If Yelp allowed zero stars, that would be my rating…read more My wife and I took our two daughters to Inkwell for breakfast around 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday. It was busy. That's fine. It's Sunday morning in downtown Bloomington. Busy happens. What followed was not "busy." It was astonishingly poor service and even worse problem-solving. My wife and daughters ordered, and then we waited. After AN HOUR, my wife went inside to ask what was happening. She was told, "Sorry, the IU basketball team is here. Let me see what happened." Apparently the arrival of the IU basketball team creates some kind of breakfast singularity in which ordinary customers cease to exist. The employee said they would check. They never came back. Another 45 minutes passed. So after ONE HOUR AND FORTY-FIVE MINUTES, my wife and daughter -- both of whom had been loyal Inkwell customers -- were left feeling like they simply did not matter because more important people had walked through the door. That is what makes this experience so disappointing. Restaurants get busy. Orders get lost. Mistakes happen. But when you discover that a family has been waiting an hour, tell them you will investigate, disappear for another 45 minutes, and then offer essentially no apology, urgency, ownership, or attempt to make things right, that is not a kitchen problem. That is a customer-service problem. Eventually they agreed to refund us. So the single star is awarded because Inkwell did, in fact, return our money after failing to provide breakfast and did not lock the doors to prevent our escape. Cherish it.

Wonderful, local coffee shop! Clean restaurant, friendly…read morestaff and a good variety of teas/coffees. They offer food as well, I did not order but will order next time-menu looks great tho! Seating is fantastic-outside tables, inside by the bar area and a decent room to the back with lots of outlets if you need to plug in.

I have no clue how this place has 4.9 stars out of five on Yelp. I went here. I ordered the…read morebiscuits and gravy first of all. I was with four people and they served every single item one at a time so there is one worker literally walking, probably a marathon because they kept going back-and-forth and then my biscuits and gravy looked like somebody threw up all over my plate. My latte was only milk no coffee, my friends coffee it was iced coffee. They filled it up 3/4 of the way 3/4 of the way and he paid for the whole thing and then the rest of the food looked like that food you'd see at the chum bucket. i'm glad this place is hidden because I don't want anybody else to go through what I just went through this morning.

There's a reason for the five stars. It's gluten-free, but you'd never know it. Upsides: Vegetarian…read morestuff available and it's not all carbohydrates-- but there are many served here. Wide variety of cafe-like foods. Service was fast and food was good. The cost for a reasonable meal is also reasonable. There is WiFi, if you must. Lots of tables. Not the Ritz but clean, comfy, and reasonably calm. There is parking on the street, but yeah, meters or a parking garage. It's a busy place. Normally, I don't give five stars on a review unless you're at the top of your game, and usually only after a second try. Brightside just pushed all the right buttons. Lots of drinks besides coffee drinks, too. It's unpretentious and serves great food in my two experiences here.

Best pumpkin bread and chocolate cake in the universe!…read more Their tea is always freshly brewed, and their desserts very moist and flavorful. And the price is right!

Really liked it. I believe it's mostly, if not all, vegan. I know they were experimenting with some…read moreitems with dairy a while ago but I did not notice any non-vegan items while I was there, so not sure if that's still a thing. Anyway, it is a little out of the way. It's walkable from downtown but not really in the downtown core. Pretty quiet when I was there, but the atmosphere felt approachable. Some of the chairs were like school desk chairs (adult-sized, of course) that I haven't seen since I was in primary school which was kind of funny. The guy at the counter was cheerful and friendly. They looked like they had run out of some of the hot savory items by Saturday mid-afternoon, but there was still a wide variety of sweets. I believe the current owners are Indian, and you see some of those flavours featured. I got: Samosa handpie: Good, not mind-blowing, but good. Nice flavours. If you like a flaky crust, this is not it, but I liked the rustic pastry crust. Pistachio cardamom donut: Loved it. Before I moved to Bloomington, there were a few bakeries that offered vegan-GF cake donuts that I loved, and this was the first thing I've gotten here that reminded me of that. Pleasant texture and strong cardamom flavour, not too sweet. I think these are baked donuts, so they're a little different from regular fried donuts, but in a good way IMO. Rose dream latte: Milk with rose syrup topped with coconut whip and nuts, no espresso. Tasted great, but more of a dessert drink than I was expecting. The coconut whip was quite thick. The concept could probably use some refinement, because the whip was too thick and rigid to drink without a straw, but the nut pieces were too big to go through a straw, and so I couldn't figure out the best way to drink it. From what I understand, there are some longtime fans of this place who feel like the quality has dropped since the most recent change in ownership, but as someone who had never been here before, I really had a good experience. I get why people would be upset when something changes, but if you are considering trying this place for the first time, I wouldn't be too put off by the negativity around the change in ownership. There's no other place specialized in vegan baking in Bloomington, so I think it's good to support what they are continuing to do here, and even though I am partial to vegan food I wouldn't say that if it wasn't also GOOD. They also had some refreshingly unique options for baked goods.

