C3 tries to be a stylish place, and almost carries it off, but relative to the standards they're trying to project, it's merely good. It feels like they're pretending to be excellent instead of just being excellent. The service was not great. The silverware didn't get to us until after the meals got to us. We weren't offered dessert (we had to ask about it). We weren't offered tea or coffee after the meal. We asked about tea, and were told the tea selection would be brought out for our perusal, but that never happened. I initially ordered the Chef's Special of the day. Even though it was early on a Friday evening, I was told --only after ordering-- that they were out of the Special. So, I ordered the Scallops ($24, Seared Sea Scallops, Braised Fennel, Roasted Portabella Mushrooms, Green Beans, Lemon-Ginger Butter, White Wine Jus) and I asked to substitute asparagus for the green beans. I was told they were out of asparagus. When the meal arrived it was delicious except for the green beans, which were too al dente (IMHO) relative to the smooth other textures and flavors in the meal. Asparagus would be better. My companion had the Risotto ($18 Red Beet Risotto, Swiss Chard, Capriole Farms Goat Cheese, Toasted Pine Nuts, White Balsamic Reduction, Crispy Leeks). She said it was very good. For dessert we had a peach cake a la mode; not bad but a little ordinary -- it would have been better with tea. read more

If you want a non college bar experience, please come here! The drinks are great and a friend and I really enjoyed a whiskey paired dinner they organized. read more

Nice surprise when taking our son to college. Beautiful restaurant in a suburban neighborhood. Exceptional selection of cocktails. Bartender was knowledgeable about all varieties of liquor, very friendly and attentive. The feta dip, pita and roasted eggplant provided a lovely balance of items to dip including grilled pita. The kids eating with us didn't leave a morsel of the tenderloin sliders , the scallops with fennel provided a perfect blend of flavors and the pork tenderloin entree was perfectly cooked paired with delicious gnocchi. Host staff was personable and accommodating , waiter Andrew was attentive. We will be back. read more

This is one of my favorite spots in Bloomington to grab a cocktail or glass of wine with friends. It is a spot that doesn't attract the student population so you typically have a nice evening without the party crowd. Some of my favorite dishes include the goat cheese starter and the C3 burger (although the menu changes often, these two items are consistently included.) The bar tender is a lot of fun to chat with and makes a great cocktail. Try the spiced pineapple rum- If you love it, buy a bottle. You can only buy it here! read more

C3 Bar - The basil gimlet - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Bloomington, Indiana

Bloomington needed a bar like this! The atmosphere is amazing and it's a nice change of pace if you're looking for a fancier night out. The filet sliders and hush puppies are phenomenal, and the menu has a lot of variety. The cocktails are made well and I was very impressed with the overall presentation of everything. read more

Absolutely wonderful bar with relaxed atmosphere -- quieter than your average bar which is nice for holding conversation without having to scream over ear splitting music. The Tuesday special - $5 Manhattans, Martinis, and Old Fashioneds - is a steal, especially considering the quality. Servers are friendly and personable -- I appreciate that they remembered me and were more than happy to accommodate my party of 6-8 people. Highly recommend! read more

Awesome place! Only reason I didn't do 5 stars is because it's really dark in here and I have a "thing" about being able to see what I'm eating, so I sat at the bar next to the window. read more

C3 Bar - Yum - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Bloomington, Indiana

Amazing, the staff was superb and the food was unbelievable. The burger was cooked to perfection and the bacon had the perfect level of crunch. read more

We have really enjoyed some meals here. In the nice weather, seated outside, it feels like Southern California, in most respects except the bougainvillea. There a nice bar, with massive clear ice for the brown drinks, and reasonable wine selections. The filet slider made it to the dinner menu; they are very good. The kitchen has a nice way with fish and with vegetables, and plates things nicely like in the 90's. Inside it's dark but not quite as intimate as you might like in the main dining room. The service is attentive, and informative, but not intrusive, and we have enjoyed some very good desserts. Some days the fries are fantastic, but other days seasoned to death; take a chance? The aoli is good with them. Go with your sweetie, go with your pals, or your office or business associates; recommend another choice for the kids. read more

