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    Pub II

    2.9 (133 reviews)
    InexpensiveAmerican, Sports Bars
    Open 11:00 am - 1:00 AM (Next day)

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    PUB II ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Divey
    Casual
    Loud
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Pub II

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    A 1/2 order of fried cheese balls and beer.  Hard to beat.
    Fred M.

    This review was 30-years in the making. I frequented this institution back in the early 90's when I was a student at ISU. I graduated in 1991, and haven't been back since...until last weekend (July 10, 2020). I'm here to tell you the fried cheese balls are as good as we remember. We are in the midst of a Pandemic but wanted to get out of Chicagoland. We didn't want to leave Illinois because most states appear to be less cautious. My wife suggested visiting ISU (where we met). What a great idea. The entire Blooming-Normal area was relatively quiet (our hotel was at 10% capacity). But I digress. Our first stop was Pub II. We sat in the beer garden. Servers and customers were following the rules and taking the necessary precautions. Prices were very reasonable (be sure to inquire about the daily drink specials). The service was excellent. My rating might be a little generous, but what can I say: I'm feeling generous. Get the Cheese Balls, and believe the hype. Can't wait till my next visit!

    Fried Cheese Balls
    Ashley M.

    My boyfriend is an ISU alumnus so he was pretty excited to show me his old stomping grounds and one of his favorite pastime hangout bars, the Pub II. The Pub II is a somewhat shady-looking building with limited parking, but there's around 30 marked parking spots for patrons across the street at the Ace Hardware. The entrance is not too obvious and upon entering, we were carded. We arrived at around 2pm on a Saturday during March Madness, and the place is jam packed! We find a booth in the far corner, which appears to be the only booth available at the time and we sit down although the table had not been cleaned. Shortly after, we were greeted by a server who rushed us though the ordering process. I don't blame her since it seems she was one of the only servers handling a full house of college students. She brought our drinks and we placed an appetizer order - one of my boyfriend's favorites, the fried cheese balls, which is served with a side of Ragu and ranch. The appetizer took a full twenty minutes to arrive to our table, and my boyfriend warned that service isn't one of their strongpoints, but when they did arrive, they were hot, cheesy, and delicious - we finished the entire basket in minutes. By this time, my boyfriend had requested another beer but never received it, and as the crowd died down, it seemed our server took a long break. When we finally spotted her and asked for the check, she realized she forgot his beer and settled the entire bill by charging us only one beer, so we paid $3.75 for a beer, a root beer, and an appetizer. We ended up tipping 100% because we both felt it was an honest mistake and during such a busy time, mistakes happen! Overall, I love the cheese balls here and service is not too terrible for a place packed with college students. The pub is full of interesting decorations, plenty of TVs, and the like - it is exactly what one would expect from a college bar!

    $4.50 24 oz Stella. I'll take it.

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    11 years ago

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    12 years ago

    Its a college bar! Cheap food and beer. Service is dependent on the croud size. Lots of tv's. Fun place!

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    Page 4 of 4

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    Review Highlights - Pub II

    Definitely known as a college bar and as an ISU alum is a great place to reminisce about college.

    Mentioned in 13 reviews

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    Buffalo Wild Wings - Buffalo Wild Wings

    Buffalo Wild Wings

    2.9(97 reviews)
    4.1 mi
    $$

    Food is usually always consistent. Servers are usually always good. Certain nights you can come…read morehere and always guarantee you seat at bar

    I suspect at this point, few people need or use reviews for such places as 'B-Dubs', I mean they're…read morea kind of 'seen one, seen''em all' franchise by this point with a nationally consistent menu, a large number of wide-ranging beers, a fairly efficient waitress/food-runner model of service, and sports on TVs everywhere. We've generally (and somewhat surprisingly) been big fans of the chain, in fact I've been to the original site, off campus at Duke! But we are rarely there on a prime Saturday night...and we won't likely ever be back during rush hour there again. The problem is that when the kitchen falls behind, the service delivery machine that sits behind it is not equipped, nor empowered to fix things. It will make you remember all the reasons why these chain restaurants irritate some and drive others crazy. In our case, our food took twice the time it normally does, and then was delivered lukewarm at best, then redelivered without half the platter, meaning an out of process trip BACK to the kitchen and more time were needed. Then to top all off...when we inquired if there were any extenuating circumstances, we were told that they were just experiencing the normal Sat night dinner rush in the kitchen, ultimately offering no other explanation or contrition. Altho hungry, we weren't in any particular hurry, how about a small discount, or even just a beer to buy some additional patience. I appreciate a well run business as much as the next guy, but first of all, if the same thing happens every Saturday night, maybe the work schedules need to be tweaked. Then, when things DO break down, you are ultimately only as good as your front of house people and their ability to explain (or mask) the problems and keep customers happy. It's pretty clear the servers/bartenders at BWW have no interest or incentive to do so. We've now lost interest too.

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    Pub II - tradamerican - Updated August 2026

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