We had reservations and after being greeted and offering coat check we were seated. After more than 15 minutes the only person who acknowledged us was the guy with water. There were several servers helping other tables and we didn't t even get a smile, nod or go away...very disappointed. We got up and left and only then did the staff realize that something was wrong. They offered to "make it worth our while", but we were done and very disappointed. read more

Had dinner here with my coworkers after work. The meal was awesome! The Brussels sprouts were very tasty! Will definitely have a repeat meal here! read more

Hamilton Walker's - Sitting area in back - Seafood Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

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I had really high hopes for this restaurant after seeing pictures and the hype prior to when they first opened. Tonight I was able to try it out and I left pretty dissatisfied. The employees were super nice but The food was mediocre (steak was super tough) & the advertised sharing-size-sides portions were pretty small. The atmosphere was nice but the food was nothing special. For the price tag of everything on their menu you should have an above and beyond experience, and I just don't feel that it was even worth it. To be honest, Texas Roadhouse far exceeds this. 2/5 stars read more

Hamilton Walker's - Seafood Near Me - Champaign, Illinois

Had a wonderful first time experience from the food to the service. Zach the executive chef was extremely attentive and came over to our table to ensure we enjoyed our meal. Will absolutely go back again!! XO read more

Only eaten here once because my mother-in-law and I both got food-poisoning. Food is tasty but very overpriced, and not worth it for the experience we had. Will not go back. read more

Very simple - don't go... Watson's next door is so much better. Food, service atmosphere so much better. Watson's gets it. I eat out 4+ days a week and the food here was outstanding. read more

This review is for their group seating. We needed a spot big enough to hold 30 persons for a family brunch. Once I was in contact, the manager put me in touch with their Chef. Chef Zack helped me put together a menu that had a little something for both kids and adults. We then agreed on a price per plate and we emailed about the proposed menu. They took care of the rest. The three cheese eggs were a hit, sausage patties, veggie skewers, kids' loved the french toast with maple syrup, parfaits with granola, greek yogurt, and fresh fruit was refreshing. The wait staff was welcoming, professional and made sure coffee and refreshments were handy. I would recommend trying them for your event. Talk to the Chef they will collaborate. Because of their care our event was stress free and our time was well spent having fun with the kids and talking to family. read more

So its taken a while to get up the energy to actually visit this place since the reviews have been, more or less, bad for a long time. Lets start...The bread, waiter, soup, salad were all Very good! No complaints at all there. The mashed potatoes were excellent! First sign of trouble, the look of the $32 ribeye my wife had, literally something you would expect to see at Dennys, not as a place that purports to be "high end". It was good enough flavor, but not worth the price I had the 14 oz prime rib, and it was very underwhelming. just about anywhere else in Champaign that serves prime rib does it better for half the price. That is the issue here...the price is just WAY out of synch for what you are getting. Also....Friday night, 7 PM and the place was basically empty, that is not a good sign. All in all i feel bad for the place, they tried SO hard with the renovations done to the building, making something out of nothing. But the star of the show is utterly disappointing. Sad read more

By far some of the worst service I've ever had. We had a reservation for 4 people. We're seated for 20 minutes before someone came to take our Drink order. Multiple service staff walked around us, we inquired about a server they said would be there in a minute. After we FINALLY received service the waiter brought drinks we didn't order because the 'keg' got switched so he just gave us other beer. Food was good. But for the price you are paying for an experience and it was terrible. read more

Went here for my first experience after mixed reviews and reading reviews on here so I wanted to try it out for myself. My girlfriend and I decided to go for a date night so I called to make a reservation and was told reservations were full for the night but if I came in that the lounge was first come first serve so we decided to still go. Upon arriving we were told we couldn't be sat down and had to sit at the bar because a party had a reservation at 8 pm in the lounge which I was told was first come first serve......We finished our drinks at the bar after waiting over 30 minutes with over 16 seats open and our view at the bar was a walkway into the back which isn't very appealing to eat dinner looking at while on a date and we left. I'll stick with the reviews and go with Texas Roadhouse while I'm in Champaign since we don't have a Eddy V's, Vic & Anthony's, Houston's, Capital Grill or any other steakhouses of higher caliber. Bummed about that but it is what it is when you live in C-U...... read more

