Cravings
| Address: | 603 S Wright St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA |
| Phone: | +1 217-328-2538 |
| Site: | cravingscu.com |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 12–9PM Closed |
Location
Photos 57
Reviews 9
AL
Altin Demiroglu
Out of all restaurants I ever visited, this is definitely my favorite place and I believe the best Chinese restaurant I know. It’s not because the place looks somewhat fancy, but it’s because of the exceptionally tasty food – that real taste you rarely experience on other places; the portions are large and it is cheaper than any other Chinese restaurant on campus; people are exceptionally friendly and it’s incredible how they totally care for your joyful meal - all the tiny variations you might mention you don’t like. Once I got a wrong order and the owner was immediately on the way of making a new correct order and he did not want to accept the money for either order because I waited, which I refused. They are extremely fast no matter how many orders they get at the time and it’s just fantastic to see them running around managing everything. They tend to remember you over time, what you order and how you order. It is really pleasing to be their guest, especially a regular guest. I still admire how the owner knows what to suggest me based on my previous orders. As mentioned on reddit, the owner of the restaurant is a real hero this campus deserves – you easily get to like this kind, generous, witty and funny guy. I am so sorry this restaurant experienced some bad rumors because of health inspection in the past. I talked to the owner, who is nothing but a totally honest person, and many things they blamed them for were just not fair. The fact that your order is done in 5 minutes does not mean that they did not pre-cook it 2 hours and you don’t get to know this unless you are in the kitchen with them all the time. And the food frozen at -8C, it’s still frozen, even if it’s not at -20C. And it’s reasonable that they don’t manage to clean all tables immediately and it’s sometimes crowded simply because there is a giant traffic of people due to very good food. If you mind this, then go to a place that has extremely clean atmosphere, no people, and serves you a spoon of salad for salty price and calls it a Greek salad, because it has one olive in it.
TI
Tim Huang
This is definitely the tastiest Chinese food on campus. It is also the cheapest, and they give large portions -- for me, easily enough for 2 meals usually. Most dishes are $6-8. Some more special ones are $9-12. The more American orange/General Tsos/sweet and sour/etc. chicken dishes are $5.25. The owner guy behind the counter most of the time is one of the friendliest restaurant workers I have ever met. Tips: -They make Chinese food the best. If youre unsure of what to get, your best bet is to get something Chinese instead of Japanese/Thai/etc. -Be sure to look at the white board on the floor to the left of the counter! -Explore the Chinese menu sitting on the counter (it has English translations) These are some of my favorites: -Basil pork egg rice -Jakarta fried rice -Pork with preserved vegetables -Crispy beef -Fried fish fillets with bok choy -Beef stew eggplant pot -Spicy fried chicken -Mapo tofu -Sizzling chicken pot
J.
J. Colin Glatz
Tons of menu options, both traditional and Americanized, and the staff will make great recommendations if you cant decide. Portions here are huge and very affordable! A $6.50 dinner entree is usually 2 servings, and the $5.25 lunch sizes wont leave anyone hungry either. Try the black fungus with lotus flower or the tofu with egg sauce; the curries are very good too! Very accommodating for vegetarians or other dietary restrictions, just ask! It can be a bit crowded during lunch and dinner when the University is in session but tables tend to turn over fairly quickly. Hint: if you get food for here, be sure to ask for a bowl of the free soup, and there are 2 different kinds of free hot tea at the front. And if you order food to go, you get fortune cookies!
AN
Anantika Mehra
The food is awesome and reasonably priced (even cheap!), the guy who takes the orders is super friendly. They make sure to accommodate all your tiny preferences (no onions, no peanuts etc) at no extra cost. The helpings are fairly large, and I almost always have to take away. If you dont know what to eat, the guy at the counter will definitely help you pick something out. Its not the fanciest place, but the food more than makes up for it. In fact I like their non pretentious decor. The atmosphere is friendly, and you can actually point and ask people what dish they are eating if it looks good to you, or ask the people at the counter. If casual and cheap and great food is your thing, then definitely go for it!
SK
Skylar Wolphe
Average food, maybe slightly above average on a good day. Ordered take away; the chicken wasnt great and the sauce for the dumplings spilled all over the place. The lid didnt fit the container right and just popped off, soaking the dumplings and everything in the bag. The dumplings were bad, way too much dough. The dumpling sauce was way too sweet, and even the rice was undercooked. However, prices were decent and serving sizes were generous. The pork spring roll was actually really good, and peppered squid was tasty if a little over seasoned. We didnt hate any of our food, but I doubt wed order from here again when there are so many other great chinese places around.
EM
Emily Gustafson
The flaming feces that come out of me every time I eat Cravings hot and spicy diced chicken is only a minor sacrifice for what is quite possibly my favorite meal ever. Ive limited myself to getting it no more than once every few weeks in order to be slightly more healthy (I tend to eat a whole order of the stuff in one evening). The jakarta fried rice was good, not great. I cant really convince myself to spend the extra money to buy it when I could just get another order of hot and spicy diced chicken. I tasted my boyfriends orange chicken and it was really tasty, much better to me than what youd get at panda express or most Chinese restaurants.
MI
michael tasker
As far as authentic Chinese food goes in the United States, this place is comparable. Better than most, even, in my opinion. Staff is exceptionally friendly, food is reasonably priced (and tasty)and the quantities are off the charts. They dont have wonton soup though.... Despite the lack of my favorite soup, Ill be going back. As to the level of cleanliness...go into the kitchen of Dennys or Outback or any other place that you think is clean. In my salad days, I worked at many different restaurants and theyre all nasty and dirty once you start looking. Cravings is no worse than your local Applebees.
TI
Tim Yardley
Okay, you want a LOT of food and you dont want to pay much for it? You want variety and consistently taste good? Go here. Just dont look at the health history (which frankly most restaurants fail regularly on anyway) and youll be okay. With that said, this place is one of my goto campus Chinese locations. Ive never gotten food poisoning, had any direct problems, or complaints. It is very busy and well liked by many. There are others that wont step foot in the place and claim theyve gotten food poisoning from there multiple times. Perhaps that is the case, but for me... Ive never had an issue.
PR
Preston Arquette
It was pretty clear when I got there that I had no idea what to order. The gentleman at the counter was very friendly and showed me several of the popular items. When my girlfriend picked something out, he offered something cheaper, that he felt we would like better to go with the rest of our order. Im always impressed when someone would rather sell me tastier food than make more money. Also, he was right. The dry, spicy chicken is awesome. Order off the white chinese menu on the counter.
