I happened upon this delightful ornament on my friend’s Christmas tree last week, and my heart skipped a beat. Those of you who have been living in Champaign-Urbana for long enough surely remember Yen Ching, a staple in Urbana on Cunningham Avenue for years and years. I played in a band with a member of the family that owned it, and when I texted it to him, he was floored, and stated that he’d argue that this might be the only one in existence. Hard to say, of course, but I’d call this beauty a true townie gem.
As for the restaurant, it finally shuttered in 2003, and I am having a hard time finding a date for when it actually opened, but I can certainly remember going as a kid in the 1980s, when Grammy and Poppy would come down from Chicago to take us out to nice, “sit down” restaurants.
Right now, some yahoo on eBay is selling an old menu from the restaurant circa 1980 for $84 and change. I am not going to buy it, but the link does include a picture of the old “tiki menu” that it was pretty famous for, as well.
For me, this is peak townie nostalgia, indeed.