Fillet mignon was well prepared and juicy. I really liked it. The grilled goat cheese starter, was awesome. The team took care of our night pretty well and we had a good time at Hamilton Walker's. read more

Spoiler alert...Free Dessert for anniversaries or birthdays....!! This was a fantastic place to go for our 4 year anniversary! The menu was a bit pricey, but well worth it. I got the prime rib and asparagus with a cup of crab and lobster bisque. The soup was great (!), but the up change of 4.99 was a bit much. The asparagus was also an extra charge, but again also worth it. My husband got the rib-eye, house salad with blue cheese (yum yum yum!!) and the baked potato (potato up charge) Both steaks were perfect and flavorful. The most unexpected and awesome part was that they surprised us with a Baked Alaska dessert! It was super tasty and definitely gave us the "wow" factor we were looking for. read more

Give it another try!! I will admit that our first two attempts to eat at HW were not great. We were lured back in with promises of a new chef, better menu, and properly trained staff and management. We are very glad that we went back. The food and our experience were both fantastic! read more

Went here for lunch and got their pulled pork special of the day! It was deeelicious! Their portions are really big and put me in a post lunch food coma. Will definitely come again to try out their other lunch specials! Update: Went again for dinner and got the prime rib and spinach salad, both were yum! The prime rib was super tender. However for dessert I got the triple layer chocolate cake and it turned out to be a disappointment. Was hoping for chocolate-y moistness but instead got dry and crumbly. The sauce the cake was on was quite bitter. I'm a fan of dark chocolate but this was straight up cacao and ended up not even being able to eat most of it. read more

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I was in Urbana for an art event at UIUC and needed to stop for dinner. Fortunately, someone in our group suggested Hamilton Walkers and we were happy. I had a 6 oz filet medium. Very well executed. The side dishes were delicious such as the green beans with garlic, the asparagus. The lobster bisque was very tasty. The BF had a mediocre New York strip that was supposed to be medium but it was a bit too overdone. Service was ok. In the beginning, it lagged a bit then it went full blown service. Hard to explain but I think many will understand. It was a good stop while we were out of Chicago. I'd eat here again though. The deserts looked amazing. read more

I'm giving this place 5 stars for a couple reasons but I want to note it sometimes only deserves 3 stars. Who deserves 5 stars? 1. The bartenders. I have severe allergies and they not only stocked a potato vodka I can have, they gave me variety in town by stocking other than what Big Grove and Kofusion have. These guys are personable and super friendly. 2. Whoever picks out the music whether during kitchen hours or after hours. 3. Whoever designed the bathrooms. They are gorgeous and any girl loves lotion, tampons, and cotton balls. Who doesn't deserve all 5? 1. The tablets. I really hate ordering food in this place because of the tablets. 2. The big open space in the dining room. Stick a piano or some musical guest there because it's too big and my eyes don't know where to focus. 3. The transition from ordering to receiving the food. This needs some work or preface that you want patrons to have a longer experience as opposed to the usual wait time for food. 4. The menu. More fish and veggie options please! 5. Lastly, thank you for being open until 2 on weekends but give us some mood lighting or something. Have some sort of shift to remind me that I'm choosing to be there until 2am more than just the music genre. Xo read more

