The Courier Cafe — Restaurant in Urbana

UPDATE: It saddens me to have to write this. As a pre-pandemic regular, I've given new ownership numerous opportunities over these months to prove itself and it has not. The food has been substandard at best. I tried all the items that were once on the menu and they just did not taste right. Food being the focus of a restaurant, this is a major failing. Service is the next measure of a restaurant. Once again, Courier failed miserably. Servers scurried all over the place but rarely looked at customers. My coffee cup sat empty and my server never looked my way. I finally had to flag down a different server to get coffee. None of the servers I observed attempted to make any connection with their customers. No rapport. The feeling was that they were working there until something better came along. As a one-time trucker and a biker, you can tell the professional server from the temporaries. It's not just being called "Honey" or "Sweetheart", it is the ease with which they navigate their section and their patter, all noticeably absent now at Courier. The decor remains the same but the atmosphere is different. Basically, it's not the Courier of old. For me, it is the end of an era. I shall miss the place and the people who I had come to know. My thanks go to Nancy and Allen Strong for the years of great food and service and wish them well in whatever they do. Before the pandemic hit, for many years I was a three- or four-times a week breakfast regular. Knew all the then staff and the then owners and they knew me. Even had my own special server. Food was great as were the prices and the service was excellent. Never had an empty cup of coffee. Finally returned recently after a requisite COVID hiatus. New owners, no familiar faces, higher prices. Ordered my favorite menu item on three separate occasions and was disappointed each time. The hash tasted like it came straight out of the can. In the past, I was never disappointed whether choosing from the breakfast or lunch menu. The only other food "disappointment" was their Reuban sandwich. My fault for expecting one like they serve at Katz's Deli in New York. BIG difference but understandable. Anyway, to make a long story longer, I intend to continue to frequent Courier. I just like the place. Get to know the new staff and find a new favorite breakfast order. They have gone to breakfast all day, so there are many opportunities. I say...

the service here has become terrible. do NOT waste your time.

they took over an hour to get us our food. waitress thought she could be rude to us when we tried to say something. we wanted to leave at that point but then she brought us our food? at that point, I lost my appetite. she snarkily said "iS tHeRe a pRoBLeM?" once I didn't allow her to continue being rude, she backed down real quick. if you decide to go here anyway, just stand up to her, all bark, no bite (no bite for us either because they didn't bring us our food).

management tried to gaslight us that our food just takes a long time to make.

I am not stupid, I've worked food in the past, that food was under a heat lamp. it's a basic breakfast that could've been made in 10 mins. people who arrived 30 mins after us and ordered more complicated food got theirs before us.I told manager that, then she said "we're understaffed", "it's Mom's weekend", "we'll take care of it", a flurry of excuses with zero accountability, and took everything back. at this point, we were unsure if we could leave or not. snarky server still brought us a shake we ordered more than an hour ago, and I just got up and left at that point, because we clearly stated we no longer wanted our food.

sad to see the steep decline and likely the beginning of the end of a once wonderful food establishment.

edit: forgot to mention, we ended up going to Cracker Barrel instead of this joke of an establishment. we were in and out of there and treated like humans in under an hour. food was out in like 10 mins. and half the price. this place is an abomination at this point.

ALSO, if you're too broke, greedy, and cheap to run a business to where you understaff it with the most unprofessional people who will probably take the lowest wage possible to try and make ends meet...MAYBE you're in the wrong industry. 🤔 we have an excess of lackluster business owners, we really don't need courier coming down with it. the bar for expectations was quite literally on the floor and even so, it was far from attainable for y'all.

the morale among your staff is non-existent and it's severely disappointing.

my friend got food poisoning with their take home order, so I'm also curious about the health codes and food safety of this...

As an urbana local, I have been here since 7th grade. I remember coming here after high school with my friends so many times and it was always a special place. I moved away 4 years ago and have been back in town for 2 months visiting for the holidays. I have come here 5 times atleast since I have been back and was waiting to write a review. I heard this place went under new management. Well, you can definitely tell. Food is poor for the prices. Bland, no flavors. Half the time the servers/cooks forget to put sauces on plates, dont fill up containers all the way. Stuff is missing. Salad bar has gone up at least 3$ since I was last there and its just not worth it. The first night we went they had caramel and other syrups for coffees byt the last 4 times they have been out of one or the other and now they have none. Service is terrible. It’s not completely their fault though, they have like 1 person working every shift I have been there. However, they forget to bring waters, dont bring sauces, dont check on you that often, the silverware has been dirty several times and Ive had to give it back. Ive had to get up from the table several times to ask for things I needed. I understand they’re busy but at times they also seem to handle the frustration with attitude. I have brought my family here several times and its just not the warm and welcoming vibe it once was. Its very sad. They don’t even have the old bakery cookies and sweet treats they once did, and the crane game is broken. As a local and someone who loved this place so dearly I hope the new owners/management come Together to change things. I went in on a Saturday night and it was completely dead. Ive never seen the place look so cold and empty. If they dont change something, I expect it won’t last long. Would suck to see a town...