After driving by many times, it sparked my interest to try this restaurant. Walking inside, I wondered if I had made the right choice, the decor isn't vintage but just old and doesn't flow. We ordered the Fried Chicken and Beef N' Noodles. The chicken was the best fried chicken I've had outside of the South. The Beef N' Noodles tastes really good too. The sides were not great but edible. We ordered the Apple Dumplin' even though we were full and it is not to be missed. I would go back just for this dessert. read more

We had the best 1/2 fried chicken. The chicken was amazing cooked to perfection every piece of chicken was very tender and juicy. Mashed potatoes were perfectly seasoned and the gravy was delicious. Service was excellent. The waitress was very nice and friendly with a great attitude She recommended the fried chicken and it was as good as she said it would be. I DO recommend this family owned restaurant. read more

Excellent food, salad bar was fresh and just like it was 15 years ago. Waitress was great and place was very clean. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Chicken Fried Steak - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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The food was excellent. It was served in a timely manner and was of a good temperature. The servers were friendly and attentive. Everything was clean and the decor was pleasant. read more

My wife had breakfast here on a Wednesday. We had been here a few years and enjoyed it. This time was bad. My biscuit and gravy was tasteless. My wife's omelet was not much better. She was told they didn't have onions or mushrooms, while the cashier told us at checkout they did indeed have those ingredients. Coffee and English muffin were good. Finally, the restaurant got hot to the point I was sweating. We were told they were frying chicken for lunch which is why it was hot. $40 (with tip) for a bad experience. Service was good so not 1 star. read more

Ambiance,I should say! There's literally no " Latinos " in this restaurant! I get it " All American Food"! The food is ok! Not had me " Wowing" me though! read more

This is a great family run restaurant. Hometown Americana. The service is warm, friendly, and quick with a recommendation. The biscuits and gravy were tasty and a large portion (even the half order). The biscuits compete with the ones I had in Tennessee this week. read more

So let me start by saying I am an Apple Dumplin virgin. I have heard many great things about this of the beaten path Restaurant, so being a foodie. I had to check it out. I came I. At 8 o'clock in Saturday was greeted by 3 of the liveliest woman, who were just coffee happy. At a girl, can't function without that good Java. I came for the fried potatoes and ordered a loaded omelet and coffee with an English muffin. The atmosphere is relaxed down home. It's like eating in your own kitchen at home. Side note. When I rate restaurants they start at a Five and I go from there. Service is pretty epic. Restaurant is clean. You can see into the kitchen and it is clean. The omelette came it was huge. The fried potatoes were smothered in sausage gravy. The gravy had a floury taste had sausage in it. It no sausage flavor. The potatoes were disappointing as they were more like a fried mashed potato's. Not impressed with the gravy or the potatoes. It seems a shame to smother fried potatoes in gravy when you could give a small side of sausage gravy on the side. I would probably rework this menu item. The omelette is huge with a lot of portion of meat and veg . They use a liquid egg for the omelette and it is spread thin then filled, again I would. Probably rework this omelette. For presentation and quality. All in all the service outshined the food and that is what is amazing. This little restaurant exudes family and welcome and love. The food however, is probably made for a lighter tastebud (older). I would say , for the next time order fried potatoes on side to see how they really look and taste. My overall review of The Apple Dumplin restaurant is a 4 as I said the service is what I would expect anywhere and hands down The Apple Dumplin service is why I will come back and try something else. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Loaded omelette with fried potatoes and sausage gravy. - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Few choices- certain things were out on a limited menu. The make most everything from scratch. Good old boy area. Iykyu!

The food is amazing that the environment is even better people are so friendly to make you feel right at home. The menu is a little bit pricey but I highly recommend this place if you want a wonderful down to earth environment with a great home cooked meal. read more

Great food and service and descent price Would recommend to all my friends and family read more

I haven't been to The Apple Dumplin' forever. Had breakfast with my family this morning. I had an egg over-easy, toast, potatoes, bacon, and sausage gravy. Everything was cooked great. I really liked the potatoes. The apple butter is to die for...loved it! read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Egg, bacon, toast, potatoes, and sausage gravy - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Great food here, I had eggs bacon and biscuits and gravy. The side portions were very well priced. Staff was nice and quick, they also support the brave men and women in law enforcement that protect our community. WELL DONE! read more

Food was okay, service was good, but the white supremacy was on full display. Skip this place and find a local place with better food and better values. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Register - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

Nice atmosphere, really good food and great service. I went for lunch and had the Country Fried Steak with mashed potatoes and peas. It was perfect. Oh yeah, it comes with a gigantic roll. read more

Food is fantastic and tastes like homemade. Atmosphere is quaint and folksy. Service was fast and friendly.