Wow! C3 is truly a premiere Bloomongton eatery. One of the things that means a lot to us - locally sourced foods - from the farmers market, locally farmed meat, etc. Executive Chef, Matthew Smith is killing it. P.S. the mushroom soup is to die for and this is the only place to get a real burger - PERIOD. read more

I enjoyed this restaurant, I really did! At least in terms of great food and excellent service. Why do I only give it three stars then, you ask? Unfortunately, we had an unexpected guest at our table...of the Blattella variety. Luckily we still managed to enjoy our meal and drinks, but it was a questionable experience, overall. read more

First time visit tonight. Will definitely be going back. Amazing food and drink and service.

Nice place. Wines by the glass from a tap. Seems to keep it very fresh. A bit on the pricey side, but a good fit for the neighborhood. Will come back. read more

Quality bar, quality food. We sat at the bar tonight, suggestions from the bar staff were spot on. Shared sliders, frites, risotto. All were excellent. Table service, bar service, and wonderful outside seating. We will go back as often as possible. read more

The flatbread was AMAZING! Great ambiance and cocktails for a fun date night. Staff was very friendly and next time we are in Bloomington we will be back! read more

C3 isn't usually on my radar - especially for carryout - but OMG I'm glad that I ordered curbside pickup from there tonight!! The staff was friendly and efficient on the phone. The pickup was smooth. I wish that I had some photos of the food but I devour it before I felt compelled to write a 5 star review (and I rarely review restaurants). I am so happy now -- I AM IN HEAVEN!! Thank you C3! read more

Perfection! I've been here a few times and I find it consistently great in service and food and drink preparation. This is exactly what I've been waiting for in Bloomington- a bar that is clean and has house specialty drinks that include non-conventional liquors. The decor is different, a bit western safari, but it comes together nicely. I've had just about everything on the menu as far as food, and I love the fries and the array of sauces that come alongside it. The mac and cheese is also very satisfying, especially for the size of the bar. The drinks do not overwhelm your tastebuds in alcohol or sugar, but you will taste and feel it sooner or later. I loved this little place so much I had a small murder mystery dinner in the large room, and the staff was very fun and kept up with us the whole night. They do not take reservations for the larger room so I had to get there early enough to hold the room down. Overall, a great place for a low-key casual or classy night out with friends and I'll keep coming out just for that. read more

The drinks were phenomenal. Our server was attentive initially but wasn't very helpful in answering questions about the menu. I had the chef's special pasta, which was delicious. My boyfriend had the pork tenderloin. When he cut into the meat, it was underdone. Our server became MIA after our dinners were served so it took quite awhile to even notify her that the temperature of his meat was unsafe to eat. When she finally returned, she said she would ask them to "put it in a little longer." Because of her knowledge gap with the menu, we assumed she didn't understand that you don't generally put a piece of meat that has already been cut and partly consumed back into the oven. Unfortunately that is exactly what happened. After a short period of time, she returned with the same piece of tenderloin, now charred on the edges and served on a bread plate. It was horrendous. We were so baffled, we didn't know what to say. He was full at that point (after eating off my plate during the long wait), so we just ended the evening without dessert. There was no compensation offered or provided on the bill to account for the poor quality of food nor did the manger get notified to extend her apologies. We were extremely disappointed. When you spend $100 on dinner, you expect it to be prepared in a safe and sanitary manner. Neither of those things happened for my boyfriend. read more

Love the custom drinks they have. Delicious small plates and attentive staff. Great atmosphere, but I usually sit at the bar to chat up the mixologists. read more

Excellent... from start to finish .. Apps - delish Drinks . Perfect Main - excellent Desert- YUM Service --- AA plus My son goes to school At the University.. this was such a great change from all the local places Will definitely go back read more

Very good restaurant. The food and the drinks were very good. Went there for post-graduation dinner. We got the Frites, Sliders and the chicken salad and the market plate. Today's Market plate was a ribeye with a potato and bacon hash. Very delicious! read more

