Radio Maria

I have been to Radio Maria before and had good experiences, but it has been a few years.  I took my family there for dinner during graduation weekend since I had just graduated from law school.

I understand that graduation weekend in Chambana can be really crazy.  However, the service we got was unacceptable.  We ate dinner at a different restaurant in downtown Champaign the night earlier and did not have anywhere near the problems we had at Radio Maria.  Our water glasses were constantly empty, the waiter would go a half hour or more without stopping by our table, he would forget to do things we requested (i.e. fill our water glasses), etc.  The restaurant is also EXTREMELY noisy.

Given the prices at the restaurant, we really expected better.  Further, although most of our food was pretty good, my grandparents could not eat the hanger steak they ordered to share.  My grandparents cannot do spicy food and the steak ended up being totally caked in a pepper crust.  The bottom of the menu says items on the menu contain ingredients that are not listed, but that is in very small letters and I didn't even notice it.  Apparently, my 90+ year old grandparents didn't notice it either.  My boyfriend tried the steak and said it was pretty spicy, so it seems strange that the fact that the meal is spicy isn't on the menu.

My grandpa also got meat that was not good quality.  It was very tough and he said it was inedible.  The restaurant handled the problem graciously, however, and took the steak off the bill which we appreciated.

Nevertheless, it is unlikely I would go back to Radio Maria or even recommend it to other people.  I will be here for several more months while I study for the bar and even though I always thought of this place as one of the nicer restaurants in town, I was really disappointed.  There are restaurants in Chambana that have great food for better prices.

Nice ambiance and good food. The tapas really vary though, some are much better than others.

Just felt like adding the fact that I have traveld extensively through all of southern Spain and am very familiar with tapas. The food at this place does not remotely resemble anything I have had in Spain or any other good tapas restaurants in the US (New York, DC, SF, etc.). Everything lacks in flavor and freshness. Bottom line, hate it.