I'm a picky eater and this place is a good choice for a comfort food fix. On Sundays, they only have their buffet available (nothing a la carte) but as buffets go, it's a solid option. The salad bar is nice and cold with your standard options and mostly creamy salad dressings. (Oil and vinegar are available.) The hot buffet has fried chicken, beef and noodles, several different breads including biscuits, cornbread, and dinner rolls, potatoes, corn, and carrots. Think starch. You have to try the namesake -- the apple dumpling, which is available anytime, and get it with ice cream because obviously. It's big and sized for sharing. You get a large fried piece of dough with baked apple inside, absolutely slathered with butter and cinnamon. It's served hot next to the vanilla ice cream as it should be. This place is very casual with friendly servers and you'll go home with a full belly. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Fried chicken, beef and noodles, biscuit - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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Came here over the weekend and had a delicious cod sandwich and fries (Friday special). The cod was not some boring, mass produced fish patty that you get far too often at family restaurants. This cod must have been freshly caught and prepared in house. It was great!!! The fries were nice thick steak fries and my lunch came with a dish of cole slaw on the side, which I passed on because of personal preference. Our server was friendly and attentive. If you don't like hearty, home cooking in rural Illinois, The Apple Dumplin is not for you and I'm sure you can find a Cracker Barrel nearby. But if you can appreciate a family owned establishment serving really good food that is well supported by the locals, stop in...at least for the homemade apple dumpling with ice cream! ;) Thanks for a great lunch, Apple Dumplin!! read more

There for lunch today. Clean. Great service, great food. Not a fast food franchise. Specials each day. Reasonable pricing.11/16/2022

I go for the Fried Chicken or the Chicken and Noodles. They are the best you can get anywhere. And it's just like home cooking. The only problem is that I wish they were open on weekends longer. read more

The country fried steak was absolutely the best I have ever put in my mouth! Delicious! Good mashed potatoes and gravy. And the service was fast and friendly. read more

I've lived here all my life. I don't know why I've never eaten here. This is comfort food. I had the beef and noodles served over the mashed potatoes. Real mashed potatoes, not the box kind. You also get a big soft dinner roll that you can slather with butter or their housemade apple butter or both. The server made sure we never ran out of drinks and the food came out in a reasonable amount of time. The apple dumpling, we (4 of us) shared with a scoop of ice cream. A really filling meal. I will definitely be back. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Beef and noodles over mashed potatoes with corn. - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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Our first time at this great out of the way place. Apparently it's been around for years because they keep a running count of customers and it's over 358k. They're known for their fried chicken and it did not disappoint. Don't be in a hurry, you'll wait 15-20 minutes for fresh cooked no heat lamps. Topped off with french fries and a huge chunk of bread, a complete tasty meal. The server was crazy busy but still checked on us regularly and kept our drinks filled. The dining room is wide open with plenty of seating and retro decor. I think we're going to be regulars. read more

Unfortunately Yelp won't allow zero stars. The Apple Dumplin used to be a great place to eat. Things have really went down hill since the business was sold to the current owners. They recently had their food service permit revoked for refusing to comply with public health regulations. Their health inspections prior to losing their permit, document a lack of regard for things like hand washing, cleaning food prep areas etc.... My last meal at the Dumplin' was carryout fish, two pieces of fish were stuck together by a wad of black hair that was apparently in the batter before frying. When I called, they immediately became irritated and belligerent and said how do they know the hair didn't come from my house.... First of all, no one with long black hair lives in my house, secondly the hair was fried into the batter, so it's pretty clear it came from their kitchen. I do not recommend this restaurant. read more

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Agh!! We came from the east coast to visit my friends and decided to go to Urbana/Champaign (where I went to school) after more than 30yrs. Yelp reviews have never failed me and after seeing all the positive reviews, we decided to give this place a try. There were eight of us in our party and we were all disappointed. The fry chicken was super dry and beef & noodles were gross, unfortunately I forgot to take pictures!! We were there June 14, 2019 around noon time. read more

Awesome breakfast and Apple dumplings. Salad bar is good but I wish they had mixed greens also. Chicken sandwich was gigantic and very good.Good service, friendly staff Yum read more

Watched waitress scoop our sides out of the salad bar we passed on because it looked nasty. Fried chicken was the driest I've ever been served at any restaurant. Not a single drop of juice came out when I but into either chicken breast. Like it has either been overcooked, reheated, or just sat under a heat lamp or in a buffet tray all day. Parts of the chicken were tougher than jerky. I hadn't eaten, and the chicken TASTED ok, but it was clearly not prepared anytime recently. Def. shouldn't be the top of the list when you search for fried chicken in Champaign. I'd expect this if I bought discount chicken that sat all day at Walmart. I will not be back. Maybe that's what they wanted. read more

