Uncle Jack's: A Healthy Start

We went to Uncle Jack's a few months ago, as we thought the new restaurants at 'the crossing' of the major intersection Duncan and Windsor needed to be explored.

We had thought, finally, a new breakfast place for your weekday meals.  The weekend brunch options on the weekend are really fantastic here, but try grabbing something midweek and you will have a tougher time.

Anyway, one thing we ordered was the HEALTHY START.   Unless they messed up our order, this might be worse than the KFC double down.

A Healthy Start

A Buttery Croissant with a Fried Egg, Bacon and Cheese.  And a Side of Potatoes.

What a light and refreshing start to my morning.

I guess at least there was the orange...a little fruit to start my morning.  

I would try to avoid Uncle Jack's if at all possible.  Sure, they have some decent pancake options, but their food was crazy salty.  If you want a rich and hearty breakfast maybe this place is for you, but I say no thanks.

Later this week more to come with a ranking of your weekday breakfast options and our recommendations.

-  A Gradstudent.

Who do I have to sleep with to have Trader Joe settle in Champaign?

I just couldn't stand it any more.  The people running champaign-taste have had a monopoly on recommending restaurants in central Illinois for far too long, and it's time for an unbiased opinion. I appreciate the Champaign-Taste blog reviews, but I just want them to admit that some restaurants in town are not worth visiting.  Every restaurant ends up sounding like it is a four-star Michelin rated restaurant.  I am all for the support of local business owners, but shouldn't we say if some restaurant produces lackluster and unhealthy food?

This is what we intend to do...tell you exactly how we feel about restaurants in CU.  At the end of each blogpost, we will try to rank in tiers different types of food in Champaign.  Having sampled the majority of restaurants here, we think we can provide a quick guide to the best of Champaign-Urbana-Savoy-(and sometimes even Mahomet!).

We finally decided to start this blog on the recommendation that Champaign-Urbana does not need a Trader Joe's because Strawberry Fields was SOOOOO awesome.  I understand trying to be controversial, blog of champaign food that shall not be named, to gain readership, but saying we don't need a trader joe's here is like saying that Noodles and Company is no different than Timpone's for pasta.  They both serve pasta so they must be equivalent. 

I do enjoy some of the items at Strawberry Fields, but an $8 jar of peanut butter isn't high on my list of priorities.  I am fascinated by their newest marketing campaign: lower prices on thousands of items.  From what I've seen, those thousands of items include potato chips that are marked down from $1.29 to $0.99.  WHAT a savings.  And yet, this still does not stop me from being a patron at Strawberry Fields since there really is not any other option to find a reasonable selection of organic food or fresh food.  At least in summer we have a farmer's market!

A Gradstudent.