| rev:text
| - When our department has to entertain guest speakers or job candidates, The Bread Company always becomes the default dinner/lunch location. Embarrassingly, I've heard some job candidates comment that they were taken here for 3 different meals during their visit! My department is probably at fault for their lack of imagination when choosing restaurants, but The Bread Company offers some benefits that elevate it to a top pick for business-casual university diners:
(1) Location. For people who have short lunch periods and need to be within walking distance of campus, this restaurant's location is unbeatable. (And since it's next door to an Espresso Royale, you can grab a coffee after your meal, if desired.)
(2) Atmosphere. Most college restaurants resemble a McDonald's Playroom for adolescents: neon walls and heavy-duty plastic furniture, with underlying scents of urine and vomit. While The Bread Company does have a hint of grunge, it also invokes a strong sense of urban, artistic chic. There are real paintings on the wall (not poster prints). At night, they bring out white tablecloth and mood lighting.
(3) Price. I think the prices are reasonable depending on who you ask. This place IS pricey when compared to most campus restaurants, where students are always trying to squeeze their dollars. Lunch generally runs around $7 to $10, which is not unreasonable when entertaining guests. (And still comparable/cheaper than what you can get at Timpone's, the other "nice" restaurant in the area.)
All of the food is fairly conservative, with obvious combinations of flavors (brie + portobello, turkey + pesto, etc.). I think this is also a reason that it ranks highly among options for guests; you will find nothing offensive here in terms of food (but also nothing exciting). The presentation tends to be elegant and you can tell that most of the ingredients are of good quality.
For lunch, I always go with the egg salad, which is creamy, well-seasoned, and always satiates my craving for egg goodness. In the early evening, sometimes I stop by for a beer and appetizer with friends. The cheese selection is quite good (you'll find Stilton, Gouda, Manchego, etc.), and the beers are all microbrews (if you're into that kind of thing). Dinner selections include fondue, pastas, pizzas, and some specialties, but the prices are on par with more interesting restaurants in downtown Champaign/Urbana.
In terms of baked goods, I am quite fond of ordering my sandwiches here with sourdough or rye bread. Yum! At most places with a baking reputation, I always find myself enticed by the sweet buns and cookies, but I almost never find myself tempted by the ones at The Bread Company. Their treats always look colorless and hardened, as if they were made by an angry grandma.
Overall, I'd recommend this to people who like simple, light food. If you are cheap and don't care about indie street cred, you could probably get the same food at Panera.
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