Every time I go to C3, I hope to be wowed and impressed. That being said, every time I go things are just lackluster. The wine menu is very limited and there is a large disparity between quality of bottles. Also, the mixed drinks are pretty hit or miss, depending on whom is bartending for the evening. And the food, it's ok. Nothing abysmal, but nothing to rave about either. Probably the most egregious offense was the service. I understand that bars and restaurants sell through bottles of wine/liquor. But, being lied to by the management and server, stating it is exactly the same thing, is wrong. The wonderful world of smartphones allows me to look up the producer of a bottle of wine. Don't try and say it's a different line from the same producer. Be honest and say you are offering this as a replacement. The reason my friends and I continue to patron the establishment is due to the atmosphere. C3 definitely has that going for it. read more

For better or for worse, Bloomington has a reputation for a gorgeous and rigorous university and a pleasantly funky vibe. C3 and the mixed-use development which houses it are so antithetical to what Bloomington has come to represent that perhaps it really is what residents have felt was needed for some time. But it's simultaneously so generic and so inconsistently conceived, I cannot imagine its becoming a Bloomington fixture. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong. First, the whole Renwick place. The C3 website calls it "quaint," but it resembles a residential subdivision from Disneyworld. Nothing looks lived in, everything looks fake. It's fitting that it's located down the street from the mall and the glut of chain restaurants. C3 has a nice outdoor seating area looking over the nondesript plaza of the Renwick Village Center (the business part of the area). Yes, it's a "village," and the street is really called Piazza Drive. The interior of C3 closely resembles a hotel bar. The one exception is a seating enclave to the left of the front door which is actually quite cozy and inviting. A few drinks on the menu show some imagination, and they're prepared decently. The name C3 comes from the bar's plot on the site plan for the development, but they've adapted it to mean "crafted cocktails and cuisine." Or something like that. They're obviously going for a sophisticated cocktail lounge with exciting drinks and complementary small plates and bar snacks. But the small plates ain't so small, and they're much more reminiscent of the owner's other establishments in the state (Scotty's Brewhouse, Three Wise Men) than the swanky joint the place aspires to be. The heavy, heavy sweet potato skins would not be out of place at Scotty's, nor would the fillet sliders. And then -- bam! - there's mac and cheese. This is not the kind of food one imagines accompanying sleek craft cocktails. The crab and corn hush puppies were delicious, and the obligatory charcuterie plate is offered, but where is the bowl of nuts? Where are the olives, maybe some duck confit, some cheese with preserves? In their place is -- I kid you not -- grilled cheese with a bowl of tomato soup. Perhaps I am just wishing C3 were a different kind of place, but the imitation swank surrounding it is just oppressive. On top of that, our server mentioned that he was happy the place was priced and located beyond the reach of most students, since students don't tend to tip very well. Bloomington deserves better. Maybe the place will evolve with time. read more

4.5 stars for drinks. 3 for food. Hubby and I needed a quick "date night" away from baby while staying with his fam. This place was close enough to their house that I didn't have anxiety about leaving baby without mama (and the corresponding boob juice). We sat in a cute cozy lounge-like corner. The drinks are fun and elaborate and strong. We had 3 cocktails and a glass of wine. The stand out was def the "The Frontiersman" which (spoiler alert) is served in a snifter and presented with a cover which upon reaching the table is lifted to unveil wafts of hickory wood smoke. Very cool. We love the smell of a campfire so we were on board. I found the cocktail menu to be fairly priced. The food was ok. Beef filet sliders were delicious we ended up getting 3 of those ($18 total kinda pricey). We also got the pork belly kimchi taco which was meh. The kimchi was very bland. The tempura asparagus was crispy and light but the flavored "aioli" tasted like straight mayonnaise. Hate that. Also got the smoked trout rangoon which actually was really good. Great smokey flavor. Rich yet light. Came with 4 small rangoons. The dipping sauce overpowered them in my opinion but was a spicy ginger (possibly house made?) sauce that went great with the fries. We also got the fries which supposedly were chive and chili oil. Lies. They were plain fries. Served with roasted red pepper ketchup (heinz ketchup) and more of that "flavored" aioli (aka plain mayo). All in all this place has a great innovative bar menu, but they're charging a lot for small portions of very basic food. read more

C3 Bar - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Bloomington, Indiana

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It has a nice ambience and dinner is accompanied by music. The food portion sizes are a bit too small.

