Merry-Ann’s Diner

What more to expect for a diner – great food and a relaxed ambiance. I can sit there for two hours with my buddies and have some coffee after our bar hopping night, or I can scarf-​down some delicious breakfast. An old-​school diner that is exactly where it should.

Classic Diner — great diner food, classic feel… tradition! A lot of late night college crowd after 12m to 2am and mix of all ages on Sunday mornings. Grab a Sunday Newspaper and a cup of coffee and order from the menu of «breakfast classics» — something for all ages, all YUM!

We used to eat here all of the time — but since last summer, it has gone downhill so much! We went in yesterday for pancakes, bacon and a drink, and it was $ 15 with tip! The front door had greasy finger/​hand-​prints ALL over it. When I pointed it out to the waitress, she just shrugged. So disappointed in the whole experience.

Food is good for a classic sit down diner but the customer service was horrible. Waitress took our order after she had taken someone’s that showed up 10 minutes after us and we didn’t even have drinks until she put in their order and come to us. I watched her not pay attention to some of the other customers trying to get her attention as well. Even though the food was good, can’t say I will be returning my business here. The customer service was just that bad.

Exactly what you’d expect from a greasy little breakfast joint. Cheap, good, reliable breakfast food. I can’t speak to their other meals as I basically only come here for breakfast.
The breakfasts are always fast, tasty, and cheap. What more can you ask for?

Better for the fact that it’s open ²⁴⁄₇ than the quality of its food. Merry Ann’s is definitely a place to recover from a rough night. I just love breakfast.

Food was ok. Service was slow but once we put the order in the food came quick.

This place is great when you’re in your early twenties and drunk and it’s after midnight. Otherwise, there are a ton of better options in town for the price.
They have diner food that is about on par with Denny’s, they’re open late, and are within walking distance of the local bar scene. That’s about the best I can say for them.

Came in with my family, ordered a smoothie, got a cup full of ice chunks with some fruity milk. Ordered a mega omelet with no ham, it comes back with ham. Server was very nice about remaking it. It comes back– ham again!!! Left hungry. Not coming back.

This is a great place for late night food, but it’s your stereotypical diner fare. I’d recommend the breakfast burrito. It was pretty sad seeing some worker sitting down on the floor behind the counter just texting on his phone the whole entire time.

When you’re in Champaign, and you want a quick, cheap breakfast with good service, you come to Merry Anns! I loved coming here all the time in College to do some homework in the morning and get breakfast. The ladies who worked in Urbana side were always very friendly and remembered faces/​orders. At one point they would give me coffee on the house and whip up my order before I even placed it! I know they have ²⁴⁄₇ breakfast, but since I lived in Champaign, I never was apart of the crews who would come in at 3am and much away.
Naturally, when visiting for the summer, I had to go back to Merry Ann’s with a few friends and grab hangover brunch. This time, we went to the Merry Ann’s on Neil street. The diner on Neil is definitely smaller than the one in Urbana and was much, much more busy/​crowded. Still, the waitress was very friendly, and I know I enjoyed my meal! We didn’t feel rushed at all to finish, even though the line was out the door and we felt bad if we kept staying around just to talk/​get more coffee.
Unless you’re looking at somewhere like Le Peep to get brunch with your parents, I highly suggest Merry Ann’s since it is a staple at U of I.

We were looking for somewhere to eat after 9:30pm on a Sunday night, and this was about the only place open. The service was good, the place was friendly, and the food was tasty.

It’s a cute diner! The food is not terribly greasy but isn’t 5 star quality but c’mon, it’s a diner! It’s suppose to be that way. The breakfast burrito is very good. It’s huge so I got to take it home which is always nice for a college student. Cheap prices, decent food, what more could one want in a highly populated college town?

Restaurant review
I so wanted to like this place, but the food just falls below par. I would have to say that the wait staff is top notch. Very attentive friendly and helpful! This is a classic nostalgic diner where the server comes right to the side of your table to take your order. The menu itself is quite limited to basic breakfast items such as eggs, hash browns, sausage, burgers, sandwiches, and salad. I went with the house specialty dish the diner stack that has (hash Browns topped with cheese, hamburger or sausage patties, two eggs, and then smothered with delicious sausage gravy) I missed the part of the menu where it said smothered… The dish had so much gravy on it that you could not make out the food underneath. The hashbrown were oily, no real crispy to it. The sausage and eggs were good without complaint. Overall with the oil and salt, it was somewhat difficult to eat. I think if they changed some of the options to other more contemporary diner foods they maybe better off. I had high expectations, but the food just as other reviewers wrote falls flat.
Pros: friendly service, clean
Cons: the food really is below par, salty and very greasy not in a good diner kind of way
Hidden deals:
Monday to Friday 6 am to 11 am
2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 ham for 3.99
Ham omelet 3.99
All day specials Mon-​Thurs
Super burger 4.40
Grilled ham and cheese 4.00

Average small-​town diner feel in all the good and bad ways. Food tastes pre-​cooked or frozen, meny is too large, service is great, and it’s breakfast all day.

Just okay food. I can make better food at home for cheaper.

Just a fantastic establishment with friendly people. I have literally never ordered anything outside of the breakfast menu, and don’t plan on ever doing so. The corn beef hash is the best in town, and the diner stack will cure you of all current or potential ailments. It’s great for before you get black out drunk, great for after you get blackout drunk, and pretty good when getting blackout drunk is not involved at all.

Greasy spoon and all day breakfast served with an attitude. Entertaining hangover crowd. Night staff needs serious motivation.
Service is rather quick but I should have lowered my expectation or read more reviews.

This place is nostalgic. It’s got that classic diner booth setup where the servers pass plates right from the center, and they’re both friendly but abrupt like a diner should be.
If the coffee even tried to be good here I’d probably be here more often (they usually always keep it topped off!). But it’s consistently the worst coffee in town. You can taste the stale.
Even so, it’s a diner. I still go back for friendly people, cheap eggs, the clanking of dishes, and the grease rolling on the edge of the plate.

So terrible.
Everything… besides the hotcakes.