The Homer Soda Festival, an annual gathering celebrating glass bottled sodas, just published its 2013 festival guide that details all vendors and a map of the upcoming festival. The event, on June 1 from 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., will include soda tastings, a barbeque cook off, other food vendors, and live music.

All week here at SP HQ we've been putting together lists of what we think is BEST in C-U. Sure, it's subjective and all, but we do our best to tip our cap to people, places, and even inanimate objects that are doing great things in our community. 

Turns out, we don't know our stuff good enough. We've been topped.

Behold: the "McGangBang" — the purveyor of burger greatness in C-U:

One of the kings of fast food, the Golden Arches remind people of their young, broke days. Revamp your experience with the ever popular “McGangBang” that has an off-putting name, but consists of a double cheeseburger and a McChicken sandwich. Other options include a breakfast McCrepe and the hybrid morning-lunch special “10:35.”

Honorable mentions: Starbucks, Wendy's, and Chipotle.

They did condescend to include one "community" restaurant, Mirabelle Fine Pastries in Urbana, which makes sense, seeing as how buzz is a "community magazine." And yet, in that one entry, they botched the name of the local restaurant, Pizza M.

Good work, buzz.

We'll just take our ball and go home ...

When Triptych opened its doors out in "The Suburb" recently, and after a bit of drama to boot, folks around here were sure happy that they could drink some truly local ale and enjoy that outside of your friend's home.

But Savoy is a drive and driving and beer don't always mix, so it's even better news to hear that they are finally going to make their brews available in local restaurants and bars as well.

Click the link, and then head to Radio Maria soon for a taste. Something tells me that keg won't be around for long.

It was with a heavy heart that we wished Chef Joshua Boyd well when he talked about leaving C-U this summer. But the former chef of Carmon's Bistro and current mastermind behind the Black Dog Smoke & Ale House Late-Night Menu has decided to stay here and pursue his passion: Butchering. He hopes to raise funds to launch this venture through indiegogo in the next 60 days.

After many years of traveling & cooking in different cities, Josh has concluded that this is the best city in America with a great art & cultural scene that is normally impossible to find in a smaller community.  He wants The Butcher to be his gift to Champaign-Urbana, providing a wide array of sausages, house cured bacon, smoked hams, and much much more.

To contribute to the fundraising, and get some swank gifts in return, visit the indiegogo page, Butcher: Sausages & Charcuterie. 

(Photo: indiegogo)

I actually like this, a lot. In a city like this, with the technological advances we've helped develop, I like this.

From the Gazoo:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-05-09/virtual-alma-stand-ui-grads-photos.html

UPDATE: Doesn't seem like we're living in the future after all: https://www.facebook.com/illinois.edu/posts/10151625092979905

Slow Food C-U has announced a tentative menu for their Sunday, May 19 dinner at Buvons. The venerable Mark Hartstein, who you may know for his work with Black Dog Smoke & Ale House, Buvons, and the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, will serve as chef for this dinner. Todd Fusco, of Buvons, and Lisa Odum, of Maverick Distributing, will pair the wines with the food.

The menu and wine pairings "will be something like this:"

• asparagus, soft egg, milk skin
  2011 Elena Walch Pinot Bianco
• pea tendrils, chicken & mushrooms, soft-shelled crab
  2011 Statti Gaglioppo
• ramps, marrow braised radishes, short rib
  2011 Andezon Cotes du Rhone
• rhubarb, pancake, thyme ice cream
  Niepoort Tawny Port

The cost for the dinner, which includes a wine pairing and tip, is $70.00 per person. You can purchase tickets here.

A Champaign County judge ruled in favor of Champaign Mayor Don Gerard on Thursday, saying that an argument that occurred between him and a musician in a park in April did not constitute stalking.

Read all about it here.

Here's an impressive feat recently accomplished by the I.D.E.A. Store to support the CU Schools Foundation:

As part of the 25th Anniversary celebration for CUSF, the General Manager of The I.D.E.A. Store, Gail Rost, announced that to date, the store has now given $25,000.00 of cash support to the foundation for its important work with local K – 12 education. Rost, who also serves as the director of the foundation, says “This is exactly how this is supposed to work! By earning income through our retail store, we are adding not only to the community sales tax pool, providing jobs and volunteer experiences for local residents and diverting materials from the waste stream, we are helping to offset costs of providing our programs to our public school students!”

You can check out the whole article here.

Here's the story about her arrest.

We had the pleasure of releasing Pygmalion Music Festival's the initial lineup last week, which features Major Lazer, The Breeders, The Head and The Heart, Dawes, Youth Lagoon, Foxygen, Chance the Rapper and many, many more. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon CST HERE through the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts ticketing system.

Prices for weekend passes are as follows, and will certainly go fast: Early Bird: $70, Regular Price: $85, Last Call: $100. Single show tickets will go on sale later this summer. Get them while they're hot.