Steak ’n Shake — Restaurant in Bloomington

This was our first visit inside in some years. We have usually done drive thru for some occasional grub and shakes but we have avoided in resturaunt for many places since the pandemic. This was a day worth celebrating and the choice of the one in which we were celebrating so inside was the choice for the day. Much has def changed since we last visited from the fact that you now order from kiosks which def takes some time depending on how many are in your party. It wasn't horribly difficult but again depending on how many are with you it was 5 for us and not much adjustments we had to make to each order so something to keep in mind during your visit. I think placing the order took about 5 mins maybe more. The good thing is it wasn't too busy when we got there for a Saturday afternoon. There are all about 5 kiosks 1 was out of order so 4 available that day. I was able to place my order in peace and without rushing. Took us about 15 mins to get our food which they call out the order number on your receipt and you go pick it up. Drinks are now self serve as well but not much of a selection mostly basic Coke products with some sweet and unsweetened ice tea. There are no condiments available and the only napkins are near the drink station. You also dump your own trash which for me the only bothersome part about that is having 2 large trays and several baskets to dump the trash has small holes I'm assuming to keep you from dumping the tray and baskets but not super convenient when dumping trash either. The staff that we did interact with when getting our food seemed nice but it does make you miss your typical dine in experience. Also to be noted they did remove Mac n cheese not sure what other changes they made but that was one to be mentioned. Overall it was a pleasant experience just very new and something you'd have to get used...

Service was slow, and despite the double doors and being seated at a booth far from the door it was so cold that both my mum and I left with numb-cold toes sand left our winter coats on the whole time.

I ordered the "Chili 4 Way" and told the waitress that she could either write "Chili 3 Way" with shredded cheese, or "Chili 5 Way" without onion - whichever was easier for the kitchen staff. What came was some spaghetti toped with some chili and I presume their "secret sauce" and about a cup and a half of shredded cheese melted to the plate and to of the dish. It was inedible!

I've ordered this in the past from other locations and they just sprinkle a handful of shredded cheese on top after it's done. It gets soft to slightly stringy/melted, but never scalding hot melted-to-the-plate like this or this much! The Brit in me rarely asks to send food back, or complains about an order- even when others do or would, but this was an exception!

They have also apparently changed the size of the water glasses to about 6" tall, and the Coke glasses are 8-9" tall, and both are now a disappointing plastic.

The biggest disappointing factor came when it was time to order dessert... they no longer have their classic brownie sundae. That's right, no brownie sundaes anymore at all, or brownie anything, no brownie...

This is a dying chain and this particular one is already dead. Steak & Shake no longer offers table service, a sign it’s on life support and barely hanging on. After a long day of travel, my husband and I stopped in because it was the only thing near our hotel. Despite there only being one person in the restaurant, every table was dirty and the floor was sticky. The place was filthy. I wanted to leave, but we were super tired and in eyesight of our hotel, so we stayed. One worker came out after our meal was served and was loudly berating another employee on his headset, then made a phone call and loudly talked on his phone in the dining room on topics that I’d rather not hear about. We already knew we would never go to a Steak & Shake again, but to top it off, my husband tried to get a refill on his coke and the scan (yes, you have to scan your receipt to get a drink.) would not work. A lady who works there said the scan was only god for 30 minutes… that includes cook time of food. She did not offer to get my husband a refill. Just said it only works for 30 minutes and went back to what she was doing. Pretty sad this chain is not even a glimmer of what it was created as many years ago. RIP...