The rest of the menu has other sandwiches including grilled cheese, Reubens, and others. For sure it's a classic and there's plenty more things coming. It's located on Water among some back alleys and other unassuming places. The best times are weekends when there's music and stuff.

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Only two of our three entrees came out initially. A quick…read moreapology from the other server who brought out my meal after a while and that was it. No one checked on us again until they brought the check. My empty water glass sat there for most of the meal. Food tasted great, neat little place, but our service was off.

Quaint outdoor seating Inside seating is tight…read more Good variety on the menu. Buffalo Chicken wrap was good. Protein bowl was greasy. (Not enough grilled chicken). Service was fine. Nothing to write home about.

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