Stopped in for breakfast. Good atmosphere with locals. Clean and bright. I ordered the country fried steak with taters. It was crisp and non greasy. Covered in sweet gravy. The taters were country cooked down soft with onions. Delicious! So glad for something different. Regular hash browns/potato's get boring after awhile. It came with toast. Thoroughly enjoyed it. No turkey bacon or sausage. But pork was available. Sweet tea and unsweetened tea available. read more

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The health department shut this place down for not following public health guidance. Their license was revoked. They are working to regain it, but given the nasty response of their few loyal customers to my previous review, nothing has changed in my mind. It is potentially deadly for me to eat here. I wish I'd known that BEFORE I ordered takeout. If you are considering going here & are concerned about Covid, I would probably go elsewhere. If you must go here, I suggest checking the health score & date, jus5 to be safe. These people are not concerned at all & I wouldn't put my health in their hands again. read more

Support a local business that is actually following guidelines rather than a business that thinks they're better than others for staying open for indoor dining. Extremely negligent to say the least... read more

Where to begin.... the Dumplin' has been around since 1985. They are located off the beaten path, but by no means difficult to find or get to. Just Google their address. I do want to address a couple of reviews that elude to racial profiling. First they are located in a farming community which is about 99% white. Most of the customers here are regulars. That being said when a new face comes in regulars take notice. It doesn't matter if you are white, black, hispanic or Asian, a new face is a new face. My husband is black, our children are multiracial; we have never had an issue not ever, from customers or employees. Have there been times when they are jam packed and the wait is long and it feels like we've been ignored? Yes; however it is due to how busy they are not because we aren't a white family. I love going here for the Sunday buffet; the Fried chicken is moist tender and crispy not greasy. The mashed potato's are delicious just like my granny used to make and she made some good taters! The carrots are candied almost like yams very good as well. They alternate other mains on the buffet like meatloaf, which is done with a ketchup glaze and not gravy or their beef n noodles. One of my absolute favorites on the menu is their beef n noodles. They make their noodles from scratch! Just like home! The décor is nothing to write home about country chic, it's not frilly or fancy. But I don't come here to look at the walls. Parking is onsite but the lot fills up quickly! They are always busy! It's a testament to how delicious the food is! They offer take out as well! I come here to have some tasty high calorie, home cooked Midwestern comfort food, stick to your ribs take a 2 hour nap kind of cooking! We only come back to Illinois about twice a year but always stop in here at least once while we are home! Thanks Dumplin' see ya soon! read more

Wow, real feel of country time out here, just as soon as you walk through the doors. Service was friendly and we got seated right way, during the busy weekday lunch traffic. It was crowded and they have weekly specials so people might have been here for the Thursday meatloaf. I tried the two piece fried chicken which was quite delicious. It came with a huge mound of mashed potatoes smothered in gravy and a choice of veggie side ( I skipped the salad bar because the portions were already looking too big). The choice of sides were green beans or glazed carrots. The overcooked carrots were served in a bowl of sweet oil (probably melted butter) which tasted decent but looked like a heart attack. You can chose to get only white meat for a higher price, but otherwise you get a drumstick and thigh piece. The meat loaf was decent, though not quite that flavorful. It also came with the same options for sides. The breaded chicken sandwich was a huge portion with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles you can add in, plus a side of fries and let's not forget the enormous dinner rolls with the apple butter. Definitely huge portions, as the waitress said "if you leave here hungry it's your own fault" For drinks I had an apple juice which tasted like syrup so I had to switch to water. They had plenty of sodas to chose from, and coffee and tea. We split an apple dumpling because we barely had room. It was enormous too, which two large scoops of ice cream (you should get it a la mode). I was a little underwhelmed for noting it was their namesake. It wasn't that flavorful or sweet. It had this sticky stringy consistency that was a little off putting, like cheese polymers or slime. Nevertheless I would definitely come back for the fried chicken and maybe try out a daily special. They also do a full breakfast, which I imagine is also quite popular. Plenty of parking around the building. Pay at the cashier but don't forget to leave a tip and the table for the waitress. Apparently you can order over the phone for a pick up, if you just want to stop by and take it home to eat. read more

