Rating: 7/10
Being a college town, Champaign-Urbana is naturally filled with an endless amount of bars: Legends, KAMS, Murphy’s Pub, Joe’s Brewery — the list continues.
If you want to add one more bar to check out during a late night or lazy afternoon — a bar that also serves some satisfying food — check out Brothers Bar & Grill.
Brothers Bar & Grill is a generic college sports bar, offering casual foods and an array of alcoholic beverages. There’s not necessarily anything special about the bar, but it’s still a good location to try if you want to get some reasonably priced food and a drink.
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Located at 601 S. First St., Brothers Bar & Grill is open every day from 11 a.m. until 2 a.m., serving everything from cold cocktails to casual comfort food.
Brothers Bar & Grill has a comfortable environment, filled with midwestern relics and numerous humongous flat-screen TVs.
Its Champaign location recently opened in October and takes more of a modern feel, although it obviously tries to go for an older Midwest aesthetic.
According to the Brothers Bar & Grill website, “Brothers is a modernized throwback to the old Midwestern corner tavern. A clean, relaxed social hangout; our bar stock-full of cold beer and drink with a kitchen in the back serving up comfortable American food fare.”
My personal favorite thing about the restaurant was its ambiance. While people poured through the doors in the evening, I was greeted by a calm, friendly and enjoyable environment in the afternoon.
Brothers Bar & Grill was almost empty at 3 p.m., with the exception of a few people seated at the bar. Despite the lack of people, there was still a sense of liveliness in the atmosphere, and the staff was very amiable — although the service was a little slow.
Surprisingly, Brothers Bar & Grill is full of natural lighting due to its abundance of windows, making for a warmer environment compared to many other bars in the area.
The menu is decently sized, giving you a generous amount of food options like burgers, sandwiches, salads, wraps, wings and appetizers.
I ordered the bacon cheeseburger, which was better than expected for a sports bar and definitely one of the better burgers I’ve had in a while. The golden bun was perfectly toasted, the bacon was crispy and the toppings paired well with the flavorful and juicy burger.
The prices are affordable, although you unfortunately have to pay $1.75 extra for fries if you order a burger or sandwich. Yet, the extra money was well worth it, as the crinkle-cut fries couple perfectly with the burger — crispy, salty and overall the perfect side.
The menu also presents you with 21 different options of 32-ounce alcoholic punch pitchers, which honestly seems like an unnecessary amount of flavors, but there’s certainly something for everyone — especially with titles like “Red Bull Watermelon Trash Can.”
Even though Brothers Bar & Grill is a typical college town sports bar, it’s still an enjoyable place to grab some affordable food or a drink.
The welcoming environment paired with good casual eats and a plentiful selection of drinks make Brothers Bar & Grill a satisfactory sports bar experience.
