Fusion Brew was recommended to me by my goddaughter and ISU alum when I was looking for hot…read morechocolate for a marching band. Fusion Brew was SO accommodating. They filled the band's 5 gallon cambros with 12 gallons of delicious hot chocolate. I had to ask for the ingredients for the allergy information and I was pleasantly surprised that there were minimal ingredients. They worked with us to make sure they had staffing to ensure the kids for the hot chocolate--well, hot! I had to drop off the cambros in the afternoon and took advantage of the stop and purchased myself a large blended chai. SO GOOD! It was not too spicy, not too sweet, and the unique blended option was perfect for a hot afternoon, On the flip side, the hot chocolate was perfect for the cool night! Not too sweet, rich, and made the kids happy!

The flavor of the espresso is good, the hot lattes are pretty aerated and are more like cappuccinos…read morethan lattes.

Drive-thru coffee shops are blooming on here recently…read more I suppose that having visited a few drive-thru coffeehouses, this opens the prior closed door on visiting them for my blog. I figured that the lack of being able to experience the vibe and feel for them shouldn't exclude them from my sampling as they can have their own style and their own uniqueness. On a trip to Bloomington with my dad to get lunch, I needed coffee. I slept all morning so trying to get one before we left was a no-go. I figured that since we are visiting Bloomington, I would just visit one that I still have on my list and Blooms Coffee Bar was my choice for today. I drove around the building to see if there was a walk-up window but no such luck. I pullled up to one window (there was one on each side) and the kind barista asked me to pull around to the other side as that's the proper side to order from. I zoomed on over and asked for a moment to look over the menu before deciding what sounded good. Shockingly, I didn't get my usual americano. I was in town for pigging out and decided to treat myself to the Salty Sweet. My dad said he had 3 cups of coffee already and wasn't in the mood for more. It wasn't busy so the lady said I didn't need to pull around to the other window I was just at to pick up my order. So THAT'S how they operate. The drink was made fairly quick and I dipped to the parking lot behind Bloom's to enjoy my drink as we waited for Flinger's to open at 11am. This drink was just the thing to start my day. It was a perfect balance of sweet and salty (which is how I mis-ordered the drink by saying the name backwards). I even went against my usual order style and got a medium instead of a large. I should've gotten the large cause it went down smooth and fast. I pulled around to the front of the building to try and snap a few photos but ended up pulling out too far so my phone's camera put in some work on getting some decent quick snaps for this blog. I am glad that I've started to add these drive-thru only places to my list as each one has been delicious so far. Take this as a lesson to not limit yourself based on silly notions and assumptions.

Our drinks were really bad. I threw out my drink after a few sips. It tasted like badly flavored…read moreice water. I got a Twilight. My husband said his was bad-the voltage. We will not be coming back here. I do not understand how they have such a high rating, we were extremely disappointed.

Nice new coffee shop in Downs. A little bit bear, but they're going for a fantastic vibe, and the…read morespace has a lot of potential. Excellent baristo, with limited but good coffee and bakery selections.

Zeta is hands-down our favorite coffee place to go. Such a friendly staff, really great choices,…read moreawesome space to be in. The owner is so friendly, and is clearly very passionate about his business. We go as often as we can, play board games, or do a puzzle while we drink our coffee, eat our pastries, and snack on ice cream.

Waste of money. Waste of time. I normally don't post reviews. But this place is just so bad…read more Despite all the reviews that are giving them recommendations over the years to improve, they don't care. Overpriced. Bland. Unorganized and ratchet. My drink was more water and milk than any flavor.

I am a boba fan for life…read more Emily and I booked a trip to Bloomington to try some breweries and she mentioned she never had Boba before so.... luckily there was a Boba place around where we were going. The outside of Boba for Life looks unassuming but once you step inside, you are treated to a visual smorgasbord of art on the wall, BOBA written in tile on the floor, random odds and ends for sale against the wall, and a friendly bobarista. Emily got a strawberry/mango tea and I got the dirty brown sugar boba. The lady was working alone so our drinks took a hot minute to make due to prior people waiting and a lady coming in to place an order. Emily and I browsed the eclectic interior while waiting. Along one wall was a lot of their options painted on the wall. Some of them looked interesting but one of my complaints is that I couldn't quite discern what each drink consisted of. The wall nor menu kind of hinted at what each one contained. There was a few things I wanted to order but just didn't know what they contained. So, I settled on the dirty brown sugar as it sounded like a safe option. We got our drinks and booked it to our next stop. We tried both each other's drinks and I dug the mix she came up with and she dug my brown sugar boba. She did point out that the entire bottom of my drink was brown sugar so I took that as a cue to mix it up a bit before continuing my drink. Aside from the interesting interior, I wouldn't hesitate to come back and try any of the other drinks now that I know what we are working with. Plus boba is fun. It's like a drink and a snack all at once.

Basic place for juice and tea that's nutritious as they say…read morehere. It's nutritious as long as you claim it is. The Spot is another one of these Herbalife things. Lots of these places are popping up, and this is the same as the others. You can get Kool Aid that's apparently healthy, but funny how it can be healthy and so sweet. A lot of basic stuff that's done up all fancy. It does make a few interesting looking shakes. The Herbalife powder they use has milk protein in it though. Even they are unaware of it. Those not wanting that need to get tea. It's about $7 for the small cup. The coolest named one is the Ninja Turtle. It's blue raspberry, lemon tea, lime, and mango. This is actually kind of blue and not that green so not the best name for it really. Good flavored tea but too sweet to be healthy. It's quite questionable if anything is truly healthy and if it's worth getting a plan. They have pretty good flavor though.