Rainbow Bakery sits off of 4th street west of the IU campus. It's all vegan, and we had a chance to…read morestop by and get two donuts and a cookie. The inside is cute and whimsical. The owners, a Sikh family, gave us their cardamom donut for free. The samosa hand pies were out. I would rate it 4/5. The decor was nice, and the owners were friendly. We were told that the staff is limited, and the owners themselves are thinking of selling this location and hoping to restart it in Greenwood, where they currently live and actually drive down to Bloomington every day. The matcha latte was fine. Everything was fine but not great. The vegan chocolate chip cookie was good, but could've used more chocolate chips.

Coffee Shop No. 421 Hopscotch Coffee & Kitchen…read moreBloomington, ID September 26, 2024 The beauty of a cortado is it can be enjoyed quietly on your own or with good friends. On this particular outing a friend was eager to take my husband and I to his favorite coffee shop in his hometown of Bloomington, ID. Hopscotch Coffee & Kitchen sits right in along the Bloomington Rail Trail. The setting of the cafe is calm, inviting, and simple. A large porch welcomes you to the shop; it's obviously a local favorite. When you enter the shop the coffee bar is to the right, comfortable couch seating along with work tables and cafe tables are to the left. If you want something more than a coffee and a treat there is a restaurant towards the back on your left. The cortado was delicious and the company was priceless. I hope you're able to share a cortado with someone soon. It's a good way to turn something ordinary into something special. Enjoying life one cortado at a time!

Very slow, snail slow on whipping up a luke warm latte, salted caramel is the featured latte that…read moretasted good, but say it was luke warm is being overly generous on the heat. Definitely the college vibe of the decade, no one talks and has their faces on a Saturday planted in the computer. If not being socially inclined just sit in the dorm/apartment. The sweets were pricey but tasty. You can sit on the porch, inside or get out of there (never liked tolerated but liked a place so much as this spot). The cashier was swamped, asked about her having help, which I was told she was cleaning (4p), but she finally slithered over to help get orders rolling.

I've been here 3 times and have only gotten pancakes, so obviously I like their pancakes but cannot…read morecomment on the other offerings. The basic pancake (to which you can add various fill-ins like fruits, nuts, chocolate chips) is huge and very fluffy. They also sometimes have specialty pancakes in different, which come as 2 regular-sized pancakes instead of a single massive one. The specialty pancakes I tried were also very good but, for me, don't quite beat out the perfect texture and novelty of the giant pancake. The tea on the menu is from Twinings, and I drink a lot of nice tea, so honestly Twinings doesn't really cut it for me anymore for black tea. Maybe I'd get it again if I really wanted tea with my food but if I have time next time, I might just grab tea somewhere else. If you like herbal teas though, they do have a variety of herbal teas, and I don't mind the cheaper brands of herbal so much, so that's nice to have. The waitstaff is always friendly (I've had both college-age and older waiters) and the kitchen was pretty fast, but I've only been on weekdays where it's not too busy, so can't say how it is when they get busy on weekends. The only complaints I have are that one time there was a little bit of an unpleasant smell in the building (this was my second visit, it was not a problem again when I visited a few weeks ago), and they keep it really cold during the summer (if it's 90+ F out, anything less than 70 inside doesn't feel good for more than a few minutes).