They like their regulars much more than strays. We were almost non-existent as we sat at the bar for 3.5 hours. Waiting for service. Only had 2 drinks each in that time. Bartenders were flexing as they shook drinks for the older female customers. Won't go back. read more

I was delighted to hear of this place after local favorite The Rail closed which was always our go to for small plate stuff. My parents were in town so we got to split many of the things 4 ways which enabled us to try many different things. The Positives All the food was delicious. I particularly enjoyed the filet sliders and the special vegetable which featured edamame and feta. The grilled cheese and tomato soup were very nice as well. I order a Sazarac and also enjoyed the wine on tap feature. I liked that many drinks featured bourbon and they had multiple options, not just sweet cocktails like many places which I do not like. Service was also good and the atomsphere was very welcoming. The Negatives Really only one, but it's kind of a big one for this type of restaurant. Despite advertising as a small plate menu, their portion sizes were much too large. We got the sweet potato skins which were 2 complete sweet potatoes halved with all the fixings. Since we were there with 4 people, it wasn't as much of an issue, but when just the two of us go, we enjoy the small plates so we can try a few bites of several dishes. With these portion sizes, we'll really be able to only split 2 or 3 max. I will definitely return, but the frequency of those returns may be slightly less due to the portion sizes. read more

Our evening began with being told a cocktail was unavailable because they had no grapefruit. This place holds itself out as serving "crafted cocktails" They initially told us they were pressing the punch (a two serving cocktail) and informed us later there would be no punch because they had no grapefruit. In the meantime, the non-punch cocktail had been delivered. New cocktails were ordered but a very long time passed before they were delivered. 30+ minutes passed between our arrival and drinks being delivered to the remaining two of us. We ordered the chicken and biscuits appetizer to share among three, were informed there were two chicken legs and biscuits. We were offered a third leg and wing for $5.00. Easy peasy. However, the chicken was not cooked. We returned it. We were then told that the restaurant would pay for our first round of drinks (and of course, our entire cocktail order had been bolluxed). We ordered main courses. Two of us ordered wine with the meal. The meal came, no wine. A different server was nearby and we asked him to check on the wine. He apologized and let us know they "were polishing the glasses," and that the wine would be right out. Not sure whether the sauvignon blanc really was, because the woman who delivered it handed it over and said pinot grigio. We honestly couldn't tell which it was. The white fish entree consisted of three small medallions of fish ($25.00). The shrimp cocktail consisted of 4 shrimp. The New York Strip was a nice portion. All of these were very good, with the shrimp and white fish being pricey given the portion size. We were told that our bill would be credited with the cost of the chicken and biscuits which weren't cooked. When the bill arrived, guess what? Yep! Chicken and biscuits still on the bill. The server revised the check but removed the chicken and biscuits for the reason "Personal dislike." We found that frustrating because the chicken was not cooked which seemed more like a food preparation problem to us. Unlikely that anyone would "like" raw chicken. Service was poor and with our increasing frustration, the quality of service declined further, with the server being quite abrupt by the end of the night. The manager said apologized and said "sometimes a table slips through." Guess ours was the one tonight. Reading some other reviews, service seems to be a persistent problem. Save yourself the aggravation and go to one of Bloomington's good restaurants. read more

Beautiful! The staff are very educated on their menu of crafted cocktails and cuisine. Drinks were small, but strong. I was disappointed not to see a Bloody Mary on the menu! They are my favorite and it was surprising they did not take their expertise to specialize and make this drink unique at their place. Outside and inside are equally gorgeous. read more

