Category > Thirsty Around Town
Speakeasy. 1920s. Take a sip of a Carmon's cocktail, close your eyes, and you just might feel like you're there. Maybe you thought Carmon's was all about the rustic French food. So did I, but clarity didn't take long to set in: I went several times for the food, but every time I saw the drink menu, I ordered a different cocktail and liked it. Each drink expresses a delicate balance of sweet yet tangy or elegant yet bold. …
It was 10 p.m. I had a cocktail list in my hand, a DJ projecting art media to my left, and a young, hip crowd around me. Suddenly, I wanted to say, “Toto, I don’t think we’re in downtown Urbana anymore.” But we were. Buvons, the wine bar attached to Corkscrew, which I talked about in Wine Bar Wars: part two, recently began hosting themed cocktail nights on the last Friday of every month, with a cocktail list created …
For the third and final stop of the Champaign-Urbana wine bar plus retail tour, my compadre and I visited Wines at the Pines, a shop nestled among other stores in the The Pines at Stone Creek Commons development at Windsor and Philo Roads in Urbana. This wine bar also moonlights (or perhaps “sunlights” would be a better term) as a coffee shop during the day. I will freely admit that I thought this combination seemed odd and incompatible until …
The second randomly selected stop on the Champaign-Urbana wine bar tour was Buvons, located in downtown Urbana. My drinking companion and I dropped in during a recent Saturday afternoon wine tasting. When the wine bar expansion opened in the summer of 2010, adding to the retail side of Corkscrew that had been open for 12 years, the owners named the wine bar portion Buvons, after the plural present-tense conjugation of the French verb boire, which means “to drink.” So …
Three standalone wine store + wine bar combos strategically outline the Champaign-Urbana area: Sun Singer Wine & Spirits in southwest Champaign Wines at the Pines in southeast Urbana Buvons (attached to Corkscrew) near downtown Urbana. I wondered what, besides geography, makes each bar unique, and whether our twin cities really drink enough wine to support three wine bars. So I set out to answer my questions in this three-part series. It turns out that each bar fills a slightly …
When I wandered into The Esquire on a Friday afternoon and saw a table of four gruff, beer-drinking guys I recognized, all holding a light yellow, fruity-looking drink, I knew one of two things had happened: I'd either missed the headline news about the alien body-snatching invasion, or these guys were imbibing the Esquire's Pineapple Margarita or Contusion Shot. Since no alien news had splashed the headlines recently (not even in News of the World), I asked one of …
A cocktail can't get any more hip than one that's named after the largest, most bustling borough in the country: Manhattan. So that makes me wonder why some people think of the Manhattan as an old-man drink. Maybe too many of us saw our grandfathers nursing a plain, honey-amber Manhattan with a cherry in the bottom after an excruciating day at the office. But after a day like that, you'd need a savory but smooth drink with character like …
In the 21st century, the Dirty Chai Latte might be Dirty Harry or James Bond's politically correct daytime drink of choice. It's the non-alcoholic, caffeinated version of the drink made to keep the hardest-working cop, spy, or regular company stiff going all afternoon long. And this March, you can find a notable Dirty Chai Latte featured at the deli counter of Art Mart in Lincoln Square Mall.
Whiskey and pickle juice? At first, the combination sounds bizarre and maybe, literally, a little difficult to swallow. To a whiskey aficionado, possibly downright blasphemous. But try the Pickleback, and you may change your mind. One shot of whiskey with a spicy pickle juice chaser turns into an almost magical series of flavors--sweet, then a sour blast, followed by a spicy finish.
In the evening, after the lights dim at Seven Saints in Champaign, the occasional flare emanates from the behind the dark bar as one of the bartenders lights up. Not for a smoke, but to apply a burst of heat to an ingredient and release extra flavor into a drink. Sometimes they light an spray of absinthe in a cocktail glass, other times, a twist of citrus to liberate potent oils from the fruit, and occasionally, a cube of …
Most Recent Food Comments
it’s quite choice. looking forward to seeing how it and its patronage grow and develop over the course of the year. could be a neat little ecosystem.
“It was at this point, before he started his business, that working with city employees should’ve raised red flags…” But they didn’t because: 1) The City Clerk’s office originally mis-interpreted the rules, or are indeed re-interpreting them. 2) Champaign’s brick-n-mortar merchants hadn’t yet started whining about The Crave Truck.
Looking forward to trying this place!
I don’t know about Gerard and a random police sargeant. My (mild) outrage is based on this: “...he worked closely with Champaign City Clerk Marilyn Banks to make sure he was licensed properly as a transient food peddler, filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a $225…
Local Yocal pretty much nails it here. I suspect there will be merchants who oppose food trucks because they arguably don’t pay their fair share to locate their trucks in high traffic (high rent) areas. The food trucks take away business from rent payers, park in city…
I also got to visit Big Grove Tavern during the soft open and definitely enjoyed the pork belly the most of all the dishes I sampled. The cheesy grits and the vinegary pickled vegetables were a perfect compliment to the rich pork belly.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
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Most Recent Comments
High-profile whining. AKA Lobbying.
it’s quite choice. looking forward to seeing how it and its patronage grow and develop over the course of the year. could be a neat little ecosystem.
“It was at this point, before he started his business, that working with city employees should’ve raised red flags…” But they didn’t because: 1) The City Clerk’s office originally mis-interpreted the rules, or are indeed re-interpreting them. 2) Champaign’s brick-n-mortar merchants hadn’t yet started whining about The Crave Truck.
Super cool! Excellent track, Excellent band.
Looking forward to trying this place!
I’m in the middle (or the beginning or end, depending on how you look at it) of re-reading Slaughterhouse Five. What a great companion column.
Get yours early. The Rave’s CD will be available at Exile and at The C-U Flea on Saturday. C-U Flea details here: http://www.smilepolitely.com/news/sp_radio_podcast_c-u_flea_arrives/
I don’t know about Gerard and a random police sargeant. My (mild) outrage is based on this: “...he worked closely with Champaign City Clerk Marilyn Banks to make sure he was licensed properly as a transient food peddler, filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a $225…
Local Yocal pretty much nails it here. I suspect there will be merchants who oppose food trucks because they arguably don’t pay their fair share to locate their trucks in high traffic (high rent) areas. The food trucks take away business from rent payers, park in city…
Oh nice! I’d totally vote for Matt Campbell!
“Smile Politely sports writer announces candidacy for city government.”
I also got to visit Big Grove Tavern during the soft open and definitely enjoyed the pork belly the most of all the dishes I sampled. The cheesy grits and the vinegary pickled vegetables were a perfect compliment to the rich pork belly.
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
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High-profile whining. AKA Lobbying.