Billy Barooz Pub & Grill — Restaurant in Champaign

There are many bars in Champaign (duh, a college town) but this is further from campus and is out of the way enough that you're not necessarily going to get the college crowd coming in. Though, this is a very packed place during a parent (dads or moms) weekend.

It's a sizable place with a large bar in the middle of the main room. Their are hightop tables, standard seating, and booths.

We had been to Billy Barooz a few times times over the last couple of years. The service has always been good. Our servers have always been attentive, frequently stopping by the table with refills on drinks, checking in to see if the food was okay and if we needed anything.

The menu is pretty nice too. We've had many different items and all have been good. The wings are really good and I'm a fan of their jerk sauce. Their salads are quite large and the vegetables are fresh. They were very accommodating to my many changes to their California Cobb salad (ick avocado!). They have 12 different burgers, three of which are options (salmon burger, black bean burger, and a turkey burger). My wife has said the turkey burger is good and I'm sure she's right, but meat works for me and the Barooz, BBQ Bacon Cheddar, and Nacho burgers are my personal faves. Their fried chicken sandwich, grilled chicken sandwich, fiery chicken sandwich, and NY Strip sandwich are all tasty options as well. It's a sports bar, so I stick with the starters, salads, and handhelds, but they do have steak, seafood, and pasta, too. I'm always admonished about ordering dessert, so I haven't, but they're the typical desserts you can get anywhere. They do have a nice beer list for those that indulge. I'm not a beer guy, so I'm happy that they have a few ciders and hard seltzers not just one or two.

We've gone with other students and their families, just our family, and then, just the two of us when visiting our son at University of Illinois. It's a staple of our visits there as they are consistently good, not overly packed all the time with students and their families, but is more a neighborhood place. He's got a couple more years at school, so we'll definitely...

I've gone here a handful of times since they opened. I never had a bad experience until recently. I went in with my sister on a Monday afternoon. It was not dead but not roaring busy. Our apps and food came out fairly quickly, but only 1 out of 4 of the items we ordered was even decent. The shrimp crab dip was great, though not quite hot. The potato skins tasted green, and were not seasoned enough. They didn't have any bacon on them. Very bland and uninteresting. We got the chopped steak burger and the menu specifies it is cooked to medium. It was well done, and quite literally black all the way around with a solid burnt crust on it. My sister wouldn't eat it. Knowing my sister is a server and hates complaining, I knew I wasn't getting this replaced so I just ate it off bun (the top bun was rock hard and the bottom bun was italian-beef-soggy and disintegrating). It was incredibly dry and bland. I could have had a better burger at Weinerschnitzel, and it would've been $3, not $18. Finally the shrimp scampi - came to the table with the noodles on top visibly dry and hard from its time under the heat lamp. The pasta was weirdly orange in hue and the sauce at the bottom of the dish was brown. Though described as a white wine butter sauce, it looked more like au jus. It sounded nice that it would have mushrooms and tomatoes in it, but they put so much of them in there that it was more like ragu than scampi. My sister and I agreed that it was not appetizing to look at or eat. My final complaint was our server. While he did well enough, he did not return to ask us if our entrees were alright, and failed to ever refill my drink. My sister gave me hers, so I didn't say anything. Still, he never offered to refill the empty cup for either of us. We paid without complaining....

As a vegetarian parent with a non-vegetarian kid, finding a restaurant that makes everyone genuinely happy is a huge win. Billy Baroo'z has become our go-to spot for just that. My kid is obsessed with their chicken strips, and I get why—they are perfectly crunchy, full of flavor, and salted just right.

But the best part? The vegetarian options are just as good, not an afterthought. I've had the mozzarella sticks, the fajita salad (so fresh!), and the black bean burger, and all are fantastic. My personal pro-tip: ask them to put the black bean burger patty on the fajita salad. It's an amazing combo.

Even the sides are stars here. The fries are crunchy and flaky (with great homemade ranch), and the sweet potato fries come with this incredible sugar/salt seasoning that's just delicious. We've also loved the homemade nachos and salsa.

Now, it can get pretty loud (especially in the back room with the tall booths), and it's a bit expensive, so we treat it as a "nice treat" spot. While the service is always friendly, the pace can be inconsistent—sometimes it's a quick meal, other times it's a longer dinner. That said, a huge plus for us is that their to-go order pickup times are always accurate. It's so nice to just drive over and have it actually be ready instead of waiting around. The online reservation system is also a very convenient touch!

Practical Tip: Use the online reservation system to snag a table. And if you're vegetarian, you have to try the black bean burger patty on the...