My love for Esquire took about three years to develop, but it is a strong and enduring love.

Looking back, it seems incredible that I didn’t give Esquire a chance sooner. Centrally located in downtown Champaign, the recently expanded bar sits between some of my favorite places including Mike n' Molly’s the Brass Rail. The Blind Pig is also just down the street.

But, we all have our prejudices. Mine include crowded pool tables, people in matching bar-crawl shirts, the same REM and Tom Petty songs on the jukebox, and peanut shells on the floors, tables, and as far as the eye can see. I also tend to not eat at bars serving primarily as drinking establishments, unless I have no other options.

Sometimes my friends and I try to expand our horizons beyond the usual haunts, downtown bars and fine dining options. Sometimes we’re delighted by our experimenting, and other times, regretful.

Twice in the last few weeks I’ve visited Farren’s, an ever-so-slightly upscale restaurant and pub behind Nitaya Thai at Church and Hill streets. People love Farren’s for the burgers, including The Russell, which comes loaded with mushrooms, bacon, blue cheese sauce and jalapeno cheese. The Green Chili Cheeseburger, which is topped with jalapeno cheese and green chili sauce is just as highly regarded. Even those who avoid red meat can do just fine subbing a black bean burger, which comes with a side of Cajun remoulade. The fries, which cost extra, aren’t anything to write home about, but they do the job.

Growing up in Oregon, my first grown-up food was a bean burrito. My peers and I studied Spanish in elementary school and, as teenagers, enjoyed fine tequilas with mariachi musicians as often as we chugged cheap beer to blaring hard rock.

Like many west coast transplants, I was a bit disoriented my first few times at local Mexican chains Dos Reales and El Toro. Never before had I experienced so much cheese and sauce and such bland flavors with my Mexican food. Certainly not anywhere I had traveled throughout the various regions of Mexico.

If you aren’t here for college, then there are few reasons to roam among the suburban youth who tan, binge drink and mate along East Green Street for eight months each year. There are a few hidden treasures, however: some seriously decent eateries catering to academics searching for digestible food. One even offers full wait service (gasp!) and a full bar (no!). Soon to be swept into downtown Champaign's old train station, Café Luna offers delicious lunches, dinners and Sunday brunches. Make the trip if you are feeling adventurous or are otherwise campus-bound. Certainly after their move next month there will be no reason not to try it out.

While it isn’t difficult to find a bar in downtown Champaign that suits your mood or credit card balance available (or a club, if that’s your bag), finding a decent place to eat can be tricky. If you don’t feel like stepping on peanut shells or shouting over played-out pop rock, then be prepared to spend 30 to 50 bones for a traditional fine dining experience. Indeed, it would seem that neither downtown nor Campustown has a single spot that is casual, but not tacky; civilized, but not pretentious; that can accommodate the burger fiends as well as the more high-maintenance diners among us.

If you go east down Springfield Avenue, however, you can find a place that is, for both the seasoned foodie and the seasoned townie somewhere in between middle-of-the-road and just right. The place to go, which also serves the more sophisticated of dedicated drinkers with a recently expanded martini menu, is Urbana’s Crane Alley.