The Ribeye

I had such a fun time at Seven Saints in Champaign. I ordered the ribeye steak sandwich with sweet…read morepotato fries, and both were absolutely delicious, the steak was tender and flavorful and the fries were perfectly crispy. The service was friendly and attentive, and the food came out fast even though the place had a lively crowd. The ambiance is energetic and upbeat, making it a great spot to hang out with friends while enjoying seriously good food.

So my fiancé and I moved around the area recently and we are looking to try new places for dining…read moreexperiences. This is the first in Champagne and we actually liked it. We had a few cocktails which were good. And the chicken fuatas as an appetizer. Which was REALLY GOOD!! Michele said they were the best she has ever had. I had a club sandwich and she had the gourmet grilled cheese with their mushroom soup. The atmosphere was quaint. And the service was good as well. We will be most likely come back to try other dishes.

Bar area

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Bar

Baxters American Grille

4.1(182 reviews)

0.1 mi

•$$$

I had a great experience at Baxter's American Grille in Champaign. I ordered the Ribeye cooked…read moremedium, along with the Brussel Sprouts and Mushrooms, and everything came out perfectly prepared and full of flavor. All of the steak options here are delicious, there's usually little to no wait time, and the food comes out fast. The service was just as impressive as the food, making the whole meal enjoyable from start to finish. The ambiance was phenomenal and great for small or large dinners!

We visited Baxter expecting to have a finer dining experience in the Champaign area. When we…read morearrived, we were greeted and seated promptly. We ordered two of their specialty cocktails, which took a little long to be delivered but subsequently were very good. Next we ordered the stuffed mushrooms, Halibut and filet medallions. Service was a little slow so we decided to just enjoy the time together. Our appetizer arrived and was outstanding. It was a bit of a wait for our entrees to appear and when they did we were disappointed with the wait. The filet was ordered medium well and arrived seared to almost well done other than the very center was cold and red. The halibut was overcooked as well but regardless I decided to enjoy the halibut because it was still palatable. The filet, on the other hand was not. It was tough and just not very good. I fully expected to spend the money on a fine dining experience but didn't feel that experience was met. We will try Baxter again in the future with hopes of a better experience but our history there has been hit and miss!

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Mocktail based on blueberry kiwi cocktail

Texas Roadhouse

3.5(187 reviews)

2.4 mi

Great to have one of these in town to take hungry UofI students :-)…read morePro tip: Using the mobile app to get on the wait list before really pays off. Great service and friendly staff. Food quality has been very consistent for us. Extremely busy location (like many other Texas roadhouses) during busy times so be aware :-)

So my kid took me out for dinner April 26 for my birthday. I had a free coupon for a blooming onion…read moreor onion blossom. Whatever they call it. It was literally floating in grease in the bowl and not cooked. He specifically asked for his salmon to be well done. I know it's weird, but we're weird. We like our food cooked all the way through and not like that white milky stuff in the salmon, especially when you emphasize that you want it well done so it gets this food. Of course the salmon isn't cooked well done and it's got the white stuff in it instead of her saying we'll make you another one. She and a very classless manner says put it on the bread plate and she took it back to the kitchen and brought it back 15 minutes later cooked no apologies no nothing just here's your piece of fish for $25 thrown back on the grill. I have celebrated every holiday there for probably 20 years with my kids for my birthday to their birthdays to special occasions, and the food definitely has gone downhill like a lot of places I had roadkill, because I like plain food and that piece of meat was so over seasoned and salty. I couldn't even eat it. I literally fed it to my dogs the server was OK. She got a really good tip from us regardless didn't offer us rolls to go didn't offer us more rolls or refills. It was just kind of crappy he's a young kid. He's 22 years old and he works hard for his money. I felt bad and I made him take some money for me. I just don't like going there anymore. I used to order takeout 3×4 times a week from them and go there at least once a week I don't go there anymore. I seriously would rather eat at Panera. I am typically not a whiner but I'm telling you I just expect good food when you spend $ 80 bucks it's just a waste of money g0 at your own discretion. The parking lot is always packed. Yeah but I'm done with it after the last weekend.