Highly over priced. Very small menu selection. When moving into Renwick, we were so excited to have a little neighborhood eatery... unfortunately after our first visit we never returned. Some of our friends and colleagues love this place, but I was not impressed with the 3 tiny sandwiches that I received for $15. read more

I can't say enough good things about this establishment. There simply isn't a wrong way to go with the plates. As far as the cocktails, I've only tried three and all of them have been spectacular. The hush puppies, goat cheese, and tacos are terrific! I'm so glad to finally enjoy a small plate / tapas restaurant in Bloomington. read more

My friends and I walked in here on a Friday night during dinner rush. We sat at the bar since there were no tables available. The bar manager and his staff were not only super friendly, but they put on quite a show making their craft cocktails. The salmon was phenomenal. My friends had the smoked trout deviled eggs and the C3 burger which were equally amazing. I started off with the El Jimador Refresco which was an excellent ode to the fabulous Palomas I had while in Mexico. I then had to try the Cinderita. I am a lover of all things hot and spicy and this cocktail is not for the faint of hear. I am trying to plan my next trip to the area so I can eat there again. Like someone else said, the only thing I can fault them for is being too small, but we were told that they are planning on expanding the restaurant in the near future. read more

In the last 2 years, the prices of the food and drinks have steadily increased while the quality of the food and service has decreased. In our most recent trip, the hostess became distracted by a member of the waitstaff and left us standing in the middle of the restaurant, unsure where to sit. Our food was delayed, and when it arrived it was extremely over-cooked. My once favorite filet sliders were nearly impossible to chew, my $10 salad consisted of no more than 10 leaves of lettuce, and my husband's "medium" burger was cooked to a crisp. Overall, I'm very disappointed in the direction C3 has gone. It used to be one of our favorite date-night restaurants. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be returning. read more

So I really did not love this place at all. I love tapas/small plates and so many of my Btown friends raved about the place, so after my husband and I moved here we knew we had to try it out. Was it awful? No, it was as mediocre as you can get. Would this restaurant ever survive in a town larger than Bloomington? Highly unlikely. We felt like C3 bar was trying really hard to be something more than it truly is. I did, however, love the ambience of the place and it was decorated really cute. For the price, I expected a higher caliber and quality of food and what I got was simply average and bland. Sorry C3, I wanted to love your food, but alas I did not. read more

My husband and I went here last night for a date night. We made reservations and enjoyed a drink at the bar before we were seated. The bartender, Andrew, was knowledgeable and made us delicious cocktails to our non-sweet liking. When we were finished, we checked in with the host and was seated right away. Unfortunately, we were seated by the noisiest table I've ever encountered (and it only had two women at it) and they were talking about highly inappropriate topics, not suitable for eating dinner. I asked our waiter, Adam, if we can be moved somewhere quiet, as it was a date for us. He quickly went to the host and made the accommodation, no questions asked. We were then sat in a corner booth/table hybrid. It was quiet and I could actually hear what my husband was saying to me. Adam was a FANTASTIC waiter. And the food. Oh. My. Word. So delicious!!! I got the chicken and my husband had the pork. I can't think of enough adjectives to describe it. We will definitely be returning, as the staff and food could were out of this world amazing. read more

Great bar and patio with an excellent location. Live jazz is a huge bonus. We love the sliders, mussels, scallop ceviche, lobster bisque and the charcuterie plate here. The deserts are also surprisingly good. read more

Great atmosphere, love the farm to table concept and the "Taste of Indiana" feel. Great date please. Little tough to find.

Soooo goood! Went here with a bunch of friends that I had met on Bumble Bff a couple of weeks ago! They had great food and were very attentive to us! read more

Terrible service. I had an extremely disappointing experience and will never return. Do yourself a favor and find yourself a new spot in town. read more

This bar has really gone downhill recently. I do not know if this is due to new workers or something but they have been rude lately and this just is not a place I would like to spend time at anymore. It is too pricey and just not the best environment. I have also seen other reviews where people have had dirty dishes and this is something I can agree with. Disgusting to get a drink and see specs in the glass! read more