text: When our department has to entertain guest speakers or job candidates The Bread Company always becomes the default dinnerlunch location Embarrassingly I have heard some job candidates comment that they were taken here for different meals during their visit My department is probably at fault for their lack of imagination when choosing restaurants but The Bread Company offers some benefits that elevate it to a top pick for businesscasual university dinersnn Location For people who have short lunch periods and need to be within walking distance of campus this restaurants location is unbeatable And since it is next door to an Espresso Royale you can grab a coffee after your meal if desirednn Atmosphere Most college restaurants resemble a McDonalds Playroom for adolescents neon walls and heavyduty plastic furniture with underlying scents of urine and vomit While The Bread Company does have a hint of grunge it also invokes a strong sense of urban artistic chic There are real paintings on the wall not poster prints At night they bring out white tablecloth and mood lightingnn Price I think the prices are reasonable depending on who you ask This place IS pricey when compared to most campus restaurants where students are always trying to squeeze their dollars Lunch generally runs around to which is not unreasonable when entertaining guests And still comparablecheaper than what you can get at Timpones the other nice restaurant in the areannAll of the food is fairly conservative with obvious combinations of flavors brie portobello turkey pesto etc I think this is also a reason that it ranks highly among options for guests you will find nothing offensive here in terms of food but also nothing exciting The presentation tends to be elegant and you can tell that most of the ingredients are of good qualitynnFor lunch I always go with the egg salad which is creamy wellseasoned and always satiates my craving for egg goodness In the early evening sometimes I stop by for a beer and appetizer with friends The cheese selection is quite good you will find Stilton Gouda Manchego etc and the beers are all microbrews if you are into that kind of thing Dinner selections include fondue pastas pizzas and some specialties but the prices are on par with more interesting restaurants in downtown ChampaignUrbanannIn terms of baked goods I am quite fond of ordering my sandwiches here with sourdough or rye bread Yum At most places with a baking reputation I always find myself enticed by the sweet buns and cookies but I almost never find myself tempted by the ones at The Bread Company Their treats always look colorless and hardened as if they were made by an angry grandmannOverall I would recommend this to people who like simple light food If you are cheap and do not care about indie street cred you could probably get the same food at Panera