Of all the epic anticipation around this place, all the ads, the billboards, the beautiful website, and I wish I could look you in the eyes while you read this and make the *disappointing explosion motions and sounds*. Because that's what Hamilton Walker's was.... TWICE. Ok. A new place opens. And in my opinion, NEVER go for the first few month if you want to really experience the food. Give everyone time to adjust and get good at... whatever. So we waited for 3 months until going the first time. You walk in expecting this "classic 1940's Hollywood ambiance" but I'm very confused about who the historian is that helped out here... Because you can watch PEARL HARBOR, The Notebook, Atonement, or Big Fish to find a better vibe of the 1940's. Couldn't the staff at least sort of dress the part? or have music from that time playing? Something? Anything? But really. This was advertised as "a memorable dining experience". So, I was assuming "fancy steak place" + "cool classy vintage theme".... but no table clothes? Listen... Guys... Just no. Please get nice white table clothes. It will really just bump up the class. Now *dun dun dun* THE FOOD! The Ceaser Salad Dressing. ORDER THIS!!! This is the reason this isn't a 1-star review. It is amazing. Take the leftover home. You will be glad you did. It's cool... another $5.00-$8.00 you can have a little side plate of the rice with a little parsley, green beans, mushrooms, and garlic potatoes. So the Green Beans are literally the best side dish I have ever had! Bright, rich, salty, garlic punched and lightly coated in olive oil. I wish I could just have those. The Rice. Really good as well. I don't think it would win master chef or anything, but Gordon wouldn't yell at you for it. This I would also eat this again. The steak- I have nothing to say. Because I could taste nothing. Blagh. A Steak. On a plate. .... ... ... yeah... on a plate. a plain white plate. The Salmon. Good! But.... Not better than any other steakhouse in town. (I might include my own backyard grill) The Mushrooms. I think that's what they were... they may have also been rehydrated charcoal based on the color. You try them and tell me. #yikes OK You get the point. Food is plain and not worth the hype or money. But the real reason I am writing this is to hopefully make a few major points. 1) Our server was new. So nice. She was really sweet to my son and went out of her way to get him activities. She was doing such a great job. We left her a large tip! But the managers stood around the kitchen doors like mobsters (wait... is this part of the 1940's theme?) watching her and the other staff, then talking all secretively. Listen, I know she is new... but this looks bad! Like it was distracting to us and obvious. Customer service tip: Walk around and Talk To Your Customers! Ask us how the meal is, how we like the new restaurant, where we are from, how our service is.... you see my point? Because then I could tell you #2 2) WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A CHANGING TABLE?! Like... Men around the world. I hear your cry. Because they have no changing table in either bathroom. What?! Yes. :( For a mom like me... I don't stop living just because I have a baby. So when we have our CEO come to town and wants to go out with my husband and I for dinner but I have to take the baby(I am breastfeeding... and she won't take a bottle). We wanted to take them someplace nice! But it wasn't nice changing a diaper on the floor :( or on the counter :( Come on. Just get a changing table. This was just really sad to see. Dull menu. Odd plating. Overbearing management. Hit and miss food. Just sadness. I was really hoping this would be a place to come often... but I don't know if I'll go back. read more

Are you a boozy, depression era gangster who craves art deco? If so, Hamilton Walker's might be the perfect restaurant for you. For everyone else, it might be worth a wait to see if the place can sort itself out. Firstly, the decor is amazing. You really do feel like you have taken a step back into the 1930s with the extensive art deco trimmings and impeccably maintained dining room. However, food quality is quite inconsistent. For example, I ordered a prime rib sandwich with au jus. Although the prime rib came out tender and well seasoned, I did ask for it to be medium. It was closer to medium well, with large parts of the slice grey from overcooking. Fortunately it was prime rib so the result wasn't an inedible mess. The horseradish sauce it was served with was also underwhelming, tasting more like mayo than the astringent nasally bite of horseradish. Their steak fries however are delicious and a high point of the meal. Hamilton Walker's is a relatively new restaurant with plenty of promise as well as room to grow. read more

Hamilton's seemed like a perfect date spot. My partner and I came here for lunch about a month after it opened. We were seated at a comfortable booth against the wall. The place was empty except for the handful of people spread across the dining room. The interior remains true to its throwback, vintage vibe with lots of earthen colors. I imagined that when the place was packed, it would look similar to something out of the Great Gatsby. Our waitress briefed us on the history of HM and the future plans for the restaurant. The bar seems to be popular. We ordered sandwiches and the portions were huge. The bread tasted fresh and gave you just the right feeling of crunchy and soft when you bit into it. However, our meat was not evenly cooked and my portion consisted mostly of fat. If trimmed, the actual sandwich size would probably be cut by half. We have not returned to Hamilton's again, not due to its service (which was attentive and friendly) or interior, but its not-so-vintage prices and lackluster menu items. read more

