Two new restaurants located in the heart of campus are preparing to add a new flavor to an already diverse amount of restaurants in the Champaign-Urbana area.

The Beef Stand and Casablanca House of Kebabs, located at 611 E. Green St. and 623 E. Green St., respectively, will offer two new locations for students to enjoy an on-campus meal.

Offering a mix between Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine, Casablanca will feature chicken, lamb, beef, goat and shrimp kebabs, as well as beer and wine to drink.

The Beef Stand, located just steps to the west of Casablanca, is based around classic Chicago-style hot dog venues, while also carrying deli sandwiches such as the reuben, corn beef and hot pastrami sandwiches.

Both of campus’ new restaurants hope to offer unique tastes and have chosen to open during the summer, instead of the fall semester.

The Beef Stand, which opened Father’s Day weekend, and Casablanca, which plans to open in the first week in August, are both opening their doors at a time when most students are at home for summer vacation.

Brad Derickson, a graduate student in Engineering, noticed that both restaurants made plans to open their doors in the absence of a huge market.

“I went to The Beef Stand earlier this semester and I was amazed that the restaurant had just been opened a few weeks ago,” Derickson said. “I always wondered if opening a restaurant in the summer was helpful for establishment before the next semester. It seems like it must be, because both Casablanca and The Beef Stand are doing this. I think the plan was to open in the summer so when the students come back in the fall, the restaurants are running properly.”

Derickson’s theory appears to be correct.

Jim Singer, the owner of The Beef Stand as well as Foudini’s restaurant and catering in Tolono, Ill., said he specifically wanted to have The Beef Stand open in the quieter summer months.

“We wanted to have a soft opening,” Singer said. “We can take our time getting everything ready. Doing a new menu, we wanted to make sure we didn’t open up in late August and have a ton of kids in here right away. We wanted to be in a good swing of things when the busy fall months arrive. My staff has worked with me for a while, and we wanted to get the menu down ourselves before adding other people on staff.”

Kishan Sharma, owner of Casablanca, as well as two Bombay Indian Grill restaurants on campus, had very similar reasons for opening the kebab house in the summer.

“I wish I could open the restaurant right now, but I need to get a couple more things finished with construction and a sign before opening,” Sharma said. “We have a chef-in-training that works at Bombay right now as well as staff that will work at Casablanca when it opens. This way we will be completely ready when students come back in the fall.”