B'Town Diner — Restaurant in Bloomington

I can't say enough about this hidden, little gem downtown Bloomington (across from the Bluebird). The space isn't very large, but the flavors are! This is definitely a Mom and Pop operation with the owners there running the place, cooking and serving.

They have an extensive menu with a full selection of breakfast items, sandwiches, salads and other entrees. The food is ALWAYS served fresh and piping hot. My go-to items are: grits and omelets; the Philly Stack, and their delicious pancakes which are crispy on the outside, but fluffy inside. They literally have something for everyone.

PRICING! With inflation as high as it is, I honestly don't know how these guys manage to keep their prices so low. You get a TON of food for extremely reasonable prices (think Waffle House). For instance, my "normal" order is: Omelet with green pepper, mushroom, onion and swiss, half order of bacon, grits, English muffin and a glass of orange juice, and that is usually around $15! There are plenty of options just under $10, too, if you are cash-strapped.

Unfortunately, like many small businesses, they are under-staffed. This is probably the biggest drawback. Don't get me wrong, the service is ALWAYS friendly, but when the place is full, there can be a bit of a wait both because of limited staffing and seating capacity. Still, I literally eat there EVERY weekend, so I have gotten to know the staff on a personal level, and they are just plain, old good people!!! They work very hard, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. I encourage you to go when you have a little time, so that you don't get frustrated if...

To start, we looked online for a menu and location. I ordered a beef Manhatten and mozerella sticks. The Manhattan consisted of four half slices of over buttered and grilled toast, 4 very small slices of lunch meat "beef", and the mashed potatoes were basically a baked potato smashed into the center of the plate covered in a mix gravy. The cheese sticks were very dark like they'd been burnt but the cheese hadn't even started to melt. They tasted like the oldest, nastiest oil I'd ever tasted. I'd asked if they had marinara sauce before I ordered the cheese sticks, the waitress assured me they did. Once they came out it was "I'm sorry we're out of marinara". On top of the horrible food and shoddy at best service, our bill came to 28 something. The server charged us $41 and wasn't sure how to fix it. Needless to say, I won't be going back. I recommend you don't waste your time or money. Now I have to keep an eye on my bank account to make sure I wasn't charged $70 for food I wouldn't eat if...

Service was ok. Man in charge, was rude. I came in with my service dog (without his vest, my fault). I was at the door, and he was yelling from the back of the building, to sit at the first table. As my dog is not normally accustomed to sitting at a table I asked about the booth, and again from the back yelled sit at the first table. My dog reacted to my raised anxiety level, and then tried to keep the waitress away from me. So it took him a few minutes to calm down. Also, make sure you have your documents with you for your service dog, as they won't just ask if you have them, they demand to see them. I ordered a lot of food, more than I knew I would eat, just be aware their gravy is not for the faint of heart. It is very spicy, two bites and I needed to put out the fire. I would have given them a 5 but the man was more than rude from the moment I stepped in the building. And I was the...