This evening we had a party of 12 come to Hamilton Walker's to celebrate our October birthdays. The experience was beyond my expectations. From start to finish the service was amazing and we were well attended to. Our server Kyle was attentive and very genuine. The food was delicious and the servicing sizes were very generous. Even more amazing was the complimentary dessert that was provided for us to celebrate our birthdays. My family and I raved about our experience, and I have a strong feeling we will be back soon. read more

My girlfriend and I ate here a handful of times when she was working in Champaign. The ribeye here is arguably the best I've ever had, and I'm comparing it to steaks I've had all over the US and Europe. The raw oysters are among the most fresh I've had in the Midwest. If you ever find yourself looking for a place to eat in Champaign, go here! read more

The service tonight has been bad. It took over 20 minutes to get water and a waiter to our table even after going to the hostess 2 times to state we hadn't received any service. The table next to us of about 8 people left because they didn't get service. They were here when we got to the restaurant. It took awhile for our drinks to come and then the orders were incorrect. I also took over a half hour for an order of French fries which were put in before our drink order was taken. Update: drinks were not good . If it was possible to give no stars I would read more

Super disappointing, ordered a sirloin medium rare, came out well done had to saw through the steak shaking the whole table and the meat has no pink and looks almost grey told them it was wrong and they made me try the food in front of them so they knew I didn't like it feeling super uncomfortable. After wrestling to tear the steak off the fork I spat it out because it was inedible came back to tell me that is how they do medium rare so I asked them for rare came out almost medium rare there was still a little pink still there but not too much disappointing, my girlfriend ordered the pasta and ordered no peas in her pasta, the noodles were dry and seemed like they were made the day before and microwaved before serving and had peas in it so not only was the order wrong but also had bad noodles and no taste. My mother ordered the stuffed beef tenderloin with spinach and crab meat the beef was dry and burnt looking almost like a chard turd with no crab meat to be seen. Lastly we ordered a Mac n cheese and that was pathetic Kraft Mac n cheese with bread crumbs. We talked to the management and after discounts it ended up being $150 for 3 people and not one person enjoyed their food and everyone left disappointed. I will not recommend this restaurant to anyone and strongly recommend that people avoid this establishment unless they can raise their standards and quality of food. Being a member of the hospitality service in town I will strongly recommend all steer clear of this restaurant!! read more

I have to concur with other reviews: it's a mediocre experience for the price. My wife and I shared a date night at HW's on 1/28/2017. Pros: Atmosphere is fantastic. It has a unique look, feel, and sound that I could only imagine is reminiscent mid-twentieth century America. It's a generally feel-good kind of place. Seating seemed adequate, despite an event. Service is strong as well. We had an excellent server who, despite being constantly engaged in our well-being, never seemed obtrusive or overbearing. My wife and I were never in need because he was always one step ahead of us. Cons (or general meh aspects): Food: No one will complain about quantity. Whatever you order, you will get a lot of, speaking specifically of the sides. Where they will complain is about taste. My wife had a whole bowl of garlic mashed potatoes that I'm fairly certain contained no garlic and was made from instant mashed potatoes. She had grilled asparagus as well that she enjoyed (but I did not sample). My sides were creamed spinach and the red potatoes au gratin. The creamed spinach was on the soupy side, but the potatoes were really quite tasty. Our mains: Wife had a six ounce filet while I had ten ounces of prime rib. My wife's filet was ok (overcooked), and served on a plate that allowed it to cool too quickly. Only about five ounces of my prime rib were edible, as the thickest, most significant portion of the meat was fat through and through (the waiter actually suggested we bring it home for the dog. I was obviously a little frustrated by this. Gristle is to be expected, but not accounting for half the cut of meat). Flavors all bland. The problem with HW's is simple: the cost/quality ratio isn't even in the ball park. It is fairly typical in this kind of restaurant for meals to be constructed with sides included that help balance and contrast flavors. Each side is five dollars or more, adding to meat prices in the thirties. For that price, every single thing in the meal ought to be edible and delicious, and the quality must be consistent throughout. It's simply not there. If you're going there to drink and snack, you'll probably do ok. Those prices are fairly standard compared to other similar locations in Chambana. I'm not sure we'll be back for dinner unfortunately. read more

The food was good but the main selling point of this restaurant is that they keep a bartender either shaking a cocktail or drying a glass with a red napkin at all times for A E S T H E T I C read more

