(Photo by Jake Williams)
Drew and Jessica Smith really only wanted to open one restaurant in Urbana. Now they’re opening multiple. All at once.
Both Smith, and his wife Jessica, were born and raised in Urbana. As the two began a search for a physical space to add to their food truck fleet and Collective Pour outpost in Champaign, the pickings were scarce. Eventually, Smith connected with Matt Cho, the owner of the then-Broadway Food Hall.
Now, Smith Hospitality is nearly ready to open in the newly-renovated space as The Yard on Broadway.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
“We weren’t looking for this. This was a lot bigger of a space than we were wanting to take on,” Drew Smith, co-founder and co-owner of Smith Burger Company and Smith Hospitality, told Chambana Eats. “But we wanted to get back to Urbana.”
The Yard — which soft opens Friday June 6 — will contain seven restaurants, including three concepts from Smith Burger. In addition to the flagship Smith Burger Co. spot, the company will also operate Regal Pig Social, a pizza and sandwich shop, as well as Public House 1833, a full bar with draft beer, wine, cocktails and more.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
In addition to the three Smith concepts, The Yard will also feature Watson’s Chicken, Fernando’s tacos, The Main Scoop ice cream, as well as the first cafe location for Columbia Street Roastery, dubbed Columbia Street Cafe.
All of the other eateries in The Yard stemmed from existing relationships and friendships that the Smith family had cultivated.
“I talked to Trey from Columbia Street multiple times and he said he was interested in doing some standalone coffee shops, and so I was like, ‘hey, this would be a good opportunity to try something,’ Smith said. “And then, I’m a huge Fernando’s fan. I overeat their burritos. And they were immediately on board.”
From there, the other pieces fell into place. Watson’s — a fellow food truck upstart with a Champaign location — jumped in, and The Main Scoop joined the crew to provide dessert to round out the offerings.
In addition to all co-locating together under one roof, Smith said the opportunity to collaborate with all of the other restaurants presents exciting menu opportunities at all of the stands.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
“I foresee some interesting [menu] items coming out of the concepts here,” Smith said. “We’ll have [Columbia Street Cold Brew] in a few of our cocktails at Public House 1833, and we’re going to be offering boozy shakes [with The Main Scoop].
In addition to the seven food and drink stands, The Yard also puts an emphasis on creating a fun, family-friendly atmosphere, Jessica Smith said.
“We really liked the idea of offering activities,” Jessica Smith said. “If your kids want to come here, I guarantee you that’s where you’re going to go. And it’s fun for the adults too.”
Nearly half of the square footage in the publicly accessible part of the space is covered in artificial turf grass to make it easier and safer for kids to play while their parents indulge in food and drink, and one whole corner of the building is devoted to arcade games.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
“This is a place we felt Urbana was missing, that we would want to take our kids to, so we can enjoy a hot meal together without our toddler climbing all over him or our kids interrupting all of our conversations,” Jessica Smith said. “It’s like, why not just make that for the whole community?”
The activity area also includes custom-made cornhole boards from B&D’s Cornhole Boards and Bags in Cissna Park, Illinois, meaning adults can get in on the game fun as well.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
Soft openings
So far, the food hall has played host to a few different special events that were a dry run for the staff. The first was a farewell and retirement party for now-former Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin, and the second was an impromptu surprise birthday party for Jessica Smith.
But now, it’s time for the public to see it all, Smith said.
Smith Burger Co., Public House 1833 and The Main Scoop will be open for a soft open Friday, June 6.
Watson’s Chicken is in the final approval process, with Columbia Street Cafe and Fernando’s next on the list for health department approvals.
That means that The Yard’s doors to the public will open Friday before the final three stands are ready to serve, but Drew Smith said he hopes that will inspire visitors to return.
“We have to open the doors for our concepts, which the benefit to that is, hey the Regal Pig might not be open the first time you visit, but guess what? They’re gonna be open the next time, so you have another reason to come back,” Smith said.
Smith expects The Yard — when fully ready for launch — to be open as early as 6 a.m. for Columbia Street Cafe. The other stands will open around 11 a.m. They haven’t set an exact closing time, but Smith said it’s looking like 9 p.m. during the week and 10 p.m. on the weekends. Public House 1833 will stay open one hour longer than the food vendors.
Going forward, as the Smith Hospitality Group embraces a massive expansion, the Smiths have already said they’re not sitting still.
“We have a building that’s attached to us, and I do have visions of opening that up into more, either event space, or seating,” Smith said. “It’s technically attached but there’s no walk through into it, so that would take a lot of getting somebody on board to help with that project.”
(Photo by Jake Williams)
For Jessica Smith, coming back to Urbana — where they’re from and where the food truck business first started in 2020 — is a full circle commitment to community.,
“We wanted to come back to a community that has supported us from the beginning,” she said. “We wanted to come back here and give growth and support to the community that’s given growth and support to us.”
Jake Williams is a journalist, editor and publisher, as well as the CEO of the Illini Media Company.