If you’ve spent any time in Downtown Champaign, chances are you’ve sipped something creative at Punch! Bar & Lounge. At the helm is Michael Lovejoy, a long-time C-U resident whose hospitality journey has taken him from campus bars to fine dining, culinary school in Chicago, and back again to Champaign. Now in its seventh year, Punch! has become a downtown staple—known for its inventive cocktails, collaborative spirit, and the welcoming atmosphere Michael and his team have cultivated.
We caught up with Michael to hear more about his path to Punch!, his love for Downtown Champaign, and what makes this spot such a cornerstone of the community.
Let’s start with an intro - introduce yourself and share a bit about your background and how you came to running Punch!
Gladly! Well, I am a long-time resident of Champaign-Urbana that moved down here from Chicagoland in 2003 to go to UIUC. I started working in bars and restaurants and quickly realized that the service life was the life for me. I stopped school and focused on work as I travelled through chain restaurants and campus bars before landing in fine dining. This inspired me to move back to Chicago to attend culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu. I stayed up there for a few years to finish my degree (valedictorian!), then looked around and decided what I wanted to do with my life. The answer came pretty quickly – move back to Champaign! This is a wonderful town that has my heart and I hated being away from it. When I moved back, I started working at Destihl, where I was a fixture behind the bar for over 6 years, where they let me apply my culinary skills in the front of house. I got to know the staff at the Hyatt Place pretty well as it was being built, and they kept me appraised as they were thinking about putting a bar in the small corner on the South-East side of the building. They recruited me to lead the project, and as I have said many times, they gave us a room, and my crew and I gave them a bar. I am blessed with what is undoubtably the best staff in town and I consider leading Punch to be my dream job and the culmination of everything I have learned in the past 22 years in the hospitality industry. Somehow, we have entered our 7th year as a bar and we are still rolling! We are blessed to be loved by so many residents and hotel guests alike, and have not taken for granted our commitment to bringing creative, innovative, and fun experiences to the DT Champaign bar scene. Sometimes it still seems like we are just getting started!
Punch! has become such a staple in the downtown scene. What do you love most about being located right in the heart of Downtown Champaign?
The community and the collaboration. Downtown Champaign is a special place where most of the business operators realize that a rising tide raises all ships and we are all in this thing together. Being attached to the Hyatt Place, we get to work closely with them and neighboring restaurants to make sure that people visiting get an experience to remember, while locals have a consistent place they can go for relaxation or a good time. The Champaign Center Partnership is a wonderful tool for us to all get together and move the needle in regard to meaningful change that makes our city and our downtown area better for all. Collaboration with dozens of like-minded businesses is literally just a text, an email, or a short walk away.
Downtown has such a strong local vibe. How do you feel Punch! contributes to that energy and what makes your spot stand out from others?
Punch contributes to the local vibe by practicing what it preaches: we shop local!! Our coffee comes from Columbia Street. Our tea comes from Walnut Street. We sell Cloud Mountain Kombucha, and Blind Pig, Triptych, and Riggs beers. A lot of the books on our backbar come from Jane Addams across the street. We use Up Close for our printing and our bathroom soaps and scents come from local soap makers. Fire Doll has even made us candles based on cocktails we serve. We support our community in the way we hope to be supported back. We don’t necessarily need to stand out from others (though we try with our service, atmosphere, and product), but instead look to raise all of us up. The more people that come to our area, the better it is for everyone!
This year’s Craft Crawl is right around the corner. What are you most excited about for the event and what can attendees expect when they stop by Punch! on October 4?
Craft Crawl is going to be awesome! I will be out on our patio pouring myself! We are going to pour some kombucha from our friends at Cloud Mountain! I am excited for people to be able to walk around downtown and visit some stores and restaurant/bars that they might normally not see. There are few things as wonderful as walking around with a beverage during Fall in C-U!
Behind every drink is a story. What’s your favorite cocktail on the menu right now, and what makes it special?
There certainly is, especially for us! On Sept. 22nd, we released our 2025 Fall Seasonal Cocktail Menu. Since we started in 2019, we have yet to miss the first day of a season with a new seasonal menu (this is our 25th since we opened!). On this menu, one of my favorites is the “Pandan Express.” It was created as a farewell from my longtime Assistant General Manager, Vaughn Kimberley (another DT fixture in his own right) as he left over the summer to pursue his own business opportunities. During his time here, he had a large hand in helping me make our drink menus. The drink has exotic flavors like Pandan, Venezuelan Rum, Ginger, and Thai Spice Bitters, while being shaken with Jasmine Rice to provide a velvety texture. It helps remind me of all the good times he and I had waxing poetic about what made bar culture and cocktails so attractive.
Looking ahead. What’s next for Punch!—any new drinks, events, or ideas you’re excited to bring to Downtown Champaign?
What’s next for Punch is hopefully a lot of what we have been doing the last 6+ years already: being a leading voice in our community in regard to creativity, artistry, and collaboration. We believe in Champaign and the fact that it is a great place that deserves great things. Now that our Fall Menu has debuted, we have already turned our sights to developing our Winter Menu and look forward to playing around with the newest trends and unique flavors that aren’t always found around Central Illinois.
Punch! Bar & Lounge is located at 217 N Neil in Downtown Champaign.