Jupiter's At The Crossing

We came here with a decent-sized group (about 10 people) for a friend's birthday.  Lots of unique pizzas on the menu, so we were excited to try them out.  Sadly, it ended up taking about an hour to get our food after ordering!  We sat out on the patio and were the only people out there.  The inside didn't seem crowded either, so I'm not sure why the service was so bad.  The pizza was okay, but nothing to write home about.  (It didn't help that it had gotten cold!)  It might have been a better experience had we taken advantage of the billiards tables while we were waiting, because it might not have seemed so long.  Maybe that's the idea?

This happened about three years ago, so maybe things have gotten better.  I'd say to be safe though, go to the Jupiter's in downtown Champaign... or another pizza place or bar altogether!

First of all, I should be able to write two different reviews--one for the food and one for the service.  I love their pizza, seriously, I'm going to miss it so much now that I'm gone.  I also think the Crossing location has good appetizers and their menu is a lot larger than the downtown location.   However, there service is consistently bad.  Now, I'm normally a big tipper regardless of the service, because I know waiting tables isn't a fun job, but the last time we were there I told the person paying the bill to leave a VERY small tip.  I wish I could identify, by name, the server we had, but oh, he didn't even introduce himself.  When he was taking our order, he didn't even look at us.  He was, literally, staring at another table the whole time.  He also gave us attitude when we all asked for silverware, who knew this was a problem?  It was very weird and kind of put a damper on my final meal before moving away from Chambana.

I've also had some weird experiences while enjoying the downstairs arcade, but it was never from staff, but fellow customers.

Mediocre pizza made from frozen crusts. reviews that call this pizza "good" have either had too much from the bar, or haven't had pizza other than frozen or pizza hut.  This is basically a big, no, giant, no, HUGE bar with bar-pizza and a video game pit in the basement for kids to run wild. On any given night, the place is crowded with cougars on the prowl and biker wannabees.  To add some flair to the place, right next to where the kids run wild in the basement (think chucky-cheese unsupervised with drunk parents upstairs) is an OTB gambling center. So, pick your vice - drink or gamble, while your kids run wild in the gaming area. heck, you can do both!

Interesting update: the owner defended the gambling as a "high class addition" saying he lived in the neighborhood.  Of course, he's since moved away.

I try to avoid at all cost. We only go when my kids are invited to a b-day party and we can't refuse.

the kids have fun if they've got about $20 in coins.  less than that and they are among the many (MANY) kids walking around asking any adult they can find for money.

(this is a repost of my review, which was filtered. funny, I live right nearby, and wrote a real review, although negative.  non-filtered reviews are from out-of-towners. Um, what's up yelp? your founders are from UofI afterall!)