Actually, Timpone's is not your usual pizza joint. It happens to be a very good Italian restaurant - so good that people from Chicago regularly drive down to eat there.
Timpone's is located right next to the University of Illinois campus in Urbana. If you didn't know it was there, you'd go right past it.
I've eaten at Timpone's three times. The first time I went, I took the guys from Glenn Poor's in Champaign there. One of the guys got a pizza. It looked great and smelled great. Stupid me, I went with the pasta. I don't quite remember what I had, but I do remember it was outstanding.
The second time I went there, I was tempted to get the pizza. But they had a seafood pasta special that evening and I'm a sucker for seafood pasta.
The third time, I met a rep buddy, Mark Petty, for dinner when I was traveling thru Champaign-Urbana on my way to Indianapolis. He said, "Have you ever tried the pizza here? It's outstanding!" I told him I'd been tempted in the past, but didn't pull the trigger. So we ordered a small one as an appetizer.
The pizza was - as Mark said - outstanding. The crust was light and crispy. The sauce was tangy, but not overpowering. The sausage chunks were perfect sized and lightly spicy. It was a great appetizer for two big guys who love food. In fact, it was so good, we ordered a second pizza for dinner.
Timpone's is kind of a dress up place, although I was in there in jeans one evening and they didn't seem to care. The pizza is just as good as their main entrees. If you want pasta, they've got great pasta. If you want pizza, it is outstanding.
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