If the downtown Champaign bar scene is done right, it ends with a meal at Merry Ann’s diner. Going to bed hungry after a night at the bars is no longer an option when classic diner food is around the corner. Merry Ann’s has a location on the corner of Neil and Kirby in Champaign, as well as in the heart of downtown Champaign, next to The News-Gazette building. Within the last three years, it opened a location in Urbana, close to the Canopy Club. To sum it up: if you are drunk and hungry, there is a Merry Ann’s close by.
Photo by Kristen Yang
Photo by Kristen Yang
The diner, reminiscent of a diner from the 50’s, serves the beloved diner stack: aka a drunk person’s dream. The diner stack begins with a large pile of hash browns. On top of that is a biscuit, a hamburger or sausage patty, eggs and cheese, with country gravy smothering all of it. If you’re feeling ambitious and wish to venture from the traditional stack, Merry Ann’s has every type of stack you could ever imagine. Pancakes, French toast and other breakfast food are available all day, every day. Merry Ann’s also makes its own milkshakes (umm… yum) and other non-breakfast items.
Diner Stack Photo by Kristen Yang
Address: Downtown location – 1 E Main St., Champaign, IL; 1510 S. Neil St., Champaign, IL; 1103 W. Oregon St., Urbana, IL (behind the Canopy Club)
Hours of Operation: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (!)