Champaign was a great town to visit and Hamilton Walker's was the best place we ate all week. I want to say beef is what they do best but everything we had here was top notch. From the cocktails all the way through to dessert. The service was above expectation and the server was very knowledgable when asked questions about menu items. Highly recommended for anyone you're looking to impress from a business dinner to something romantic, they won't let you down. read more

The service here is fantastic ! The head chef comes to each table and he is so personable. The entire staff is friendly and attentive. The food was excellent. We had steaks, mac'n'cheese and each had a different salad. All were great. The s'mores pie and peach cobbler were out of this world. Will definitely be back here. read more

This is my first Yelp review ever and I decided to go thru the hassle of downloading the app and signing up because my experience was so BAD! Like many I had such high expectations for my dining experience and couldn't wait to try out this new restaurant so my husband and I went for date night . We both ordered the bone-in ribeye steak, creamy spinach, twice baked potato, and the seafood soup. Our bread came out with hair on it. We asked the waiter what was in the soup, he has no clue. His response was are you allergic to anything. Then he asked another waiter what ingredients he "thought" were in the soup and the other waiter cut him off saying this isnt the restaurant across the street we don't serve that. Needless to say...the soup tasted like unflavored beef stew. Our sides were okay, lacked seasoning. Steaks arrived and looked delicious. I ordered medium and my husband ordered medium well. Mine was well done and both steaks had ABSOLUTELY NO SEASONING. Worst steak I have ever eating. I sent mine back for them to remake it (note: not only was it cooked wrong it was burnt). The new steak was rare. SMH! I boxed it up and took it home to season and cook myself. The owner (I assume) stopped at our table asking how service was and even after telling him I had to send my steak back he didn't make any efforts to improving my experience. We left and went to desthil for dessert and ate popcorn at the movies because I was still hungry. Oh and my husband asked for lemon wedges for his water and that didn't arrive until we got the check. I'm sure I'm leaving out something or maybe I've subconsciously blocked it out. . .Needless to say we won't go back. read more

A steakhouse that doesn't know how to properly cook a steak. I've been here twice, hoping the first time was just a fluke. The first time the appetizers took an hour and a half to get. The second time we ordered the special of the night, as did the table next to us, all FIVE steak were cooked well done when everyone ordered rare to medium rare. I also heard someone in a large group behind me mention something similar. None of the non-steak items have been memorable or worth mention either. I'm sincerely disappointed, as I had great hopes for this place. It just doesn't cut it. I gave it two stars for decent cocktails. read more

Made same day brunch reservations on New year's day for 4 people. The diy brunch bloody Mary bar was on point with shrimp, Bacon, peppers, mushrooms, etc... I ordered a coffee with Bailey's, but they did not have Bailey's so I got Kahlua instead. I think I'm now changing my brunch drink of choice to that, so thank you for being out of Bailey's! I ordered the potato pancakes with poached eggs substituting Bacon for the sausage. It looked like a play on a bird's nest with the eggs. The dish was expectantly very greasy, but I did feel like the potatoes were slightly overdone. Also the sour cream was in one spot for decor, I assume, but it would have been better evenly allocated or on the side. The bathrooms were impeccable. The service was excellent, constantly refilling waters and checking to see how we were doing. The prices of the brunch menu were an excellent value, and I would love to come back for dinner. read more