Ranch

Rolls

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New York Strip*

Hamilton Walker's

3.6(283 reviews)

•$$$

We had dinner at Hamilton Walker's as a family following a business trip to Urbana-Champaign and…read morewere pleasantly surprised by how lively the dining room was for a weekday evening just before the Christmas holiday. Securing a reservation was easy, and the overall experience felt polished and well-run. We skipped appetizers after enjoying pre-dinner cocktails and light hors d'oeuvres elsewhere. I ordered the 7-oz center-cut filet mignon with red wine demi-glace, my father had the ribeye, and my mother chose the red wine BBQ chicken. While my filet arrived closer to medium than the medium-rare I requested (very little pink), the quality of the cut and presentation were excellent. Next time, I'd simply order it rare. The ribeye was well-received, and the Old Fashioned was commendable. Service throughout the evening was excellent--attentive without being intrusive. Hamilton Walker's is very much a traditional steakhouse, and while Champaign doesn't have the depth of competition you'd find in a city like Chicago, this restaurant is absolutely worth a visit when you keep the market size in mind. A strong, reliable option for a classic steakhouse dinner in central Illinois.

Upscale steakhouse that masquerades as a throwback to 1920s Chicago. You almost expect a server in…read morecostume as Al Capone to circulate among tables to playfully menace the patrons. To some the masquerade will come off as silly -- and not worth the added price -- but many seem to enjoy being swept up in the art deco interiors and old school dishes. The food is like the theme park version of a steak dinner. We ordered from the Restaurant Week menu: a pair of salads, and the beef tenderloin tails and Parmesan crust chicken as entrees. All of the flavors were cranked up to a level that would stand up against a steak. Both entrees came with mashed potatoes and green beans that were heavy on the garlic. It was hard to taste the underlying vegetables, with all of the seasoning. The preparation makes some sense if you think of a steak with demi-glace as the centerpiece, but they overpowered the chicken handily. The salad dressings were equally strong. In particular, the spinach salad had a dressing like sweet-and-sour sauce that was jelly-like with rendered bacon fat. The entrees themselves were competent but not remarkable. The tenderloin was cooked medium rare, and two thirds had a creamy interior with crisp char on the outside. The last third, however, was tough and required some sawing with the dull steak knife. The chicken had either brined or sat on the heater for too long. It had some juice left but was also tough. Perhaps the best item we ordered was the kids cheeseburger. Well-done with oversized steak fries on the side -- simple enough that you could taste both the ground beef and the potato. The food itself warrants three stars. And here is a tip: the local Costco sells gift cards to the restaurant with a 20% discount. Where a meal can easily run $50 here, knocking the tab down to $40 might be worth it for a special occasion. The service, however, knocks the review down by a star. The kitchen lost our ticket and, as a result, our party waited forty minutes following the salad for the first entree to arrive to the table, plus another fifteen for the second and third. The chef was very gracious and apologetic when he brought the final dishes out personally. However, the fact that his arrival was the first time the staff acknowledged a problem to us -- long after they had discovered the issue and begun addressing it -- suggests that there is a larger breakdown between the back and front of house. I had thought that a 6 pm reservation would get our family home early on a school night but I was quite mistaken. Probably they won't lose your ticket when you dine in, but I will think twice before getting back in line for the theme park ride.

Decor

Chef's Soup of the Day (corn vegetable)

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Nando Milano Trattoria

3.8(421 reviews)

•$$$

Best Italian in CU. Great service, food and cocktails. Nice selection of wines. The deserts are…read morevery tasty as well.

Nandos is one of my favorite places in Champaign. However, this visit was different than most--…read morethey have started doing a set menu with appetizer, entre, and dessert for about $65 per person. The one caveat is that menu items off of the set menu can not just be ordered. For exampl, you cannot just order the arancini balls anymore-- which is one of my faves. This was a smidge disappointing if you don't want to order from the set menu portion. The regular menu has some options but not all that they used to. The food was good per usual just this change up threw us off!

Bar

Inside of Cannolo Siciliano ($12) - Sicilian cannoli shell filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and chocolate chips

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Prosciutto e Melone ($22) thinly-sliced Prosciutto di Parma and cantaloupe, frisee, stracciatella cheese, fig jam

The Wheelhouse

4.5(87 reviews)

10.8 mi

Food was exceptional quality, with portion size to match. Atmosphere is a vaulted high ceiling…read morespace with the bustle of a hard working kitchen and an attentive waitstaff. The menu is limited to signature offering of various dishes eliminating the tough choices between offerings. The daily special was a nice addition to the menu. All food was plated on various china which added to the fun of it all. My wife and I shared 2 separate meals and both were 10/10 in our opinion. This place will be on our very short list of great food, great folks, and great experience.

