June 9 — Food store Best of Africa has moved from 208 W. Griggs St. in Urbana but is not closing its doors. Rather, the company opened a new store in Champaign at 1807 W. Bradley Avenue, Suite E, on May 24 and is working to open another store at 202 E. University Ave. in Urbana.
“We are waiting for the final inspection for public health,” said Mémoire Budimbu, co-owner of the company with Lisette Mbaki.
The Congolese couple initially opened Best of Africa’s Food Store on Griggs Street in 2015, then added a restaurant, Mama’s African Kitchen.
Budimbu said they need to focus on opening their Urbana grocery store before reopening the restaurant. He added that it’s possible the restaurant could reopen in Urbana, only for takeout.
“Mama Africa is our big dream, to bring a different menu, a different culture to Champaign County, but let’s see,” Budimbu said. “It’s still a difficult time for us.”
Yummy Future, a coffee shop and tech startup founded by University of Illinois students, is adding a second location at 401 Green St. Co-founder Garrett Yan estimated the store would be open in August.
The business relies on using robots to brew coffee, and one such machine, known as “Mozart,” does it at the store’s 609 E. Green St. location. Yan said the new store will also have its own robot.
When discussing the expansion, he said they wanted to provide more convenience to people living on the west side of campus and “better serve the community.”
“The current site is sometimes very busy,” he added. “They don’t have places to sit and study, so we thought opening an additional location could help everyone get better customer service and more space.”
He told The News-Gazette that Yummy Future is also in talks with the university to open more locations on campus.
After some buzz on social media about people coming and going at Black Dog in Urbana, the News-Gazette spoke with co-owner Michael Cochran to see if a reopening might be in the works.
“I’m happy to hear that people are interested in Black Dog Urbana,” he said. “The activity we are seeing is doing maintenance work and some repairs. Even though the building is vacant, we have maintained it and tried to keep it in good condition and ready for occupancy again. have no other concrete activity at this time.
The restaurant’s Urbana location, at 201 N. Broadway Ave., has been closed since 2021, with the owners saying the move was temporary amid the pandemic.
Anne and Chris Lukeman, co-owners of Champaign-Urbana Adventures in Time and Space, plan to expand their operations with a fantasy-themed golf minibar.
Anne Lukeman said they hope to begin construction soon and open the new business in early 2025. It will be located in a 16,000-square-foot space on the west side of the same building at 302 N. Broadway Ave. in Urbana which also houses their escape rooms.
“It will have a separate main entrance, but will also be connected to CU Adventures internally,” she said. “We plan to open two mini golf courses, a craft cocktail bar serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks (including espressos and sodas), and several private rooms reservable for parties.”
Lukeman added that they have a tentative name for the fantasy mini-golf bar, but they’re not ready to announce it yet.
Asked about the inspiration behind the expansion, she said many customers find their way into all of the escape rooms the company offers.
“Once you play an escape room, you usually don’t want to play the same game again because you know all the puzzles,” she said. “Mini golf is great because it’s an experience that players can relive over and over again. We’re excited to use everything we’ve learned from creating escape rooms to create a mini golf experience like no one has ever seen one.”
The new PrairiePlay playground in Meadowbrook Park is on track for a late summer or early fall opening, with project manager Andy Rousseau saying installation of the field equipment game should start soon.
“Much of the work on site has been completed: demolition, drainage of the site, preparation of the play area for final surfacing and installation of equipment,” he said. “The interior design work on the playground is almost completely complete.”
The Main Scoop’s fourth location opened Wednesday afternoon.
Owners Nick and Jessica Hanson said the store, located at 812 Broadmeadow Rd. in Rantoul, will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony and “fun grand opening activities and promotions” in the coming weeks.
Developer Chris Robinson shared on social media that a new ATI Physical Therapy location is coming soon to Tuscola and will be located at Jarman Plaza at 704 N. Main St.
This will be the chain’s second spot in Tuscola after its 605 E. Southline Rd. location.
A representative for AM-KO Oriental Foods and Gifts confirmed that the business will close at the end of July.
AM-KO is located at 101 E. Springfield Ave. in Champaign. The building previously housed a Piggly Wiggly, an Eisner grocery store and a United Auto Supply store.
City records show that AM-KO, which was previously located at 32 E. Green St., converted the building into a grocery store in 1998.
