Not a fan. I was expecting much better, even from a breakfast-all-day diner, because I've raved over similar diners in other review (see: CJ's in Seattle and Izzy & Nat's in Battery Park). However, no. I have no interest in darkening the door of this diner again.
I rate diners based on how they deliver on four menu items: their hash, biscuits and gravy, country fried steak, and pancakes. I wasn't able to try Merry-Ann's hotcakes or their steak, so I'm just rating my experience on the hash and biscuits and gravy.
Merry-Ann's is a cute, Illini-paraphanalia-ed (is that a word?) diner with overly hovering waitresses and bad orange juice. The booths are teeny and sticky, with an assortment of dairy-free creamer and jam stacked haphazardly on one end. Interesting. But ick. Their $3 orange juice is pulp-less, watered down concentrate.
Their hash is AMAZING. It's the reason why I'm giving Merry-Ann's its single star. Crispy yet soft, I could've had platters of this thing. Dripping in ketchup or on its own or mixed with the diner's pepper gravy, oooh the hash is heaven.
Biscuits and gravy. Oh gosh. What went wrong? I appreciate the full-size serving, but the biscuits were soggy and the gravy.... I am a fan of sausage gravy in general (I don't discriminate), and I have no qualms of venturing out into the pepper gravy arena, but gravy in general should be thick and flavorful and not congeal and as awesome as it could be. Merry-Ann's does not know how to make a good gravy. It was flavorless and milky and the only reason I even ate it was because I mixed it with the aforementioned fabulous hash browns.
Sigh. Oh well. Am still on the search for a great breakfast nook in Champaign. Any suggestions?