While University students can enjoy the numerous and diverse restaurants on Green Street, do the off-campus places go unappreciated?

Katya Cummins, junior in LAS, said she enjoys Urbana's Courier Café, 111 N. Race St., for its quality food that will not break bank.

The atmosphere is tailored to be a place to sit and chat, she said.

"And they don't try to throw you out, that's another thing," Cummins said. "So you can talk with your friends for some time and not feel pressured to leave."

Ben Spoden, a manager at Courier Café, claims that their Reuben sandwich is known to be one of the best around town, and that he has not yet tasted a better one. He attributes this to the hand-made method that Courier runs on.

"We don't have a lot of the frozen stuff that chain restaurants have. We make everything ourselves," Spoden said.

Courier's menu is created with ingredients provided by the bakery at its close-by sister restaurant, Silvercreek, 402 N. Race St. Daily transportation from the bakery to the Courier is crucial in making their fresh pies, brownies and breads.

"It's a good place to have a real piece of pie," Spoden said. "That's a hard thing to find."

In addition to the Courier Café, the off-campus area is home to Asian restaurants Basil Thai, 701 S. Gregory St., and Cravings, 603 S. Wrigh St.

"I eat everywhere, and I think Basil Thai has just delicious Thai food," said Krystle Baetiong, senior in LAS. "Also, Cravings in Champaign is a great Chinese restaurant because the food is awesome and not too expensive."

For a special occasion that calls for an intimate atmosphere, Jane Pryor, senior in ACES, said that Carmon's is worth the splurge.

Located in Champaign at the corner of Washington and Neil streets, Carmon's is a French bistro that serves dessert crepes, dinner crepes that can include meat or chicken wrapped inside and wine.

Carmon's also accommodates diners that might want to veer away from the traditional menu by providing some non-crepe options.

"It's definitely a place to dress up and go to have a nice dinner out," said Pryor. "This place is more of an intimate and nice atmosphere to go for an anniversary or a date."

For a less expensive visit, Pryor said that the lunch menu provides reasonable options to test-drive the restaurant's cuisine before spending more on dinner.

Lunch is also a convenient time to go because some bus routes run out to that area.

"I've gone to chain restaurants for nice occasions, but none compare to Carmon's intimate atmosphere," Pryor said.