Smile Politely

The Space is a new restaurant and music venue coming to Downtown Champaign

Downtown Champaign is about to get weird with the opening of Weird Meat Boyz’s new restaurant and music venue The Space. The Space restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner five days a week with goals to add brunch and breakfast menus.

From the Weird Meat Boyz kickstarter:

Guests will be able to sample hot sauce and other locally-made condiments, browse a free book library, and purchase records and local band merch — all while waiting for an incredible smashburger made right behind the ordering counter by the Boyz themselves. And, who knows, maybe there’ll be enough time to grab a couple of beers with a touring band before they step on stage for the raddest show you’ve ever experienced.

The Space will have more space for the Boyz to increase hot sauce production and offer a wide variety of sauces to sample. The new restaurant will also be a music venue for both local and out-of-town bands. The Weird Meat Boyz plan to commission local artists to paint murals inside The Space.

Chefs Ian Nutting and Doug Hodge first appeared on the C-U food scene last year when they released craft hot sauces at C-U’s outdoor farmers’ markets. The chefs launched a pop-up food truck in August, and later that year, they competed in  and won — the 2021 Artisan Cup & Fork. In February of 2022, Weird Meat Boyz teamed up with Collective Pour, and every weekend at the craft beer bar, the Boyz serve smashburgers, ramen, and whatever else the spicy duo dreams up. The opening of The Space promises a bigger menu, more hot sauces, and a music venue on Main Street in Downtown Champaign.

No opening date has been announced at this time.

The Space
1 E Main St
Champaign

Top image by Weird Meat Boyz.

Food + Drink Editor / / instagram

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