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Pros: Great homemade food at a great price Cons: Location My Advice: Go on a Friday or Saturday night, when you can get a Twice-Baked Potato I have been living in the C-U area for a little over 2 years now and I made my first visit to The Apple Dumplin' just 3 nights ago. We absolutely loved it! Enough so that we went again last night. Their twice-baked potato was fantastic, one of the best potatoes I've ever eaten. The only bad thing it that they only serve it on Friday and Saturday nights, so if you go any other time, you're SOL. On our first visit, my son, my step-daughter-to-be and I all got beef and noodles. The children's version is served with mashed potatoes on the side, while the full-size meal is served over a bed of mashed potatoes. It was delicious and also very filling. Even though it was the nightly all-you-can-eat meal, I was only able to eat one plate. My fiance ordered fried chicken and it was very good. Lightly breaded and juicy, just the way fried chicken should be. On our second visit I got the all-you-can-eat popcorn shrimp, the Saturday night special. Paired with the twice-baked potato, my meal was excellent. This was no tiny, marble sized shrimp; they were plump and perfectly fried. Not to mention, all-you-can-eat shrimp for only $8.75? Are you kidding me? My fiance got the beef and noodles, which was just as tasty as the first time. The kids got chicken strips and fries, which were just what you would expect, but the portions were huge. The staff is very friendly and they remembered us from the first time we were there. Our waitress even commented that my son had gotten a haircut in between. The salad bar is nothing super special, but it's adequate. I loved the cucumber salad and the kidney bean salad. Almost everything made here is done so from scratch. I don't know if the popcorn shrimp was, but the beef and noodles, fried chicken and mashed potatoes definitely were. According to the menu we brought home, they peel about one ton of potatoes a week. The homemade rolls are heavy and very good. Even better, they have apple butter in a squeeze bottle right at the table. I could almost make an entire meal of their rolls with apple butter. The only bad thing about The Apple Dumplin' is their location. They are located a few miles outside of town in the last place you would expect a restaurant to be. There is a reason it took me so long to come here....... because I didn't even know about it. We found it quite literaly by accident. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - The Apple Dumplin' - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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I'm just going say this serve wonderful!. I haven't been their since I was a kid, food was absolutely a joke. I then speak and tell the owner she tries explaining to me why it was the way it was. If you are a Owner take pride in your business. But I'll leave this pic up had CHUNKS of food un cut in my omelet. Ohop will be the best chance this town has at breakfast. That image is of how cut the sausage was in my omelet. It's pathetic an owner has no pride in this place. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

We stayed at the Hampton Inn (Urbana) and looked up restaurants and cane across this gem. Homemade food and the hospitality was great. Yes out of the way but so are other places. It's obviously a local favorite and I see why! Try this place out and get an Apple Dumplin' read more

Had the burger and fries. Was good. They don't toast the bun, which I like. Wife had the tenderloin sandwich, was pork not beef. A little over cooked. Would eat here again. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Menus. - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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Had breakfast the other morning. Food was great and the waitress has fantastic! Always enjoy coming in.

As comfort food as it gets. I was never disappointed - always delicious. Things to improve: the yelp pricing range does not reflect the true meal cost (I'd say $$ is more appropriate than $). The salad bar is one trip only - I'd suggest allowing smaller entree size in trade for free salad access, but it's just me. Service has always been gracious and sweet. You will not leave hungry. read more

The Apple Dumplin' - Country style gourmet ! - American Near Me - Urbana, Illinois

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I always read other reviews before considering where I am going to spend my money. I saw this place had good reviews, and a few that were just people not being realistic. So I thought I would give it a try... Let me say that I was absolutely blow away... The food is definitely homemade, and shows by the presentation... "just like mom used to make". The biscuits and gravy was the best I have had in a long time... If you expect perfectly diced ham or perfectly cut sausage that is in your scramble... you are unrealistic and should probably stick to one of the big box store restaurants... This is homemade food at its best... read more

This is the worst. My wife and I went to eat here, it's a bit of a trek but I hadn't bee in in 20 years or so and was saddened by the lack of care and cleanliness. Worn out and dirty. The old owners took pride in their business. Not this crowd. The food I ordered was supposed to be beef and noodles and was on the specials. However, what I got was canned cafeteria grade over cooked gooey noodles and what amounted to canned dog food grade beef & gravy. I found a LONG curly hair in my gravy. My wife had the salad bar and it had gross browning lettuce, the cheap kind. Tomatoes were soggy. No variety. Not worth the cost. The waitress was nice and extremely helpful and actually apologized for my food, saying the cook had a bad day. Basically this place is supposed to cater to small town charm, well, it fails at that. It's also supposed to be "home cooking " , but I don't remember my granny serving nasty cafeteria/prison grade over cooked food and charging as much as a nice restaurant. I felt sad after being there, especially when I had fond memories with my granny of road trips out there 20 years ago. read more