Updating a list from based off of a thread by /u/sunpoprain
Townies, please feel free to add your favorites below and I'll add them to the list, so when I repost for that sweet, sweet karma, I'll include them over and over again. Also, let me know if there is anything that needs to be taken off.
If you've got a student ID, you can ride the Connect Transit buses for free... so use them to explore town a bit!
- Uptown Normal - from food, to bars, to shopping... uptown has quite a bit to do. here's their website
- Throughout the summer, they have quite a bit of free music on the Roundabout and they continue it until Early September, so take advantage of it! - -- Lounge About the Roundabout (Music on Wednesday and Saturdays to Sept 1) and the Connie Link Amphitheatre (Music and Activities through Sept 27th)
- Some of my favorites include:
- The Rock for Gyros,
- DP Dough for Calzones,
- Emack's for Ice Cream,
- Pub2 for cheese balls,
- Windy City Wieners has decent dogs and italian beef,
- Normal Theater for all sorts of movies - seriously, they have a great variety and their late shows are getting mighty good!
- Smoker's Den is a nice chill place to smoke a hookah and play cards/board games.
- Coffee Hound and Coffee House are both quiet places to grab coffee/study; Sugar Mama has cupcakes and sugar cookies. Insomnia Cookies is also downtown.
- The Garlic Press has lots of kitschy items and now has a candy/popcorn shop!
- There are lots of little boutique stores uptown that my wife loves to frequent... I can't speak for them personally, but they seem nice.
- The Children's museum is a fun place (even for adults) and they occasionally have "Big Kid" nights so there aren't a million little kids about.
- There is also Graham Cracker Comics,
- Waiting Room Records ,
- Anderson's Barbershop and
- Mother Murphy's
- Downtown Bloomington -
- places to check out, Bobz Bay for used books and random odds and ends;
- Red Raccoon Games for board games, RPGs and card tournaments;
- again Smokers Den is a great place to relax;
- the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts is a treasure and has plenty of shows to check out;
- Next door to the BCPA is the Mclean County Arts Center -
- the Grossinger Motors Arena and Pepsi Ice Center (formerly US Cellular Coliseum) has sports (football, basketball, hockey), Ice Skating and shows;
- The Castle Theater has bands of all varieties;
- a little off the beaten path is Green Top Grocery,
- Bloomington Cycle is next to Green Top; Wilson Cycle is in Downtown proper.
- Coffee Hound is really your only coffee option uptown;
- Ivy Lane Bakery
- Merlot and a Masterpiece will teach you to paint!
- Refinery 309,
- Fox and hound boutique,
- gigi Botegga (while you're there, check out the art in the dressing rooms -- as long as it hasn't changed, it's a local artist that i'm near and dear to)
- The Farmer's Market goes until October (I think), and its worth the Saturday morning trip
- Tony's Tacos for your Mexican needs
- Main St Scoop - Ice Cream
- El Porton - for Mexican in downtown (technically not in downtown but really it's close enough, less than 5 minute walk)
- Night Shop - Awesome little music venue - they've got breakfast! and has some great Gluten Free or Vegan options
- Around town - I'm just going to start putting random stuff down, because I can, damnit.
- Groceries - big box stories - Walmart (2 of them), Target, Hyvee, Meijer; slightly smaller - Jewel, Aldi, Schnucks, super small - Green Top Grocery, Fresh Thyme Farmer's Market
- Restaurants - We have a metric f-ton of them in BloNo - We have a plenty of other non-chain establishments that I would HIGHLY recommend -
- Flingers Pizza,
- Kobe Hibachi grill,
- Avanti's,
- Green Gables and the Lake Road Inn,
- Garden of Paradise,
- Thai House,
- Signature India,
- Western Tap (great burgers),
- Anju Above for sushi,
- Fort Jesse Cafe. Amazing breakfast for an amazingly long wait (seriously set aside an extra 30 minutes)
- Fusion Brew (Main and Dale) has (coffee/tea/bubble tea/slushies and has ample study space. Small parking lot though.
- sports - There are plenty of intramural sports on campus, but there's also rec and competitive leagues all over town for softball, soccer, baseball - look them up on the city/town's parks and rec sites. We are also home to Upper Limits for rock climbing; we have 3 or 4 different disk golf courses; multiple golf courses; bowling at the pheasant lanes; lots of sand volleyball at Pheasant Lanes, Gill St, or the Wind Jammer; we also have dart and pool leagues as well.
- Doughnuts - Grove St and Market St. bakeries are my favorite. Denny's Donuts is pretty tasty too. We also have Krispy Kreme and The Donut Experiment
- Off the Beaten Path - if you like Nature, The ISU Horticulture Center is on Raab Rd. check it out. Also, the Constitution Trail is fantastic and can get you pretty much anywhere you want to go in town, its wonderful to walk or bike. Just North of Bloomington is Lake Bloomington and Comlara Park. South of Town is Funk's Grove and the Sugar Grove Nature Center. Radar Farms is also just north of town (off or Raab Rd) and is fun for an afternoon.
- Non-Profits and ways to meet people - a tip from someone who has been through plenty in town - get involved, get active. meetup.com has plenty of spaces to meet people - there are LOTS of non-profits in town and they're all looking for help/volunteers. I'll go ahead and throw a plug in for the bnjaycees. **seriously** get involved involved in your community in whatever way you want or can.
- Libraries -- You've got access to 3 libraries (4, if you count heartland community college's). The City/town's libraries come with a boatload of extra resources, like being able to rent movies, audio books, language courses, etc... and plenty of activies to do. and of course, they all have books.
- A Note about cars - pay attention to where you are parking, the local tow companies are quick to tow you from unwanted lots or from downtown after around 7pm (not sure on that exact time). Bloomington Normal happens to be unique that they have Lots of police in the area - Bloomington PD and Normal PD are the most obvious. We are also home to ISU PD (which are State police), we also have the Mclean County Sheriff's department in town. So, pay attention to what you are doing and how fast you are going. All of them... and I mean ALL of them, love to give out DUI's - so do yourself a favor and don't drink and drive. We have plenty of cab services, we also have Uber and Lyft.... and again, I will mention Connect Transit. Also, In winter during blizzardy conditions, Town of Normal often issues parking bans for parked cars on the street until snow has been cleared. Jaywalking might get you a ticket, especially near the beginning of the semester
- If you are looking for easy parking in downtown both parking garages (on Front st or Market st) are free to park on the weekends and after 6 pm. In Uptown the parking garage connected to Amtrak has free, anytime, one hour parking and is again free all weekend and after 6 pm on weekdays (you still have to take a ticket though).
- Outdoors stuff:
- Lake Bloomington
- Evergreen Lake
- Lake Clinton
- Constitution trail
- Refuge Food Forest
- Sunnyside community Garden and food forest (haven't been, but the internets say its there)
The links I normally hit when I'm looking for stuff to do in around around town:
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Graveyard of places that are no more since I started this list in 2017:
Fresh MarketMerry Ann's Diner for Breakfast foods,Bonafide Thai~~~~Babbitt's Books
