Esquire Lounge — Restaurant in Champaign

This place should not even get 1 review!!! I cannot believe the staff you have working there!! Especially one particular one that was working the patio on the side today, male server. I did not catch his name......I think you guys must give them “numbers” to identify them? Regardless, I have never been so mistreated and humiliated in a restaurant before, like I was today! I sat down under a tree with my dog, mind you I always go to guidos with my dog b/c I always get served no matter-what time of day it is......I asked for recommendations on fb where I can take my dog to eat downtown on the patio. I had someone recommend you guys......I wanted to eat something different. It was not but 2 min when I sat down a male server came up and said I’ll be getting off soon but can I get you something to drink ? I replied I would like to eat? He said I can but he is leaving so anything that I would need after taking my order I would have to go to the bar to get. I get it people get off, but you need to have someone take care of the patio at all times! It’s summer and I thought it was great you accept pets on your patio! Unfortunately this particular server had no interest at all in my dog. I proceeded to tell him that I could not take my dog into the bar if I needed anything else after he left.....his response was...I don’t know what to tell you about that? But could I get you something to drink .......even though I thought he was rude I thought about just staying for a drink .....I was hungry and it was only like 1:30 if that......so I asked if he could at least get my dog some water.......he said I’m not worried about that what can I get YOU to drink??? I got up and said your rude!!! And walked out!!!!! Then as I’m walking out he says ok ma’am I can get you a menu right now......I kept on walking....who does this to someone!?????? If someone wants to reach out to me regarding this please do so my email is...

While I understand the change of services due to covid and quarantine, I felt that I should share my experience as a potential customer. I am new to the area and googled several places to pick up lunch and A Lot of them are closed OR have different hours that are not updated on google. This one restaurant was, in fact, open so I pulled into an open space in front of the store behind a row of parked cars, but left plenty of room behind me because I noticed that some spots were makred for to-go orders. But I figured since I parked to browse their menu and left their to go lane open, I was fine. While looking online at Their Menu, the manager and a waiter came out to ask if I was waiting for an online order and If Not, I needed to relocate my vehicle Immediately. They did not ask give me an opportunity to explain I was about to order from their establishment and the manager, in particular, spoke over me when I attempted to explain. So I responded that I would just route to a new location and it would be max 5 mins for my gps to load which direction I needed to head to leave there. (Again, I'm new to the area and I am not about to leave a parking spot to find a less threatning parking spot to navigate). She responded "5 mins is not good enough."

And that was the entirety of the exchange. What looked like a promising menu is now on the bottom of my list for potential.

Hope that no one else experiences this same situation here.

Please remember to be considerate of others...

I used to be a regular here, and this place used to be a nice place to go… I called ahead at 11:21 pm to inquire as to the time the kitchen would be closing. The very friendly employee that answered the phone told me that it would be “at least an hour”. I said, “great, I will see you in a few”. So I adjusted my travel plans and missed the opportunity to catch about a half dozen other places before they closed and I headed down to Esquire. Upon arriving at 11:38, I was told by the bartender when I asked for a menu that the kitchen is closed and usually closes at 11:30. Despite the fact that the cook was in their cooking and food was being taken to people in front of me. I told him I had called ahead, and he told me that “it is what it is” and walked off to point, laugh, and talk about me to another staff member. At the point I was here, I thought I would at least have something to drink, and 18 minutes later, no one has been back to ask me if I would like anything. This used to be a great place with friendly and efficient staff and a “Cheers-like atmosphere”… now it has worst service than a campus bar and staff that is indifferent at best and more accurately rude. Avoid this place at all costs… the crowd in here presently seems more like what I would’ve found on the south side of Chicago, not the place I used to frequent in downstate Illinois. I will...