Here are Smile Politely, we know you have strong opinions about food and drink — we do, too. As we noted in our 2020 editorial listicle on five cuisines missing in Champaign-Urbana, C-U is home to a lot of people, many of whom are not originally from the area. We said then — and still believe — it would be nice if there were more restaurants that reflected the incredible diversity of the people who live and work here. Seeing yourself, your cuisine, and your culture reflected in the businesses of the area is what makes this place a home.
In the post-pandemic economic landscape, opening and successfully running a restaurant has become even more difficult than it used to be. Consider all of the restaurants that have closed in the last four years. The many factors that contribute to a restaurant’s success are serious matters, but in this editorial, like our previous one, we’re playing pretend to imagine what cuisines we’d like to see in C-U, without much regard for the practicalities of whether or not those sorts of restaurants could do well here. On our social media pages we asked you what you’d like to see, and the short answer is everything and anything. Across platforms, there were more than 400 responses. We culled through and discussed your suggestions to come up with a non-exhaustive list of our most-desired cuisines. Like we said, we know you have opinions (you’re welcome to share them with us by being a writer!), and we appreciate your feedback, always.
When we last tackled this topic, we received very strongly worded feedback that we were remiss to have left off Ethiopian cuisine. Ethiopian restaurants feel like the type of restaurant that any legitimate “city” has available. Indianapolis, for instance, has about eight Ethiopian or Ethiopian / Eritrean restaurants. Ann Arbor, Michigan has one, and you’ll find Ethiopian food in Davenport, Iowa City, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The point is that people everywhere — including in the Midwest — love Ethiopian food, and we should have an Ethiopian or East African restaurant here, too.
On the other hand, we are pleased that C-U has seen an increase in restaurants serving foods from other parts of the African continent. Don’t sleep on Stango Cuisine (Zambian), Sepelas (Congolese), Les Gourmet (Congolese, with some pan-African dishes), and North African Cuisine.
We saw many commenters mention their desire for a Greek restaurant. C-U had one, once upon a time, long, long ago. While Niro’s Gyros is great, it doesn’t quite hit the same way as a more formal, sit-down restaurant serving spanakopita, mousaka, and roasted lamb (for those who don’t eat meat).
Cruising west in the Mediterranean, we’d love to see another Spanish tapas restaurant in C-U. Radio Maria had some lovely tapas options. V. Picasso, in its multiple iterations, offered some small plates and a nice drink menu that made dining out with friends charming and inviting. With both of these restaurants having closed, we eagerly await a new spot.
Sharing food with other people is truly a delight, and to that end a family-style, table service Persian / Iranian restaurant would be incredible. We would love to pass platters of rice, kabobs, and ghormeh sabzi. In the last four years we’ve welcomed fast-casual Middle Eastern restaurants Shawarma Joint and Dubai Grill. Lest you think we don’t know geography: Yes, we know that Dubai is not in Iran, and that these are cuisines from different areas in a larger region. Likewise, Afghan Cuisine has become a favorite of the editors at Smile Politely, and while Afghanistan shares a border with Iran, the cuisines are not the same.
One trend that emerged from all of your comments was that you (and we) would like more fine dining and fine dining-adjacent restaurants. There is a lot of fast-casual in this town, which makes sense when there are tens of thousands of students needing food quickly and affordably. However, there are also plenty of adults who want more options for date nights, special occasions, or, frankly, just to treat themselves to a nice meal. We are absolutely certain there are many, many people who work at the University of Illinois who would like more than three options for their prospective job candidates dinners. Despite the closings of Luna, bacaro, Miga, and the reinventions of NAYA, there are plenty of people who are willing to pay higher prices for restaurants with good food, good service, and a sophisticated ambiance.
While we’re thinking about it, those fine / finer dining establishments should have more vegetarian entrees on the menu. Would it be out of line to wish for a higher-end vegetarian or vegan restaurant? At this point, we’d even accept a fast casual one. The Red Herring is wonderful, but its hours are limited and getting there can be challenging for those who are coming from off-campus.
Conversely, there is something wholly nostalgic, gratifying, and exciting about novelty fast food and fast casual restaurants. Some of you indicated you’d like an In-N-Out. May we also suggest a Bojangles, a Zaxby’s, and a Sweetgreen? We’d love a Shake Shack. Do we need a Jack in the Box or White Castle? We’re not entirely sure, but we wouldn’t be mad if someone wanted to open a franchise of any of these fast / fast casual restaurants.
Finally, and certainly not least of all, we’d love to see an East Coast-style Jewish deli. We want good bagels with or without lox, matzah ball soup, corned beef and pastrami piled high on rye. We want knishes. We want mustard, and half sour pickles. And we want it in portion sizes fit for your Bubbe. Based on your comments, we know you’d love a Jewish deli, too.
Even if we can’t have the cuisines discussed, we do have plenty of great options in C-U. Peruse our Food & Drink section for restaurant inspiration. Things are constantly changing, and we encourage you to support the restaurants we do have, lest we have to include those cuisines in another one of these articles in the future. Happy dining!
The Editorial Board is Jessica Hammie, Louise Knight-Gibson, Julie McClure, Patrick Singer, and Mara Thacker.