Burgers return to the old Downtown Champaign Merry Ann’s Diner space this weekend with the opening of The Space restaurant on Main Street. Owned by the Weird Meat Boyz, The Space is both a restaurant and music venue. Dayton’s The Raging Nathans christened The Space last week as the venue’s very first event, and starting this weekend, diners can eat at The Space restaurant.
The restaurant’s renovations added a bar and expanded the dining room for more seating, but chefs Ian Nutting and Doug Hodge left some of the diner feel by keeping counter seats with a view of burger smashing. Since the closure of The Kitchen inside Collective Pour, I have really missed the Boyz’s Smashy McSmashface, a smashburger that we called the BEST new burger last year. Thankfully, the Smashy McSmashface with double patties, American cheese, house-pickled red onion and jalapeño, and special sauce is on the menu at The Space.
Here’s a look at the new restaurant’s menus — which are tentative and subject to the whim of the chefs, starting with lunch:
Dinner:
Drinks:
The Space has tentative plans to open tomorrow night, Thursday, April 6th with a full bar menu and limited dinner. On Friday night, The Space will be open for dinner with the full menu, and the chefs hope to open for lunch and dinner on Saturday ahead of their weekend music show.
The restaurant has no reservations; first come, first served.
The Space Restaurant
1 E Main St
Champaign
W 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Th-Sa 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
