In the dog-eat-dog world of restaurants, there are weddings and then there are funerals. Champaign-Urbana is no exception. Recently we lost not one, but four restaurants – Cheddar’s, Carmon’s, Butitta’s, and Tang Dynasty.
Cheddar’s I’m not surprised, since I rarely had the craving to go down that far on Prospect. In it’s place will be a Longhorn Steakhouse, which isn’t too bad for a chain restaurant. Tang Dynasty, good riddance to bad rubbish (remember Yen Ching?). Only went there a couple of times, one of which was right after my birthday. We had the saltiest dish of Mapo Tofu ever!
Butitta’s was almost surprising, given that there were days it was busy, but obviously not enough to keep it afloat. The location of the old Coca-Cola bottling company, then Jillian’s, then Butitta’s, is really big, and unfortunately the food was not good enough to hold people’s attention. Heck, even Biaggi’s and Olive Garden could beat it.
Carmon’s was somewhat surprising, but not really. The last time I was there with my Numero Uno Dining Partner it had been packed. Little did I know it was their swansong. There had been times when we went in to get some crepes and no one else was there. Too bad, since Carmon’s was a local institution and their food was actually good, albeit pricey. Where will I get my Crepe St. Jacques now?
From my blood relative who shall remain nameless, I found out that Oishi is also floundering. They’re in the place that used to be Boston’s (not Boston Market, I wish) and then Kaisho over on Prospect. Went there only once for dinner and never went back.
All is not completely lost on the restaurant scene in C-U. A new Thai restaurant with the quirky name of Let’s Take a Seat opened up over at Windsor Crossing (Duncan and Windsor). Went there only once, it was okay. MBRWSRN went there several times initially, but not now. My boss told me his wife found the place to be rather pricey.
Another new place that I have yet to try out is Distill over in the M2 Building in Downtown Champaign. So stay tune for that.
UrbanaFare 