What an incredible discovery! We were driving from Iowa to Ohio, which is mostly a culinary…read morewasteland. My copilot found this gem. It sounded too good to be true, but it's true! Though it looks unremarkable from the outside, inside, you'll find a wonderful restaurant where the staff is highly invested in making sure you have a great meal. My companion enjoyed a lovely Old Fashioned to start. I ordered the Turkey stroganoff, while he had the shrimp and grits. When the plates came out, I thought the veil was finally about to slip. They were well-plated, but huge. And yet...the veil didn't slip. It was haute-cuisine comfort food goodness in what looked like a converted warehouse space. Unreal! Though turkey is often too dry, my stroganoff was moist and succulent. The sauce was much more than just cream of mushroom -- lots of flavor and not too much salt. We had a time of it. I'd happily come back here again and again.

French Toast

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LongHorn Steakhouse

3.1(118 reviews)

3.2 mi

after work dinner with a colleague. The Best spinach dip I've tasted in a while; definitely top 3…read moreon my list. Wings were OK. Steak on the salty side, but cooked well.. medium rare was perfect.

Looking for hot meal while traveling through southern Illinois. Decided on the LHSH after a full…read moreday of travel. For starters we had side salads and bread. Wifey ordered the salmon with asparagus and rice. Modest slab, perfectly prepared and generous asparagus portion. Asparagus was disappointing - on the old, dry side. I went with one of my favorite comfort meals ... large portion of grilled hamburger streak smothered with mushrooms, onions and gravy, and a side of mashed potatoes. Heavenly ! Joined the clean plate club. Cherice was our server. She was very responsive to our needs and respectful of our time. Restaurant was modestly busy. Ambience was warm and inviting. Recommend as a good option for a night out at a reasonable price.

Not trying it would be a crime! Our Outlaw Ribeye is bone-in, well-marbled, fire-grilled, juicy, and delicious.

LongHorn’s New York Strip is fire-grilled to enhance its distinctive flavor, this thick cut is a steakhouse classic.

LongHorn Steakhouse - Got the biggest steak in the game wearing our name! The LongHorn porterhouse combines a bone-in strip and tender filet in one thick cut.

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Got the biggest steak in the game wearing our name! The LongHorn porterhouse combines a bone-in strip and tender filet in one thick cut.

Neil St Blues

4.1(191 reviews)

1.6 mi

Minority-owned & operated

Locally owned & operated

Another amazing meal, this time the blackened catfish filet…read moreThe flavor was excellent, the beer cold, and food very hot. The fried cabbage and onion rings were a great compliment to the catfish. The server was attentive but not overbearing. The only thing that could have been better was if there had been butter for the roll. That partially falls on me however, as I was too busy stuffing my face to even think about asking.

We were greet by a very friendly hostess and were seated upon arrival. The establishment was dimly…read morelit, played a great music selection and clean. The food was great - the sides were my favorite part - the fish was a little brown I'm thinking maybe they didn't clean or it wasn't deveined properly but the chicken was good. overall the food was good and I'd go back literally just for the peach cobbler. Chefs kiss!

Fully seated on Sunday morning

Smokin' Carolina

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Smoked BBQ ribs Full slab, in total 12 bones

Watson's Shack & Rail

4.1(305 reviews)

Always great food. I only ever get the hot chicken, but others I go with like to try new things…read moreand are never disappointed. Decent beer selection, but could use a couple more taps. Servers are friendly with the right level of attentiveness. It can be loud and sometimes you wait a while for a table if you didn't think to make a reservation.

i am not sure what happened to this place, but ever since they expanded to more locations, this one…read morehas suffered immensely. I am here for Ebertfest and it has now taken over an hour to get drinks, food, and dessert. I am trying to flag down my server because I was worried about the amount of time it was taking. She apologized and took off the dessert, but she seemed to be the only one working. I was near the back so I got to see all the other servers "yucking" it up and just standing around while this poor lady was doing laps. I am from the service industry and only 40 so I'm not being a Karen. This server deserves a huge raise and probably a better job. Pair that with them cutting down the menu, this place went to a "must see" in Champaign to a maybe. What I ate was tasty, but the rest of Champaign has caught up and starting to leave them behind.

Bar & Bourbon Selection

Avocado toast brunch. They use the 7grain from Illinois Central Bakehouse

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Montucky Cold Snacks in a can. Ummmm... yes please!!

Big Grove Tavern

3.4(534 reviews)

Great location, nice service and good food. The ambience was wonderful. The patio was even nicer.read more

Very good service, solid menu, good drink choices and a great Sunday brunch. Typically crowded, but…read moretables typically move pretty quickly.