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    Fat Dan's Deli

    3.8 (70 reviews)
    ModerateDelis, Burgers
    Open 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

    Fat Dan's Deli Photos

    FAT DAN'S DELI ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Fat Dan's Deli

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    BLT
    M. Spencer H.

    Service was speedy and the food was delicious. I came in on a slow night and they were near shutting down but I had a drive ahead of me and they let me order. Set me up nicely for my drive and the BLT was fabulous. I would absolutely come back here for a sit down next time I'm in Bloomington.

    Chicago dog
    Kate D.

    Came in after a basketball game and were told to seat ourselves. It took a few minutes for us to be greeted at our table and we placed our drink orders. We then never saw that girl again. Eventually, another waitress saw us waiting and apologized and took over our table. She got our drinks and took our food orders. The food itself didn't take a super long time to come out, but wasn't fast either. I had the Chicago dog. It tasted good, and I thought for the price and coming with chips, it is a pretty good value! My husband and I also split a large fry. Wow, this was a lot of fries. Definitely could have stuck with a regular. The menu calls these "the best fries in the universe". I mean, they were just good. It then took us quite a while to get the bill and pay. I guess I was just under the impression that this was a quick place to dine, and not long meal given that they serve hot dogs and fries and we're not very busy.

    East coast sub (special)
    Jayden D.

    First time in, and had an ok experience. Walked in around 7:30 on a Sunday night after an IU basketball game- was expecting them to be busy, and they were. My wife and I were surprised that it was a sit down restaurant- we were thinking it would be a place you order at the counter and sit yourself down at- we were obviously wrong. The bartender/server told us to take a seat wherever. Took her about 15mins to get to us and get our drink orders. About another 10 minutes goes by, and no drinks. Another waitress helps a table sitting right next to us, and asks us if we had been helped, to which we responded we had been but it had been a bit. She came back five minutes later with our drinks and took our order. I had the sub special- east coast sub that I had toasted. Overall, pretty decent sandwich, and not a bad price point for $10 for a sandwich and chips. Plenty full of toppings, and had a little bit of a kick to it with regards to spice. My wife and I decided to get a large fry to share. Tons of fries. Too many actually. They were listed on the menu as "best in the universe" but were pretty mediocre for me- pretty greasy in all honesty. I know it's a college town, so not expecting greatness- but still weren't my thing. The coleslaw was pretty bad. The cabbage was discolored, like it had been sitting for a few days- there's a reason- it's not very good. Mayonnaise overwhelms it, with little other taste. Waitresses only swung by after we were done eating so never got a refill, as by the time we sat in the beginning, waited on the food, and ate, it was already 8:45 and we were ready to drive back home. I get they are understaffed, but I would prefer they turn away tables if they can't serve them properly than keep taking on tables and deliver poor service. I think I would return again. Maybe it was an off night. The sandwich had good promise, and the fries were decent. I would just stay away from the cole slaw.

    Pastrami sandwich with chips

    The hot pastrami was very flavorful, maybe a tad more meat would have made it better. Beer was cold and refreshing.

    Chicago Dog
    Sofia M.

    Fat Dans is awesome. Especially da fries. And the Cuban. Everything I've had is bomb.

    Fries are big enough to share!
    Abigail W.

    This is a great place to go with a big group of friends! They have yummy fries and pretty good sandwiches. The staff is fun and helpful. Because there's often groups, service can be slow. But it's in a good walkable location for the school. I've heard their wings are good! But haven't had a chance to try them yet.

    Menu
    Sean V.

    Place is huge inside despite what it looks like outside. They say it used to be some type of middle eastern restaurant that used only one side of the building. Now this is Fat Dan Deli and they use both sides of the building. Fun fact I guess. Food was ok. I know allot of people will like it but it was ok for me. The fries and beers seems the way to go. But they definitely have allot choices for food. This place is definitely made for watching a sporting event on TV. Come with ya guys or come with ya girls. They sell local craft beers which was Fantastic!! Great choices! They do not sell hard liquor though. I asked for a Long Island and they were like sorry only craft beers ‍ Staff and bartenders were extremely nice and generous Side note: they have a basketball shot thing for FREE. Drinking and playing that equals a good time with friends

    Wells St. Fat Burger
    Benjamin C.

    The Wells St. Fat Burger was fantastic with an explosion of flavor assortments - savory, sweet, tangy, and salty. It also had an amalgamation of textures with the beef, onions, and gorgonzola. The beef was like a smashburger, but it still was a decent sized (stated 1/2 lb). The only thing that kept this from a 5 star rating was the chips on the side. My recommendation would be to get some decent fries (even average will do), up the price a bit, and make the fries an automatic with the excellent burger.

