Patios are open everywhere — at least a dozen patios are open in downtown Champaign alone! So find a place to sit outside, order a coffee, a drink, or a bite, and enjoy the weather (when it’s not raining, I mean). And whether you feel like eating on a patio or not, there is no shortage of other food and drink events in May to participate in. Here are a few.
Times and dates of events may change. Please confirm before you attend.
Classes
Flatlander Classroom, Common Ground Food Co-op
Let’s be real. One of the few places for food and drink classes in C-U is the Flatlander Classroom at the Common Ground Food Co-op. That was the entire purpose of creating the space, and they’ve filled the calendar pretty well — so here’s the impressive list of food-and-drink-related classes you can register for there in May:
Thursday, May 9, 6–7:30 p.m.
Vegetarian Indian Delicacies: Ragda Patties
Sunday, May 12, 2:00–4:00 p.m.
Kids Cook! Ages 2–4
Monday, May 13, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Cooking Healthy on a Budget: Pan-Asian Noodle Bowl
Tuesday, May 14, 7:00–8:30 p.m.
Pairing Smackdown! Beer and Cheese vs. Wine and Cheese
Sunday, May 19, 2:00–3:00 p.m.
Foraging 101
Saturday, May 25, 1:00–2:30 p.m.
Keeping It Sweet Without the Added Sugar: Cooking and Baking with Natural Sugar
Tuesday, May 28, 7:00–8:30 p.m.
Make Your Own Cheese
For more description about these classes, see the Upcoming Classes page on the Co-op website.
Parkland College
Enrollment is open for summer classes at Parkland that include courses from Chefs Bob Rowe, Catherine Emert, and Natalie Mesnard, as well as C-U Herb Society Member Jean Hovde and Rachel Coventry from Curtis Orchard. Classes range from sushi making to creating dinners with season vegetables. Additional courses on mead-making and beekeeping and honey are also available. For more information on the classes, check pages 10–13 of Parkland’s catalog here.
New and notable
Big Grove Tavern Brunch, Cocktail Menu Changes, and Graduation weekend
As mentioned previously, Big Grove Tavern is now serving brunch Sunday from 10 a.m.–2:30 p.m., but now they’re creating 5–6 brunch specials every week in addition to many of their regular items. Also keep watch for changes to the cocktail menu at Big Grove Tavern, which will be coming soon to align with fresh late spring and summer ingredients. For graduation weekend, they plan to serve a limited version of their normal menu.
Urbana Market at the Square Begins
The Urbana Market reopened last weekend to mostly good weather, mild crowds, and an impressive number of vendors already out selling their goods. Be there every Saturday morning, and to plan in advance, check out our weekly Market Watch column, which publishes every Friday morning.
Dublin O’Neil’s Brewery of the Month
Featured this month at Dublin O’Neil’s as the brewery of the month is Mikkellers. Several rare releases will be on tap at the brewery, including a cream ale, “Brettanomyces Bruxelles,” and a hoppy breakfast beer.
You can get a flight of three 7 oz drafts for $15 or purchase the beers individually. The hop series will also be available via bottles.
Dinners and other events
May 9 and 10
Seven Saints Thesis Week
If you finished a thesis this semester, bring in a copy of the completed thesis, hang it up, ring the bell, and let them give you a well-deserved $10 gift card. Granted, this only applies to a select group of C-U residents, but that handful of residents has worked very hard for very many hours over the grueling past few months. Well done, and enjoy your gift card!
May 9–11
Black Dog Late Night Menu, 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m.
Black Dog Smoke and Ale House continues to serve up a special rotating late-night menu on Thursday through Saturday night from 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m. Plus, it’s graduation weekend. If you don’t have a reservation, this may be the only time you’ll be able to eat.
