05 | September | 2008 | Mid-Michigan Dining

Blues BBQ – Urbana, IL

5 09 2008

1103 W. Oregon St.
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 239-9555
Website
Menu

Blues BBQ on Oregon St. in Urbana, IL near the University of Illinois

I made a mistake. I had planned on going to grab a couple slices of pizza after I got off work from a pizza joint that gets rave reviews. Instead, I chose to go get BBQ. That in itself is not a bad choice. The restaurant I chose was the bad choice.

I noticed Blues BBQ last night when I went to Manolo’s (review HERE) to get pizza. I almost went there then because it *looked* like a neat place. When I left Memorial Stadium tonight about 8:00, I headed back to the area to get some Q.

Blues BBQ is located in a little shopping district on the campus of the University of Illinois. From the outside Blues looks like an upscale BBQ place. It’s not the roadhouse you think of when you usually think of BBQ. This should have been a huge warning sign. When you walk in, again, you’re met with an upscale, eclectic feel. There are a handful of tables in the dining room. Most of them share seats with long, red benches. There’s a bar that runs along the windows which is about the only thing in here that you would find in a typical BBQ place. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: BBQ, Big Ten Tour, Champaign, Illinois, sandwich, U of I, Urbana
Categories : BBQ, Big Ten Tour, Chains, Champaign/Urbana, Illinois, Restaurant, Reviews, Urbana

Farren’s Pub and Eatery – Champaign, IL

5 09 2008

308 N. Randolph St.
Champaign, IL 61820
(217) 359-6977
Website
Menu

Farren's Pub and Eatery on Randolph St. in Champaign

Farren’s Pub and Eatery was a suggestion I got from a poster over at Chowhound. I wanted to find some of the harder to find places in Champaign/Urbana and I definitely did with this place. I spent all morning at Memorial Stadium getting ready for tomorrow’s U of I/Eastern Illinois game. By the time our lunch break rolled around, I was starving. I left the stadium and headed back towards downtown. Farren’s sits on Randolph Street which is a one-way a few blocks west of Neil which is the main business district. My GPS was telling me I was there, but I wasn’t seeing it. As I was driving by, the sign jumped out at me at the last second. I had to go up to the next street and turn around. The only parking around Farren’s is street parking and since it was 3:00, I didn’t have any trouble finding a spot in front.

The main entrance sits quite a ways off of the road. I wasn’t quite sure which door to go in. The only sign is the one out front at the road. There are no markings on the door or windows that frame the door. I pulled on it and it opened so I figured that was it.

There’s not a whole lot to the pub but what is there is gorgeaous. You walk down a ramp that reminds you of a wheelchair ramp to get into the space. There are just a few tables and the bar in the dining room. There was only one other table being used when I got there. I grabbed one close to the bar/kitchen to make it easy on the waiter/bartender. Read the rest of this entry »