My service here was great. I got the power breakfast which comes with a pancake, eggs, and home…read morefries. We also did mimosas which was a great addition to the brunch. I had brought my dog here for the outside seating at the waiter consistently checked on him filling up his water. The atmosphere is nice with a great view of kirkwood.

I come here a lot because it's right across the street from IU Jacobs, and it's the only…read moreindependent coffee shop that opens early (they open at 6 am M-F and actually have food out when they open, unlike the nearby Crumble and Inkwell that open at 7/7:30 but don't have baked goods out until about an hour later). The baristas are always friendly. The place is spacious with a good amount of seating, but it can sometimes be hard to find a good seat inside because, as you would expect, students come to study/work and stay for a long time. I love their baked goods - they have interesting and unique offerings and everything tastes wholesome. Besides their Soma-made bakes (muffins, loaves, scones, dessert bars, cookies, and more), the bagels (I think from Gables) and Piccolo Dolci pastries are great, but they have these two muffins that are from a different supplier that I didn't think were of very good quality - I recommend avoiding the chocolate cheesecake muffin and banana nut muffin. I think the veggie/cheese sandwich is decent. It's just deli cheese slices with lettuce, cucumber, pesto, and mayo, but the bread is good and if you want something simple it's surprisingly satisfying. The coffee is pretty good. I am a decaf drinker so I appreciate that they have both decaf coffee and decaf espresso. They have a really good loose leaf tea selection and the teas are legit. Between the variety and quality it's the best tea selection I've found at a coffee shop in Bloomington. The quality of the chai and matcha are less impressive. I feel like there's a slight artificial flavour to the matcha, but to be fair, I've only tried it with flavour added, so maybe it's better unsweetened. When I asked for half sweet, that was better than regular sweetness. Both are still better than Starbucks. But I'd definitely recommend the loose leaf tea lattes over the chai/matcha. As mentioned in my previous review, some things are self-serve. It turns out they do have glasses and mugs available if you ask, but if you don't ask for dine-in, the default is disposable cups. Brewed coffee is self-serve, with your choice of (usually) two regular roasts and one decaf. If you want a toasted bagel, you have to slice and toast it yourself in the toaster on the condiment table. It seems like you sort of have to know what to order here, but as I'm learning what's good, I really appreciate the offerings that are good, the comfortable unpretentious environment, and long hours at Soma.

You will find this coffee shop right across the street from the main IU campus. There is a small…read morelot available in front of the the shop that has spots with a 20 minute max. Since the shop is so close to IU campus, most people walk here. The dining area is large and has couches, tables/chairs and bar seating along the front window. You can imagine that the place is usually filled with IU students working away on their laptops of in small social groups, given the shop's close proximity to the campus. The women that were working during my visit were all so very helpful and friendly. they helped my make my selection. They serve a wide array of hot and iced coffees and also has teas, smoothies and juices as well. The coffees come in 3 sizes, yep you guessed it, small, medium and large. The light food options that they have includes cookies, scones, muffins, parfaits, quiche, zucchini bread, brownies, and cinnamon rolls. I ended up getting a large iced pumpkin spice latte. It took about 7 minutes for me to get my drink. It was very savory and hit the spot. It was gone in a matter of seconds. Anyway, I highly recommend checking this place out. It is a traditional coffee house, with a great staff, savory drinks and delicious treats. I highly recommend checking this place out.

The BEST coconut cold brew I've ever had. They infuse white chocolate into the cold brew for an…read moreeven better flavor. Tried both this (upon recommendation from a sweet and patient staff member) and the Maple Pumpkin Cold Brew (also very good). They were both delicious.

Such a cute and cozy spot! The coffee was a great size and the pastries were fresh and delicious…read more The atmosphere was calm, quiet, and perfect for relaxing with a friendly service. A lovely place to stop by for a peaceful coffee break -- highly recommend!