This week, the food menu will include:
Starters
- Cornbread filled with pulled pork, green chiles, pit beans & cheddar cheese
- Fried chicken skins with honey & chipotle hot sauce
- Cheese Fries with welsh rarebit & green onion pesto
- Poutine with french fries, cheese curds & beer gravy
- Fried Dill Pickles with house made ranch
Dogs
- Southern Hipster – Fried Tofu, Pimiento Cheese, Beer Mustard & Dill Pickles
- Chinese American – Lap Cheong, Smoked Pork Belly, Asian Slaw & Sriracha
- Von Baron – Bratwurst, Bacon, Braised Sauerkraut & Beer Mustard
- Corn Dog – Beef Red Hot, Corn Batter & Spicy Ketchup
- Yuppy Brunch – Breakfast Sausage, Bacon, Fried Egg & Maple Mayonnaise
May 9
Buvons Lobster Rolls, 4–9 p.m.
On Thursday, pop into Buvons for a taste of everything that says summer vacation: their featured lobster rolls “buttered split buns, filled with chunks of lobster, paired with white Burgundy by the glass.”
May 10
Buvons Big Ass Glass Happy Hour Tasting with Paul Brown of H2Vino, 4:00–6:30 p.m.
Paul Brown of H2Vino will present this six-wine tasting. While you’ll pay $10 for the tasting array, in return, you will receive a $10 gift certificate to be used for any three wines purchased that evening. The wines include:
- 2010 Dom Besson Givry 1er “Les Grand Prétans”$34.99
- 2010 Parusso Langhe Nebbiolo $29.99
- 2007 Marqués de Vargas Rioja $29.99
- 2009 Caronne St. Gemme Haut Medoc $24.99
- 2008 Chono San Lorenzo $24.99
- 2009 ÀMaurice Syrah $36.99
May 11
Buvons, A Flight of Fizz
Whether you’re avoiding or celebrating with the graduation crowd, Buvons will be pouring a flight of three “bubblies” (so some variety of sparkling wine) to add a little extra pizazz to your day.
May 15
Seven Saints Canadian & Micro-American Whiskey Wednesday
As per usual on Whiskey Wednesday at Seven Saints, selected whiskies will be half price. This Wednesday, Canadian and micro-American whiskies are in the queue for your drinking pleasure.
May 16
The Blind Pig’s Time Zone Tap Takeover
Thursday evening, The Blind Pig will showcase a full-tap takeover by four coast-to-coast breweries. Featured breweries will include Southern Tier (New York), New Holland (Michigan), SKA Brewing (Colorado), and North Coast (California), including “some very rare releases.”
For now, the beers we know about will include:
- Southern Tier Live
- Southern Tier Backburner
- Southern Tier Pumking
- Dragon’s Milk Firkin
May 16–18
Black Dog Late Night Menu, 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m.
Black Dog Smoke and Ale House continues to serve up a special rotating late-night menu on Thursday through Saturday night from 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m. See May 9–11 for current menu.
May 19
3rd annual craft beer crawl
For the third year, C-U bars will band together to celebrate American Craft Beer Week (May 13–19). Participating bars include Crane Alley, Mike N Mollys, Radio Maria, Quality, Blind Pig, Dublin O Neil’s, Seven Saints, and Black Dog Smoke & Ale House. The cost of the glass is $5.
According to a BeerAdvocate post, “Each bar will host a rare special release beer from one of the country’s premier craft breweries. Pubcrawl participants will travel from bar to bar and with their commemorative glass enjoy the beer.” Well, we hope they enjoy their beer … what the hell good is a bar crawl if they don’t enjoy their beer?
Signup is still ongoing at Mike N Molly’s and Crane Alley, but there are a limited number of spots available.
May 22
Seven Saints Irish & International Whiskey Wednesday
As per usual on Whiskey Wednesday at Seven Saints, selected whiskies will be served for half price. This Wednesday, Irish and international whiskies are in the queue for your drinking pleasure.
May 16–18
Black Dog Late Night Menu, 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m.
Black Dog Smoke and Ale House continues to serve up a special rotating late-night menu on Thursday through Saturday night from 10:30 p.m.–2 a.m. See May 9–11 for current menu.
May 29
Seven Saints Bourbon & Rye Whiskey Wednesday
As per usual on Whiskey Wednesday at Seven Saints, selected whiskies will be served for half price. This Wednesday, bourbons and rye whiskies are in the queue for your drinking pleasure.