Disappointing, bland, slow service, bad menu set up. Came in for my dad's birthday dinner. Had to ask the guy who got our waters to get us a server after waiting over 10 minutes. By the time he got there (5 to 7 min after asking for him) we put in drinks, apps, and entree orders in at once for great of not getting his attention again. After that he was much more attentive, but a little unsure of things... definitely under trained, but overall a nice friendly guy. As for the food, the lobster bisque has a pumpkin/nutmeg taste to it... Something I am personally not a fan of. This is $11 per bowl and a cup is not an option. The crab cakes we're alright, but somewhat bland compared to other restaurants. About$13 for one crab cake. All entrees come with either a side salad or a cup of soup. All other sides are a la carte (potatoes, asperagus, green beans, etc.) And are $5. We didn't get any sides, but 3 of us had the spinach salad (spinach, house, and Cesar are the options). The salad has spinach, mushrooms, hard boiled egg, croutons, and radishes. I got the Russian dressing on the side and it was great. It tasted just like thousand island. My parents got the hot bacon dressing and it came out cold. My brother got the soup of the day which was a vegetable broth based soup. It was decent. For entrees, it's very strange. You pick a side to go along with any seafood option out of like 6 options. Sauce is served on the side and the fish is served pretty blandly. 2 of us got the swordfish ($30 per). I got the creamy red pepper sauce and my brother got the champagne sauce (per chef's decision). The fish was very bland and I almost sent it back, but instead my brother took it home for leftovers. He ended up using my red pepper sauce. My dad got the prime rib but didn't share an opinion. My mom got the steel head trout. This was probably the best out of everything we ordered. She originally said chef's choice for the sauce, but somehow ended up with the Russian dressing, which she was very glad she tasted before covering her fish (sauce is all served on the side, so fish is not even cooked with the flavors). She then asked for the lemon butter sauce which was a good pairing for her fish. I ended up just splitting her entree since mine was so bad. Overall, there are many better options in Champaign. Without proper staff training, better chef's and a better menu, it would be very surprising to see this place stay in business. read more

Wow so incredible. I thoroughly enjoyed the PRIME RIB with fire au jewwww and whorseradish sauce. Amazing

Hamilton Walker's might go down in history as the worst attempt at big city dining ever here in Champaign. It is obvious to me that they spent quite a lot of money building this restaurant. Unfortunately they didn't spend much on design, from the obnoxious sign that looms over the front door to the blandly designed bar. The lighting in the place was like a cafeteria. The seating was cheap and uncomfortable, the booths were too small to accommodate our family of four. After waiting to be served for almost 10 minutes just to get water we finally were able to put in the drink order. I have to say that when the cocktails game we were very disappointed, there are plenty of other places downtown to get more balanced drinks at cheaper price. Although our server was friendly, he seem to have very little knowledge of the menu. We each ordered a steak and an appetizer. Between the clams, crabcakes, lamb lollipops, and wedge salad, nothing was very impressive. The wedge salad was deemed by the table to be an inedible as it was covered with carrot shredding's and french dressing, not sure how you can screw that simple salad up. The steaks finally arrived and were overcooked and underseasoned. Overall our experience at Hamilton Walker's was very disappointing. Not sure if they'll be able to turn things around but at this point I would say it's unlikely. read more

Once again had a great experience at Hamilton walkers. We tried every dessert at our table and they are all awesome! Outstanding moist chocolate cake! Great service too--they made us feel special and had no reason to. Must try the chocolate moose read more

This was ok. The ambiance is fantastic, and the friendliness of staff is superb. My mom ordered a steak that came with soup or salad, so she got the lobster bisque. When the bill came there was an upcharge for the bisque that wasn't made clear when ordering. There was also an extra charge for Bernaise sauce, which I'm sorry but if your paying close to $30 for a piece of meat, charging extra for the sauce is just cheap. So for a fancier steakhouse in downtown Champaign, don't nickle and dime customers. Have a flat rate price for the dinner regardless of what side or sauce is ordered. The up charge for the soup was $5!! And it's suppose to come with soup or salad! The veggie burger was ok, the portions were generous. Helpful tip, of the tomatoes are not red, don't serve them. The green beans and asparagus were fantastic! Lastly, although staff was very friendly, our table wasn't cleared and cleaned until way after we paid. So, there's potential here, menu items are nice, but details need attending to. read more

Loved the decor and the bathroom!!! Lol the staff was nice and the service was good. Had dinner with my ladies there and we went home with happy tummy :) read more

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Mediocre. I went for lunch and was not impressed. Nothing was terribly wrong with the food but I was left unimpressed and underwhelmed. With the fancy marketing, I was looking for a wow factor that was completely lacking. The atmospheres left me feeling like I was eating at a hotel restaurant. For the price it doesn't seem worth it. Don't think I will eat here again, doesn't compare to the rest of the downtown spots... read more

