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The Great Impasta switches location, gets a reinvention
4:00 am Mar 19 - by Liz Stickel – buzz Writer
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Great Impasta »Address: 156 C Lincoln Square (Lincoln Square Mall) Urbana, IL 61802
Phone: (217) 359-7377
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Everyone loves a good reinvention — just ask any Madonna fan. So it’s no wonder that The Great Impasta, in business since 1983, should follow suit. The restaurant reopened in Lincoln Square Mall Feb. 12 with a new feel.
At its previous location in Champaign, each floor seated 150 people. The new space allows for 75 to 80 diners, said owner Harold Allston. There is more booth seating now, Allston said, designed for “intimacy and conversation.” The menu has been “tweaked,” and there are lunch-sized portions available. A weekly changing wine list also adds to the Great Impasta’s new feel.
Executive Director of the Urbana Business Association Susan Toalson cites the move as part of a larger trend of businesses moving from Champaign to Urbana. Toalson said The Great Impasta, Furniture Lounge, Black Dog Smoke and Ale House all represent this eastward migration.
“The city of Urbana is tremendously resourceful and engaged,” said Toalson. This “good nurturing ground” and “good business model” is appealing to small business owners, she said.
The Farmer’s Market that begins May 2 is one reason that The Great Impasta’s move was beneficial, Allston said. The restaurant will be open for breakfast during the Farmer’s Market. Allston said close proximity to businesses such as the Common Ground Food Co-Op is another advantage to the location. He said he looks forward to “enjoying the synergy” with other food-oriented businesses and “being with like-minded people.”
Is there a trend of moving from Champaign to Urbana? Allston said it’s too early to tell, but he doesn’t want to pit the cities against each other.
“They’re like siblings,” he said.
Although Toalson said that The Great Impasta move marks the beginning of a trend, she shared Allston’s sentiment.
“I’m a community person,” Toalson said. “We need to have two strong, successful, compatible sister cities.”
Trend or not, Allston said the first weeks at the new location have been promising for The Great Impasta. “We have been warmly received by the community,” he said.
Sound Off
Last post: Mar. 21, 2009 at 3:33 pm
IlliniJon (John Gordon) said on Mar. 21, 2009 at 3:33 pm:
Have now eaten there three times. The food seems better than their old place, plus the service is definitely better (maybe a smaller, more efficient kitchen?). The menu has enough vegetarian to keep me happy and my friends enjoyed their meat dishes, as well. Easy to find (the old Milo's); I highly recommend it.