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| - I recently made a trip back to Crane Alley for dinner, and was dismayed by the alterations to the menu, primarily the price. I remember buying affordable sandwiches for around $6, but all sandwiches have been bumped up to the $8 to $9 range. ($8.50 for a falafel sandwich!? Really!? Those falafels are little nuggets of luxury now...)
Quality of the food ranges from standard to good, though there is usually nothing here that smacks of culinary sophistication (especially to justify charging $8.50 for a falafel sandwich!!). When I'm feeling indulgent, I order the fish sandwich, which is all the greasy, crunchy-crusted fish I could want. Appetizers here are decent. The spinach and artichoke dip tastes like every homemade version I've sampled from friends' kitchens. The beet chips with goat cheese are considered one of their hallmark dishes. I agree they're good--when prepared properly. It's a gamble. Because of the color of the beets, I think it's difficult to distinguish when they're finished cooking; I often get beet chips that taste like black charcoal.
When friends propose coming here for happy hour after work, I just kind of dread it. Crane Alley presents itself as a bar/pub, but they are more like a formal restaurant that expects everyone to stay in their assigned seats. As someone who's waited tables in the past, I know large groups are challenging, but the waitresses here look downright insulted when they realize they have to serve our table. They mostly avoid our group and hope that we won't ask for anything more than one meal and one drink.
Once, we showed up at a busy hour with a group of 8 and had to wait to be seated. No big deal. No one was complaining, we just stood in a group and chatted amongst ourselves. After a few minutes, the hostess approached us, obviously annoyed, and said, "If you have a group this big in the future, you're going to have to call in advance to make a reservation." ...Ugh, really?
Sadly, downtown Urbana does not offer many options for night life, especially if you want to have a nice drink with your meal. Crane Alley has broad appeal and is a general crowd-pleaser, so it is a safe option for a date or outing with friends. Just make sure you don't bring too many friends.
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