My second trip stopping at Papa Dels while traveling through Champaign. First time.I ordered…read morestuffed spinach which definitely is 5 stars. This time ordered large pan pizza with the works. Excellent, only reservation is that the l leftovers do not reheat as well the next day. Place was clean and staff friendly and efficient.

FYI- This pizzeria DOES NOT DO APPPLE PAY…read more You can use your credit card. Maya (May-Yah) was really nice and kind as our waitress. She sat us by the window which was a nice view of outside. We all ordered the tortilla soup and it was ok. It was more like a puréed soup with some shredded chicken. This place is huge and spacious and a lot of seating with a lot of tv screens which aren't as loud as other pizzerias. One an actually have a nice conversation. The moment came for the thin crust pizza and it was phenomenal omg the big size sausages are to die for.

This place is AMAZING! Excellent authentic Italian and excellent service! I visit every time I'm…read moreback in Illinois. The ziti and lasagna are outstanding!

100% recommend this place, the food is amazing and the family running the business is so sweet.read more

It was a busy graduation weekend but the owner was able to accommodate our part of 9 at a large…read moretable out of the main dining area. Our server was super busy but yet prompt and attentive. The pizzas were perfection. Amazing crust. Delicious toppings. We had the Italian salad to share. The basil dressing was incredible. The cheese plate was better than we expected. Delicious cheeses. What I think was soft, warm pizza crust, fig preserves. Soooo good! We thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. Apparently I lived in the moment and did not take a single photo!

4 star food, 1 star service…read more The food is great, no doubt. The pizzas are cooked in a super hot oven and are prepared in minutes. But the service, good lord. To start, there's never anyone in the hostess area to even acknowledge your arrival; it's a crapshoot as to how long it will take for your presence to be known. Next, the waitresses don't even know their own basic menu. The restaurant offers a low carb option in which your pizza is served on a bed of arugula instead of the typical dough, but each time I try to order this, they're unaware that this is an option, despite it being prominently displayed at the entrance of the restaurant. I eventually photographed this clearly listed option to show the dull servers that such is available, and thus avoid having to provide a verbal explanation each and every time I make this order. Again, this isn't some special, esoteric request; it is offered by the restaurant and listed on the signage overlooking the front counter. If this place hired servers who possessed some semblance of competence it would be a solid 5 out of 5. But they won't, and I'll still keep coming back because I'm an idiot who loves good low carb food, even if I have to suffer through stupidity to get it.

We took a spontaneous day trip to Champaign, IL and tried Jupiter's on the recommendation of Dave…read morePortnoy's Pizza Review. It was delicious! We shared a Greek salad that was chock full of black olives and feta cheese. We also shared a large Chicken Fajita specialty pizza and it was so tasty! Lots of chicken and fajita vegetable hidden under the cheese. Our server Justin was attentive too. Ambiance is relaxed and it's a bar with six pool tables. We will come here again!

Rip off place. Don't bring kids. You will trade $100 for one dollar of prizes. Shame on this place…read more A disgrace.

We often get a pizza at Padano's on Friday nights. It is always fresh and tasty. We get a large…read moresausage and mushroom pizza and it is a real treat

It's a shame when you try to support your local pizza restaurant but the owner is rude when you…read moretry to order then he hangs up on you. I decided to go into the pizza shop to ask him why he told me "I don't understand I can't make that" in an agitated tone and then hung up when all I asked was for a sausage pizza and cheese pizza. He looked startled that I questioned him in person and he stated that the phones weren't working (he always uses this as an excuse for being rude to customers over the phone). Even if your phones aren't working, then you need to tell me that instead of being rude and hanging up. We have lived in this town for a long time and the town has always talked about how the owner is very kind or very very rude to his customers. Padano's, we will never order from you again. I will always pay more for professional service with kindness. Monicals it is!

Best Italian in CU. Great service, food and cocktails. Nice selection of wines. The deserts are…read morevery tasty as well.

Nandos is one of my favorite places in Champaign. However, this visit was different than most--…read morethey have started doing a set menu with appetizer, entre, and dessert for about $65 per person. The one caveat is that menu items off of the set menu can not just be ordered. For exampl, you cannot just order the arancini balls anymore-- which is one of my faves. This was a smidge disappointing if you don't want to order from the set menu portion. The regular menu has some options but not all that they used to. The food was good per usual just this change up threw us off!

Delicious walk-up counter NY pizza. I did the build-your-own with sausage, pepperoni, onion, and…read morered bell pepper. I liked the wide variety of topping choices! I liked that you could choose red vs green bell pepper, since I prefer red and it isn't usually an option. The toppings seemed quite fresh, the crust was soft like typical NY pizza. Even with these positives though, I felt it was expensive for what it was. I don't think a large, even with this number of toppings, should be over $30. Regardless, I probably will return! Good pizza!