Crazy - if (and I am sure it is - can you imagine the trouble a place would get in if it wasn't)…read more These shakes (and yes I tried a tea too) are phenomenal. I had the banana cream pie shake and look forward to trying more (what looks like about 30 or more on their menu). Only 200-300 calories per shake Very good size Just remember this is a replacement meal I can see this as an effective way to losing weight.

Nice coffee shop with delicious cookies. I like the peanut butter. Hot coffee comes in a ceramic…read moremug, which is nice, ceramic plates for the cookies. Nice young man at the cash register who did NOT say "have a nice rest of your day" making my visit perfect.

Absolutely the best cinnamon roll and sugar cookie in town. It's my favorite spot to get a treat. I…read morelove the seasonal, rotating decor inside, the prices are great, and the employees are always really nice.

Who knew vikings could brew up some delicious coffee…read more On a day trip to Bloomington, Emily and I picked a random coffeehouse off my list of ones I have yet to try and we landed on Viking Brews. We both didn't look it up beforehand so we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. As we pulled up, I was surprised to see that there was an attached Viking Liquors and there was a gaming parlor inside as well as a spot for ice cream. I was starving for both food and coffee, as was Emily. But we had birthday lunch plans so I grabbed my usual Americano and decided to get a bagel to hold me over until we got to the restaurant. Emily grabbed a latte concoction that she made up based on the menu offerings. We took a seat at one of the couple tables available and waited a few minutes for our drinks and my bagel. I kid you not........ this was the best bagel I've ever had. Most of the time, a bagel will be dense and tough to pull apart while eating. Not this one. It was light and fluffy and full of flavor despite being a plain one. They use these for their sandwiches and it really makes me want to come back and try one out. As for the coffee, the americano was really good. Nothing to really highlight besides it being about what I prefer from one. Emily was really happy with her latte and I gave it a sip and it was indeed really tasty. The baristas that were working all had to be in high school but had stellar customer service. I asked them for a few of the stickers they put on their cups and they kindly hooked us up. All in all, Viking Brews would be my go-to spot for americanos if I lived in the area but sadly do not. It was a great start to a day full of shenanigans and lost cellphones. Stay caffeinated, my friends.

From the owner: Products: Americano, Coffee, Cold Brew, Espresso Shots,…read moreFrappes, Hot Latte, Iced Latte, Latte, Hot Chocolate, Hot Coffee, Iced Coffee, Bagels, Pastries, Sandwiches, Fountain Drinks, Tea.

Had a good lunch at this Indian restaurant in Bloomington. It has a good location downtown close to…read moreother stuff. Rice N Spice has plenty of options for both meat eaters and vegetarians. Okay prices for lots of food. There's quite a lot on the menu so if you like variety this is a place. Came in and it wasn't busy at lunch. It's got plenty of room. There's seriously more than enough tables. It was pretty clean. There wasn't a powerful smell like at many Indian restaurants. Classic options. Lots of things made with a good amount of spice. It's about $15 for an entree. That's pretty typical for a locally owned Indian restaurant. I got the Bhindi Masala. This is an eggplant entree made with dry mango powder, and has okra and onions. Meals don't come with bread. The options are a few more bucks to get some naan or roti, but these come with rice at least. Good amount of flavor and spices in the entrees. It's one of those places that closes between lunch and dinner for a few hours. They're closed Mondays.

Delicious! Get the Aloo Gobi, the Butter Chicken and Garlic Naan!! Very clean inside and lots of…read moreseating. Thanks for a great meal!

I came here with a group and the review was a mix. However I am gonna talk just about my…read moreexperience. I tried Poke ball and made my own. To start I was blown away with just the number of choices that was available. I personally think I did a pretty good job with my choices and ingredients. And I absolutely loved it. The boba is also pretty good here. So I would even recommend this spot for Boba tea. One thing I would want to share though is the Wasabi is super heated and hot here. Just a tiny dot of wasabi - it was enough to make me cry. Really good stuff !! Ambience is nice and service is reasonably quick.

Pretty okay poke place, I thought portions and prices were reasonable. They were out of quite a few…read moreingredients when we went. Space is every cute and staff was very kind. I appreciated the free miso soup with our poke bowl!

Came on a Saturday during the farmers market. The shop was very crowded and the line was super…read morelong- all the way to the bathroom. Took about 40-45 mins to finally get our coffee after walking in but the baristas were all super kind and apologized for the wait despite it being out of their control and them working diligently. They have a wide assortment of pastries that look absolutely delicious and of course, coffee, with syrup options (they use the 1883 brand), and a seasonal menu. We got the vanilla and the caramel latte, and both were the perfect amount of sweet and had good flavor. Would absolutely recommend!

The food was okay but not worth the price. I haven't tried their coffee but the place is cute and…read moreworkers are kind. Menu is small and not very interesting I'll try other coffee shops instead