Over 90 Years of Chips, Sandwiches & Community

Some businesses are built on a great idea. Mumford's was built on too many potatoes.

In 1932, Champaign County farmer Asa Mumford found himself with a bumper crop and a problem. His solution — kettle-cooking the surplus into crispy, golden chips with his son Virgil, right in the back of a friend's grocery store on Court Street — turned out to be one of the best decisions this town has ever tasted.

The recipe never changed. The love for it never wavered. Over the decades the business grew, moving to South Main Street and then, in 1979, gaining a new chapter when the Leopard family merged the chip operation with a deli. Suddenly, Urbana had a place where you could grab a made-to-order sandwich and walk out with a bag of those chips — the ones you grew up on, the ones you drove across town for.

In 1983, Mumford's settled into its current home at 325 N. Main St., with room for 50 guests and a full deli menu to match. It became the kind of place people don't just visit — they return to. Regulars bring their kids. Skiers stop in after a run at Mad River Mountain. Office lunches get delivered down the street.

In 2018, a brief scare threatened the chips themselves when the long-time manufacturing partner discontinued private label production. The community held its breath. Mumford's held firm — and found a way forward, as it always has.

Today, Mumford's is still here. Still kettle-cooking. Still making sandwiches to order. Still feeling like the kind of place only a town like Urbana could produce.