By: Lizzie Jackson
So, you just moved to Champaign, and you’re asking arguably the most important question in life: “What’s for dinner?” And if you’re like me, you’re not leaving the house until the world calms down for a minute. That means either cooking or ordering in. Here’s my recommendations for take-out in Champaign.
Jet’s Pizza
1907 W Springfield Ave Ste A, Champaign, IL 61821
First up, pizza. The staple of college life and the staple for anyone who is looking forward to a pepperoni-filled breakfast the next morning. My place of choice is Jet’s Pizza. There are 2 locations in town: one on Springfield Avenue and the other one closer to U of I’s campus on Neil St.
I know what you’re thinking; “But everyone says go to Jupiter’s! What about Papa Del’s?” And I say to you, those are both excellent choices. I get pizza from Jupiter’s when I want to go in and play pool. I get Papa Del’s when I want to eat a tomato flavored cake and then not do anything for the next 24 hours.
Jet’s though? Order Jet’s when you want to repay a group of friends who just helped you move, or when you finally get to have that movie night. Jet’s Pizza serves Detroit Style pizza which basically means no side crust ‘handle’ and instead, a bread-like base crust. Jet’s also offers a lunch deal of 2 slices and a 20oz drink for $5.00 which is a solid step up from Little Caesars.
Smokey’s House BBQ
1333 Savoy Plaza Ln #8, Savoy, IL 61874
Something that really surprised me when I first moved to Champaign was the amount of barbecue places in this city. While Black Dog is in fact my restaurant of choice, it is outside of everyday price range. Alas, this is the problem with good BBQ. However, when I want to celebrate making it through another pay period, and I don’t want to head into Downtown Champaign, I order Smokey’s House BBQ.
I will admit that Smokey’s is a little out of the way, being far enough south on Neil Street that it turns into Dunlap Avenue. But, via Grubhub, they deliver to my location, just off Mattis and their delivery is perfect every time. I can’t stress it enough. Every time.
My order this past week was the Smoked Pulled Pork Plate with fried pickles and corn bread, with their Memphis Sweet and Mostly Mustard sauces. It was in fact pure happiness in a styrofoam container.
Ming Garden
1804 Sangamon Dr, Champaign, IL 61821
My chief goal whenever moving to a new city is always, always, locating the best Chinese place. And when I moved to Champaign I ran into an issue: celery. Every Chinese food place I visited used celery as a bulk vegetable and unfortunately for me I utterly despise celery. So, I suffered and survived on Thai food for years until I stumbled across Ming Garden.
Ming Garden is no bigger than your average 2 car-garage and is hidden away behind the Little Caesars on South Mattis. There is no indoor seating and delivery via Grubhub is rather hit or miss. But it’s worth it, trust me.
My house’s usual order is Black Pepper Chicken with Fried Rice, and Garlic Chicken with White Rice. We also get an order of 8 fortune cookies because sometimes you just want to eat a bunch. This total comes out to just over $25.00 meaning that lunch the next day is taken care of. And this is yet another place that I have to highlight for never getting our order wrong. I’ve also never had anything bad from here.
There are plenty of places to eat in Champaign, that goes without saying. But hopefully I’ve given you some new places to try that are outside of the norm. Enjoy!
