Last week, Urbana’s Rainbow Garden closed, and so now’s a good time to remember that there’s a Rainbow Garden in Champaign — and it’s still open. The Champaign location opened before the Urbana one, and it’s still serving a menu of tasty Chinese cuisine everyday for lunch and dinner on Neil Street.
Last time, I went for green beans, but today, I stopped by for lunch. Because I couldn’t decide, I ordered two lunch specials: the princess chicken ($9.95) and fried rice with pork ($9.95), both served alongside soup and egg roll. With steamed white rice, the princess special had glossy chicken with softened onions, bell pepper, and crinkle-cut carrots, topped with whole peanuts. The sauce had a little kick but mostly, it was deliciously savory.
My lunch fried rice had carrots, peas, egg, and chopped barbecued pork, and it was super good. The rice was nice, and the veggies added great pops of texture, but I loved the pork best. Each meaty hunk had a delicious salty-sweet, porkiness with a subtle smoky barbecue flavor.
Lunch specials at Rainbow Garden cost $9.95-$10.95, and they’re only available from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on weekdays. Take a look at the full food menu online.
Rainbow Garden
1402 S Neil St
Champaign
11 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily
