Friday, February 15, 2008

Remembering The Deluxe, Champaign, Illinois

Tonight I had dinner at a bar in Providence, RI, and after ordering a beer battered fish sandwich, I was moved to put ketchup on it. Not malt vinegar or tartar sauce, both of which were delivered with the meal, but ketchup. This choice of condiment may not have any particular meaning to you, but for me it was a nod to my high school years in Urbana, IL.

On Green Street, in the heart of the University of Illinois campus town and just across the dividing line between the twin cities of Urbana and Champaign, was The Deluxe, a slightly seedy bar and billiard hall famous for its fish sandwiches, served on a hamburger bun with onions. The tradition—which no one ever questioned—was that a Deluxe fish sandwich was always garnished with ketchup. This was cheap eats at its best, a meal that always went well with a bottle of Bud.

Now long gone, the Deluxe was frequented by working stiffs, college students, and faculty, many of whom still remember it fondly.

12 comments:

SV said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
SV said...

I have received word from two relatives that (a) they remember the fish sandwich being offered on two slices of white bread rather than a hamburger bun [could be] and (b) Pabst Blue Ribbon was the beer of choice at The Deluxe [ditto].

foundrysmith said...

Nothing fancy - it was just square, plain white bread. I also remember going in once with my girlfriend, who had the temerity to ask that her PBR be served in a glass! The barmaid made some non-complimentary remarks that I can't repeat here - though they were quite in keeping with the feel of the place!

SV said...

The following memories of The Deluxe were contributed by my friend and Urbana High School classmate, Mark Wetzel:

fish only on fridays and saturdays, with the smoky cloud hanging around in the place until at least the following wednesday, and perhaps a clean(er) air break for just thursday, before the cycle began again.

Jean, a jovial and most friendly person, worked behind the bar for years (giving me pickle and onion buckets for my research....whenever I asked, and always given to me with a smile); Steve, the owner, always smiling, chatty, and scurrying from customer to customer to share a few words; then, there was this crotchety old codger always with a 3 day growth of thin, grayish hair stubble on his face, shuffling around to clean up here and there, bringing forth the buckets, dragging out the trash...and near-constantly mumbling curses at nothing or nobody in particular...just cursing the drudgery of the moment.

a pool hall that always had the front pool tables (classic, solid, 8 and 9 foot behemoths, probably each with 1.5 inch slate tops, old leather pockets) covered with a sheet of plywood and cheap plastic coverings....for the fish eating crowd.

Then it was sold, gutted, rebuilt as a sports bar called Legends (but I have not ventured there since it opened a few years ago.......would be blasphemy for all Deluxe regulars).

dedalus2222 said...

I built Deluxe sandwiches on Fridays and Saturdays from 91-93--my first day was a home football opener, and it was like six hours of murder by oil burn. I lived, and they gave me more shifts.

I don't remember many people putting ketchup on the fish sandwich, but I know we never served tartar sauce, which I think Legends does now. If someone asked for it, we usually "explained" where Wendy's was.

To refresh all your all's memories, the fish (slab of battered fresh-frozen north atlantic cod) was served on white, 'wheat, rye, or bun. We said whitewheatryeorbun?automatic like some places ask if you want fries. They were monsters that destroyed white bread, especially wrapped to-go. Pickle chips and big disks of onions were standard--we sliced so many onions we'd have to wash our hands with whiskey. Occasional sacrilege of cheese slice or bacon, don't ask me why. When the freezer ran out of onion rings, we'd use the fish batter to make them from scratch.

No taps at Deluxe. Always bottles, a brutal hauling of trash to the dumpster. Occassionally cans on special, which is probably why some remember the Pabst tallboys.

Olympic size pool tables by the hour. Pinball machines with Tilt turned off. Jukebox turned to eleven. Summertime bands in the back, along the Boneyard. Ah, dangerous times... I miss them.

SV said...

Chad, Thank you so much. What a great and authoritative addition. You really fortify the memories.
---Stuart

NewsFollowUp said...

I used to be a room mate of a cook at Deluxe. He would make egg salad sandwiches for me if i came in...also played a bunch of pool there.

Vic said...

My bf in the late 70s took me on a tour of his college town of Champaign in the late 70s (he graduated in 1974). The Deluxe was a first stop for that fish sandwich. What a beautiful piece of nostalgia. So glad he shared it with me, and that you shared it with others, too.

DMboulder said...

DanMBoulder
I worked at the Deluxe from 1975-79. Jean was in charge (though Steve was the manager in name, and Francis the owner occasionally stopped in). I was given keys and often worked alone. In addition to old Tom who kept the place clean and as noted grumbled about the state of the world in general, we had Big John, who did maintenance including sitting in the back and shooting rats in the boneyard, and told me various stories of how he lost a few of his fingers. When the cash registers got full we put the cash in the lettuce drawer. There was a safe, but as far as I know it was reserved for the fish recipe. I was one of the few people allowed to see it. Mind you, not read it, but Steve just opened the safe and showed me the paper. Irreplaceable institution.

Neil said...

What years was The Deluxe in business?

My dad asked me about it and I didn't know it so I assume it was closed before I was there in the mid-2000s.

Sue Looker said...

Many a Friday night spent at the Deluxe was had by all Champaignites including myself. I can still hear the cracking of the cue ball on a break shotgun polite 8-ball. I can see Jean cutting up those large onions, and marveled at how good at it she was. So sad to hear it’s story of the end of an era, 72-76 was my time there. And God Bless you Francis. Gave many pleasure. And good eats, Steve, Pearl, Joe, as well. We miss you.

Gary said...

When I was an undergrad at the U of I, a Friday or Saturday fish sandwich at the Deluxe was de rigeur. After I met my then girlfriend now wife Edie, I dragged her down there, only to discover the batter was made with egg, to which she's allergic. But she gamely waited an hour or more with me to get my sandwich, herself ordering something else off the menu (I can't recall what). I was in despair when I learned the Deluxe had closed. (Our other fave, which Edie could eat, was Papa Del's pizza. Still there, but when we sampled one a couple of years ago, the recipe didn't quite seem the same--sweeter than we remembered.)

Maybe I curse great fish. Later we were at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and used to frequent Dolly's for their Friday night fish fry. (Again, made with egg.) Exquisite! But like the Deluxe, Dolly's too closed (rumor had it shut down by the feds for failure to pay taxes).

Lost youth.