Lvl Up Coffee Bar — Restaurant in Normal

Level up your caffeine experience.

Emily and I dropped in on our way to Analytical Brewing as I needed something to wake me up and Emily needed something to keep her going. I learned about this place recently while updating my list of coffeehouses in the Bloomington/Normal area and was surprised I never heard about it until then. Normally the algorithm knows to show me ALL the coffeehouses in whatever area I am in but I suppose some do slip through the cracks.

We pulled up and noticed there was a drive thru and it was popular. One car at the window with 2-3 cars pulling in behind it. We walked in and it was also decently busy inside. Not a bad crowd for 3:30pm. We walked up and ordered our drinks from a friendly barista. She asked if we had ever been there before and where we were from. After making small talk, we took a look around and then plopped down near the front of the store. It didn’t take long to get my americano and Emily’s Slo-mo.

Being quite the connoisseur of americanos (joking, I don’t know anything about coffee except how to drink it), I noticed my drink was looking a bit light brown. I’ve come to judge just how bitter they can be based on how dark they are and usually the darker, the more bitter. Not always the case and this was one of those exceptions. My baseline is the Dunkin’ americano, which is just right, in my opinion. This was maybe a notch or two below that. It packed more of a punch than I expected but left me wanting something a smidge bit more. Either way, it was really good.

Emily go the Slo-mo and she let me try a sip. It was good on it’s own but tasting it between sips of my drink made it taste a bit better, as it countered out the bitterness.

They had a wide assortment of baked goods at the counter but since we were planning to get food on the way to the brewery, we decided against getting anything. They did look good, though! I wish I would’ve snagged a photo of what they had to offer so you could see.

Honestly, this place was pretty nice. The walls are white and a bit barren and I thought the place might be video game-based due to the name but aside from a light up Starman from Mario Bros. and a single multi-game arcade cabinet in the corner, it was your standard coffeehouse. There is an outdoor patio area but with the random heatwave that hit recently, it wasn’t really a great day to sit outside and do much of anything.

Anyways, check it out if you are in the area. I could definitely see myself going back if the...

Looks and feels great inside, nice atmosphere, but arrogant barista staff. I asked for something off the menu, that I have been ordering for years, they said they could do it, knew what it was. When I received it, it wasn't what I wanted, and was told I didn't know what I was wanting, and that he had been to Europe so he knew better then me lol. Even in Washington State we didn't have such existential needy coffee shop attendants. I think this dude suffers from to much trendy TV. After I told him what I wanted , and what it was, he told me I was wrong, and told me the same damn thing I told him it was and how to make it. Pride. Your attendant got it wrong, not me, and I know it hurts to admit it was wrong, but someone in this planet has to have the self humility to admit a mistake. It doesn't lower your value, quite the contrary. But I guess if you're going to hire people that are so desperate to be in a " trendy place, you get what you pay for, and your value of a human being is threatened if your employee looks bad, so yeah, tell the customer he is wrong, when in fact he is not. He offered if it was wrong, he would fix it, but in the same breath told me I didn't know what I was...

One of my favorite coffee shops in the country!

This might’ve been the best cinnamon roll I ever had. I came in around 5 PM on a Sunday and the workers were nice enough to look around for a cinnamon roll for me. Boy was it worth it! It was the perfect cinnamon roll where the whole roll was gooey, there were no bad parts. It tasted like the whole roll was just the middle part.

The coffee was good too, I’d probably get something other than the Granny Smith apple flavor but it was perfect for me at the time in the sense where it lasted 2-3 hours on the drive for me with the bitterness.

Overall very accommodating and knowledgeable staff. If I was a student at ISU I’d definitely come here to study a lot. If I lived in normal I’d find excuses every week to set up shop here and work. The inside was very unique and nice with plenty of seating. Had a vintage type look with the arcade game set up. Also had a room in the back with a few students studying and going over a presentation

5/5...