    Front entrance
    Kathryn S.

    This was my first visit to Fat Dans Deli and I was impressed! I loved that the location was easy to find, lots of parking options when we were there, and I was overall happy with my meal. We walked in on a Saturday afternoon and we're able to get seated instantly (definitely not always the case in downtown Bloomington). Our sever was kind, quick, and accommodating with answering our questions. We ordered the Dirty Dogs to start and they were so yummy! I truthfully did not expect to like them because loaded tater tots is not something I eat often. BUT, it was so good! We also got different kinds of sandwiches (more details in the photos) and everyone in my party enjoyed them. I'm excited to go back and try something different!

    Chicago Dog YUM!! Taste of home

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    2 months ago

    Delicious food. Cheap drinks. Great service. Ask for Piper. She is really quick and cool.

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    3 months ago

    One of the best sandwiches I have ever had. Ordered The Italian Beef Sandwich and already can't wait to come back to have it again!!

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    1 year ago

    Great service and food. Served on butcher paper. Great idea to save on dishwashing! I eat here when I am in downtown Bloomington.

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    3 years ago

    Had wings and a Chicago dog! Both were good! Great service! Friendly waitstaff! Will be back!

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    5 years ago

    I can't get over how much I Iove this place. I keep trying new things and keep loving them. The fries are indeed wonderful.

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    3 years ago

    It was delicious, and I would go again. The portion of fries is very large. Street parking.

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    Bub's Burgers & Ice Cream - Creole elk burger

    Bub's Burgers & Ice Cream

    3.7(216 reviews)
    0.4 mi
    $$

    Came in at about 6p yesterday, Saturday, for the first time…read more Pros - Nice interior, with plenty of seating (and also have outdoor seating. - Burgers had great flavor overall (the seasoning was good) - Homemade buns were super yummy -Sweet potato fries w/marshmellow sauce were great Cons - Prices were a bit steep. For a .25lb elk burger, and half pound steak and egg burger with one side fries, and one sweet potato fries, it was $55. It was good, but a bit pricy for what you get. (Side of fries, or anything else cost extra, fyi) - Eh on the service. Started ok, but went down a little. Be warned you do have to pay to park.

    Let's start with the parking.. drive through down town Bloomington at 2pm and it's so hard to find…read moreparking. The college kids are everywhere and the one way streets along with construction makes it a mess. Bub's has parking and the pay meters are cheap. I think it's only a dollar an hour. Bubs is close to downtown without all the inconveniences. At 2pm today, we got right in. We each had a Vanilla Coke and split a burger and fry then followed with ice cream. The burger was delicious and juicy. Sorry, I devoured it too quick to get a picture. We had a great time playing uno while waiting for our food, although it didn't take long to get our food. Our waiter was nice and the restaurant is clean. I do recommend bringing a sweat shirt. It was freezing in there. Also, prices are reasonable. Receipt as pictured.

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    BuffaLouie's - Medium Traditional Wings with Celery & Carrots with a Soft Drink

    BuffaLouie's

    3.9(456 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    BuffaLouie's is a Bloomington staple that I failed to adequately utilize during my time at IU…read more However, anytime that I go back to visit, this is always a stop on my trip. The wings are simply the best. There's plenty of sauces with different heat levels to choose from. It's a great environment in a prime location on campus. Just expect crowds during games.

    Onion Rings: 10/10 -- i would come back just for these!!! the crisp was immaculate and the batter…read morewas so good the onion stayed in tact with each bite. the house sauce was a creamy aoili-like mix which was super yummy too. Buffalo Chicken: 6/10 -- my sister got this and rated it a 6 (because there are no 7s on my scale). for $15+ and no side of fries this was kind of a scam sandwich lol #recessionindicator Sweet Lou's: 6/10 -- heavy on the sweet i was a fool i looooove bbq but their special "q sauce" was a bit like molasses rather than classic bbq. the patty, onion ring, and bacon were perfect but i literally could not taste them without scraping off the sticky sauce. again, $15+ and no side i feel like the flavor wasn't enough for me to recommend this to anyone. Tender & Fries: 6/10 -- what in the walmart brand frozen curly fries without salt nonsense on a plate was this... they got us LOOOOL... great value??? YEAH hard pass!!!! I was visiting my sister and she recommended this place because she had heard about it from fellow IU students. My thoughts: come for the IU memorabilia, and ambience, eat an order of onion rings (maybe sip a beer) while you watch a game and leave! The food was mediocre at best and wayyy overpriced.

