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Midwest Living, February 2001

Dining Out

Great Eating at Midwest Restaurants

The Courier Cafe
Urbana, Illinois

Not too many years ago, reporters ran up the worn stone steps of The Champaign-Urbana Courier's red brick building to file their hot stories. The clacking typewriters may be gone, but the hustle-bustle of the lively downtown restaurant that hosts dinners here today reminds you of the pulse that breathed life into the daily newspaper.

Friendly waitresses direct you to a booth and keep coffee cups full, as patrons order generous sandwiches served on bread made at the cafe. You might choose a vegetarian "monkey stuff," with peanut butter, sesame seeds and bananas.

Owner Allen Strong's staff produces from-scratch fare, right down to the noodles in the chicken soup and the buns for juicy burgers. Fresh-baked pies, as well as sundaes, top off lunches and dinners. The evening menu includes steak, chicken and baked trout, plus selections from the bountiful salad bar.

Students and staff at the nearby University of Illinois (U of I) join other diners who swear by the big breakfasts. Most popular: the omelets and the six different kinds of pancakes.

The loyal clientele say it was a good-news day when Allen rescued this vintage structure, shuttered in 1979 after The Courier's last edition. He covered the high ceiling with tin, then added stained-glass windows, plus vintage clocks and lamps, before opening the next year.

"Many U of I journalism students got their first jobs at The Courier," Allen says, noting that both George Will and Gene Shalit worked here. "When we see people just soaking in the environment, we know for sure that another former staffer has come home."