This is it! You've been looking for a respectable slice of pizza in C-U and you just found it…read more The pizza here is street food. I ordered a slice of plain cheese, and it was ready to go in just a few minutes. The crust was pillowy around the edges and floppy near the pie's center, thanks to the sauce and slight grease from the cheese. The sauce is mostly or all crushed tomato and slightly sweet. The mozzarella was evenly layered. As a standalone slice, the point got a little more cooked than the outer crust which maybe wanted more time. For group orders they circle multiple slices on the same pan, and I'd bet they cook more evenly. Almost everyone in the shop ordered a slice with at least one topping, and there are some great looking specialty slices. I look forward to trying them soon!

This was, without a doubt, the worst deep dish pizza I have ever eaten. The cheese was flavorless,…read morecheap, and far too packed to where each bite was nothing but cheese with the tiniest hint of crust and sauce (and I ordered extra sauce). The crust was stiff and lacked any sort of taste. The sauce was the only part that I would consider to be average. I'm very confident that there are multiple grocery store frozen deep dish pizzas that are far superior to what I ate at this place. It feels disrespectful to include this on a menu and charge $28 for such a disastrous glob of tasteless garbage.

The $6 dollar slice and canned drink has saved me as a college student. Also very lowkey place to…read morestudy if you want something nice and quiet.

This is pizza with the potential to be good but just isn't…read more I picked up a couple pan slices -- plain cheese. The sauce was good and has a "classic" flavor but there wasn't enough of it. It was like a light seasoning that gave the otherwise flavorless pizza what taste it had. The dough itself was dry. A little more salt and a drizzle of olive oil would go a long way. The space is well-laid out with plenty of seating but it was eerily empty. On a weekday dinner time -- when the pizzeria a block over was full -- Garcia's was dead. Do they just not try to get customers?

Living in the past - 1 of 2…read more Come on, we all live in the past to some degree, with some doing so more so than others. That said, this college town is a part of my past and something that was surreal to me most of the time I was there. However, with school and stress, you look for ways to mitigate the negativity - food, friends, and funny jokes, mostly of the inside and irreverent variety. As for the food, Garcia's was one of the eateries that handled that part of the equation for me. Garcia's Pizza used to be on Green Street in Campustown and I recall eating lunch there a fair bit. After not setting foot in the 61820 for at least two decades, I thought I could handle it. I did handle it, albeit with a short visit that revealed a lot of change. Newer mid-rises, which seem to be popular with foreign (graduate) students, now stand in Campustown and moved Garcia's out to the west side where the town gives way to shopping centers, (then) newer apartment complexes, and cornfields. Garcia's used to be in this woodsy and glassy hippie-dippy stand-alone locale on Green Street and, inside, it paid homage to another era with its mezzanines and, if I recall correctly, a fireplace. Now, it's in a stout building in a large outdoor shopping center. The reason I'd go to Garcia's was for their stuffed pizza and, on occasion, for their "Gutbuster" pizza. Not once did I order a conventional crust pizza because I had made the acquaintance of the stuffed pizza and the "Gutbuster" and I liked them. I believe I would get my slice in tandem with a small salad and a soft drink. Either of these slices of pizza filled you up, and, depending on which way the wind from the South Farms was blowing, might push you to want to take a snooze, which was dependent on whether or not you had a class. I was going to flex with the situation, find their new location, and woof down some Garcia's pizza. The menu had the "baby stuffed pizza" for one for a nice enough price and I also had a small salad and a soft drink. The stuffed pizza was fine except that it didn't have the rich and moist taste I once recall. The tomato sauce and the herbs seemed to compete with the taste of the ingredients I prefer. It was a good, and definitely filling, but not quite what I remember that would pull me back in for lunch at least once a week. The current store is spacious, they've kept the the menu items and the overall theme, the interaction with the employees was forgettable, which usually means it was fine, and I was able to look at paraphernalia that was present back in the day. I'm talking about their trademark hot air balloon with their fonts and slogans. Additionally, there is at least one outdoor seating area to one side of the store. This experience was very different from the Campustown experience, but I was glad to still find Garcia's and walk down "Memory Lane" ... in addition to feasting on some stuffed pizza.

I love the Esquire Lounge. The staff know all their regulars, and the regulars know one another…read more You always have a friend at Esquire. The drinks and food are priced perfectly for the quality and quantity. It definitely won't break the bank. It's very roomy and very clean. If there is a "Cheers " bar, this is it. Great place to hang!

Had a quick to go snack from Esquire and opted for the bacon cheese tater tots! The tots were a…read moreperfect amount of crispy and cooked perfectly! Though the cheese/bacon/tot ratio was optimal, the cheese definitely tasted like the slightly worse version of the fake cheese you get at concessions stand and the bacon was not crispy. I think next time I would just get the plain tots! Would love to come back and have a full meal here. Very old timey vibes! Pool costs $1 every 10 minute.