This evening we opted for Chinese and stopped in to Empire Chinese Restaurant on Green St. in the Campustown area of Champaign, IL. Empire is like many places on Green where you order from a counter and eat with plastic utensils. The menu is virtually identical to most other Chinese places in the C-U area. The prices are very low, though. We were amazed at how much food $20 would buy. As you can see below, we went big knowing we’d have  plenty left over to take home. We started the steamed dumpling appetizers. Sarah ordered Kung Pao Chicken and I had Mongolian Beef and Beef Fried Rice.

The dumplings were excellent. They’d make a great lunch by themselves. Sarah thought her Kung Pao was very good. I tried some and thought it had a nice spicy bite to it. My Mongolian Beef was good, but heavy on the brown sauce and onions. It could have done with more scallions and a bit less sauce and onions. Still, better than most beef type dishes at similar restaurants. The fried rice was typical of this area and a bit bland, although the generous amount of beef in it was lean and tender. We’ll definitely return to Empire for different meals. They had some other meals that looked tasty.

Today was a gorgeous day weatherwise and Sarah had heard about a place in Indy called Shapiro’s that had “real” bagels, so we decided to take a road trip to Indy. We ended up having lunch there. Shapiro’s is at 808 S Meridian St, very near the new Lucas Oil stadium where the *ahem* Colts play.

Shapiro’s is basically a deli and cafeteria all in one. You can get take-out or just grab some bagels or cold cuts or breads. Or you can order a whole meal and sit down and eat.

We did both, but started with a meal. Sarah saw Stuffed Cabbage on the menu and ordered that, along with some spinach and a potato cake (really a knish). Her meal also came with two large slices of rye and a large pickle. I ordered a Reuben, which also came with a large pickle. No alcohol at Shapiro’s, unfortunately, so I didn’t get to have a beer with my Reuben. We settled for Diet Coke.

Sarah’s Stuffed Cabbage was excellent. I’d never had stuffed cabbage and didn’t think I’d like it, but I was wrong. Her cabbage was very good, as was the potato cake. My Reuben was superb. It was lean and thinly sliced. What you see above is a big stack of corned beef slices, then some sauerkraut, then more corned beef, then cheese, then the 1000 Island dressing. Despite the size, it was easy to eat. The corned beef was so lean and thin that it was easy to bite through the whole sandwich. And while I rarely comment on small side items, the pickles at Shapiro’s are outstanding.

Before we left we grabbed a half-dozen onion bagels and a loaf of their excellent rye bread. I only wish we had brought icepacks for the cooler so I could have brought home a pound or so of their awesome corned beef or tasty-looking turkey.We’ll make Shapiro’s a regular stop on our future Indy road trips.