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    BuffaLouie's - Buffalo Chicken Salad

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    The Tap - Beer Cheese Burger

    The Tap

    4.0(429 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    Really cool place - they have a ton of beer to try! Their beer menu (which was fully printed and…read moreavailable at our table - no scanning a QR code or squinting to read a board at the bar) had a whole page of beers by The Tap Brewery, followed by two pages of guest craft beer representing every major type of beer and with some unique options, all on tap. For drinks, cocktails (and a few mocktails) and a smaller selection of wine are also available. I wanted to get beer but I was kind of tempted by the cocktails. My first choice was a flight that included a mix of The Tap beers and guest beers, but the waiter came back after taking the order and told me that they could only do flights with their beers but could let me sample the beers I wanted to try, so I did that, and the samples were probably around 2 oz each so I basically got half a flight. After that, I ended up ordering a real flight of their beer. The Tap beers I tried were: Kill the Lights stout (regular and barrel-aged), Tapenator dark lager, Frost Bite winter ale, Nefarious Nectar blonde. Guest beers: Jacob Leinenkugel white mocha stout, Weihanstephaner Hefeweissbier, BrewDog Winter Staycation. Not going to waste space reviewing all of these, but they were all fantastic. I was really grateful that they let me sample so many! And they also have food. The menu isn't huge but does have some variety, and it's not just basic pub food. I had the ahi tuna crunch bowl and it was pretty good! It kind of had the vibe of stuff thrown together in a poke bowl, but it worked and I thought the fish was done really well. Our waiter was wonderful! He was really friendly and just the right amount of attentive. My friend and I stayed for a while talking after we had paid and he didn't rush us out at all. Granted, it was a pretty quiet night. We both really liked the vibe of the place. I would love to be back soon!

    I've been to the tap many a time - but this particular visit I was focused on the fries. See - I…read morewas on a quest to find the best fry in Bloomington. So here's how the tap came out: It was a busy Saturday night. Easy to grab a high top, but being over 30 - it's not fun sitting on a bar stool. That's fine. The service - like I said, they were busy. But one of my friends never even got his drink, and he ended up telling the waitress to cancel it because we were already eating our fries. The fries - - 4 dipping sauces equals 5 stars! Love the ability to try different flavors and find your fav. My fav is the pesto aioli because its unique! I give the seasoning 4 stars, and it was a little heavy handed, and kind of overpowered the sauces. Texture was good, some were a lil soggy, overall they were good! I've had the other food at the tap, and always enjoyed myself. Definitely worth a visit - but be prepared if they're super slammed!

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    The Tap - Tex Mex Steak Wrap

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    Cardinal Spirits - Tomato soup and grilled cheese

    Cardinal Spirits

    4.5(246 reviews)
    0.8 mi
    $$

    Creative and delicious cocktail menu and wonderful food. Service is always great and the vibe is…read morelively.

    Pretty impressed! Decided to come here for Saturday lunch with my family and made a reservation…read moreonline at the last minute, but we would have been able to get in without. Without the patio open though, I can see it filling up easily. The atmosphere is fun (board games!) and bright but somewhat industrial with the distillery next door. The staff was friendly and very enthusiastic but just a little overbearing for me. The samples they brought around of two of their spirits (a gin and amaro) were very good and much appreciated. As appealing as the cocktails sounded, I didn't feel like drinking, so I got the Last Call mocktail. I couldn't pick up much 5 spice, but it was still a pleasant and refreshing light drink. I had a sip of my parents' old fashioned and Smokin' in the Girls' Room, and those were both really good - I was really into the lapsang souchong tea-infused rum in the Smokin' in the Girls' Room and would've ordered it for myself if I'd been drinking. To eat, I had a mushroom melt (the veganized version with vegan cheese) with the OMG fries. I really liked the sandwich; I loved the giardiniera and the jus, and you usually can't get that sort of thing in a vegetarian or vegan sandwich, so I was really happy to have it here and thought it was done well. The OMG fries were also really good. I don't like fries if they're plain, but these were heavily seasoned with a delicious spice blend. The vegan version of the fries omits the truffle aioli that they normally come with, but they were plenty flavorful with just ketchup. We shared a Thai tea creme brulee for dessert. I am crazy about Thai tea so I expected to like this, and it was everything I hoped for. The tea flavour was nice and strong, and the tapioca pearls were a nice little enhancement. They do an auto-gratuity of 20% no matter the party size, which I'm not completely opposed to, but I think if you're doing that you at least need to have a note on the menu rather than have the waiter tell you as they're giving you the bill, or better (in my opinion) to just raise the prices by 20% and sell yourself as a no-tipping restaurant. But it wasn't a huge deal in this situation; our waitress was good and we would've left a good tip anyway.

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    Cardinal Spirits
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    Cardinal Spirits - Indoor Bar

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    Fat Dan's Deli - delis - Updated May 2026

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