We ate lunch, mileu is very nice, prices are to high for Certain items ! 5 shrimp for 18.00$?? Yup! French fries ! I had beet salad which looked nice, however the salad itself wasn't fresh, sorry peeps always, always wash your salad put in fridge so it stays crisp! The BBQ pork rips had been warmed up slapped with sauce on top which had been to much of a good thing! The side of creamed spinach had been lots of onions and spinach with white liquid , there wasn't nothing about creamy here ! Sorry! Now to a more personal note: the waitstaff was very nice, manager came over personally , chitchat! They knew it was our anniversary yet there wasn't any special cake or anything, which other restaurants always do for people! Restaurant looks good, menu is nothing special, items need to be revamped and prices need to be changed on some items! At this point I'm not going back read more

I went in with very high expectations. There's signs around town everywhere. There's a massive social media push. They've hired some of the best people to work there. We walked in, with no reservations because the place looked relatively empty. Apparently the bar area is not the main dining area, and you can't even see the main dining from the bar, so that's interesting. There is lights for where the future gaming area will be, because, if you aren't offering gaming, you are just refusing to take a simple source of income. Interestingly, at the host stand, there are cigarettes for sale, however, there is no cigarette butt receptacles in front of the building. I think the cigarettes for sale is trying to add to the 1940's charm. (Not even sure if they are really for sale, but there are cigar cutters as well, so, come patio season, I'd assume they will be going for the sitting out front, smoking a big ole stogie feel). We got seated at a table by the bar, would have preferred the bar itself, as we are bar folk, but that was all taken by people waiting for their tables in the main dining. The bar was staffed with some great people. Josh, Matt, Mike, another Mike; Josh's touch on the cocktail list was obvious. I ordered the bone in rib eye, kridz went with the salmon. I got the spinach salad with it, kridz subbed garlic mashed potatoes instead of soup or salad. Bread was provided to the table. (There seemed to be lots of apologizing to other tables about not getting bread sent out). The spinach salad was awesome. There was croutons, and then what appeared to be croutons, but it was large pieces of bacon, which was very nice. The menu lists the dressing as warm bacon dressing, and I can live with that. The salad was amazing. It took a while for the food to show up, and the waiter apologized twice for that. I don't think we looked impatient. Food came out, looked amazing. Large portion of the steak, and the fish looked really good too. The salmon had a nice crust and was a pretty shade of pink (medium). There may have been a little too much (raw) pink in it for kridz in the very middle, but the rest was cooked enough for her. The lemon butter wasn't that great. There were flavors of lemon in it, but it just didn't seem right, felt more like a seasoned olive oil, and that provided a sort of slimy feel to the salmon. The steak seriously looked awesome. There was a nice char to it, and covered the plate. Sadly, it seemed to be overcooked. I ordered rare, it was medium at least. The flavors had almost all been cooked out. They list being lightly seasoned, and it was very lightly seasoned. I didn't get one of the crusts on it, because I wanted the straight meat without anything to hide it. The service was great. The people are great. It's something that downtown Champaign needs. But, opening night, packed house, so I'll forgive and try it again. (who the hell am I and why should anyone care about what I think). I would love to go back again and change my rating. read more

Honestly I was worried about dining here after reading all the reviews, but had a pleasant experience and can't wait to dine here again. My family and I chose to come during the week and at lunch for our first visit because eating out with 2 toddlers can be unpredictable. We were not alone as there were several other guests with their young children dining too. Service: Carlos was great; attentive and professional. We ordered in a timely manner and he refilled our drinks without having to be asked and checked on us often. Food came out without any issues. Food: Being lunch I had a burger which was very juicy and cooked well. I loved the bread but felt that the juiciness of the burger made the bottom piece completely soggy and unmanageable to eat. The children's menu had a good selection of protein options (ribs, chicken, burger, fish plus a side); my daughter chose the 1/4 chicken (baked and so moist) and green beans (which were fresh and sautéed with garlic) plus she got to pick a dessert. I also had a bowl of the lobster and crab bisque which was very good, honestly I only got a couple bites because I shared with my husband and he devoured most of it. Overall: I enjoyed the dining experience at Hamilton Walker's. I hope that people will give them a chance because it's just opened and working out their issues during a busy holiday season. read more