Yep, you're not imagining it. I too, quit going here when I was asked for my Covid vaccination card…read morein 2023 (have alwaus been vaxxed). Which was made sadly amusing by the fact that I sat there for 25 minutes trying to look for it before ordering anything -- at which point you'd think they would be anxious I spread the virus all over the bar. Ridiculous. Brainless America at its best.

Pretentious bar. No go. Lame. Friends from out of town wanted a nice bar. They accused us of being…read morea bar crawl. We were not. In fact rather aggressive. Bloomington deserves better.

The Alley is one of the better bars in Bloomington. I really like the overall vibe and atmosphere…read more-- it's a great place to hang out with friends. The location is convenient, and it has a fun, welcoming feel that keeps me coming back. Definitely a solid choice for a night out!

Neighborhood bar. Good sound level, small, close knit, local feel. Not an amazing beer selection,…read morebut varied enough.

Two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to go out with the MBA program and had the best time that I…read morehave had in Bloomington. Shelby took care of our entire party and Sarah was so sweet. Could not recommend this place enough. 5/5.

Bouncers are weird and touchy, asked to pat down my girl friends but not me... would not recommend…read moreto the female crowd

My girlfriend are on a quest to visit all the lesbian bars in the country, and luckily my sister…read moregoes to school in Bloomington. The weekend we went happened to be Bloomington Pride, so this place was packed. A fun mixture of college students, 20 something's, and older folks. You enter through a tall fence off of an alleyway, so I'm guessing it's challenging to find if you don't know where you're going, but that's part of the fun. Of the 4 lesbian bars we've been to, this place wins for best decor hands down. We're talking zebra print walls, stuffed unicorn heads, yonic art, glow in the dark paint. Great vibes. They have a super cute outdoor patio as well, and I loved the little food truck on the patio that opens at 9 pm! Great waffle fries and hot sandwiches. Nothing hits as right as hot cheese when you're drunk. They have tons of fun specialty drinks on a menu behind the bar! Also a great mocktail menu for the sober community! Everyone was super welcoming in this space. The one complaint I have is the Dj... we came here to dance the night away and barely made it to 11 pm because the DJ didn't play any recognizable songs or songs with a dancing beat. There were only around 10 people on the dance floor at a given time. On the other hand, this is the first lesbian bar I've been in that has had an operational dance floor with anyone on it, so that's a win. I can't wait to come back again the next time I visit Bloomington!

Ok. Im biting my tongue some in this review. While i personally still do not agree with charging…read morefor mixers, i absolutely agree this place needs to do whatever is necessary to keep their doors open. Its a safe place to foster community of any kind. They support so many local organizations it makes my head spin. I do know the owners on a personal level. That doesnt sway my 5* vote. They are true women who do care. It is undeniably the best place to dance in BLM any day of the week. They do have great drink specials. Some of the bartenders make the best drinks in town, and its not over priced. Gay, straight, anywhere in between has a home here. Come join us.

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!

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!

This location has been a popular spot in Bloomington since the late '90s. If you haven't been…read morethere, it's definitely worth checking out. There's always something going on.

Overcharging for drinks and under serve your drinks. Post that you open at 8 PM. And then have a…read moreline out the door past 8:45 PM and still not letting anyone in. That's fake af. This place is not worth your money. Management is not doing their job. DJ is never good. SoundCloud has better mixes

Speakeasy We had…read morenever been to a speakeasy before, so we weren't sure what to expect. The experience exceeded our expectations--everything was truly extraordinary. We would definitely come back again.

Way too crowded!! Through the entire place (except the hallway by the bathrooms), there was nowhere…read moreyou could stand without getting pushed around by other people trying to move. I get that they want to make money but I have no idea why they kept letting people in since it was such a struggle to even get to the bar to buy anything. The AMFs were good if you're into that but not worth being packed in like sardines. Once we were in we figured we had gotten far enough to fight our way to the bar to get a round of drinks, but we left as soon as we finished.

My days of going to the Bluebird 2-3 times a week are long behind me, but as I was attending a show…read morethis weekend, I realized I have never done a Yelp review, and since it's potentially the best bar on the planet, I decided I needed to correct that oversight. During my college years, a good portion of my Bloomington memories are from the Bluebird. Fantastic bands, good friends and a somewhat aggressive number of drinks were the common theme multiple nights a week. Now that I'm OLD(er) the visits are less frequent, but when the right bands are in town and my calendar isn't slammed with adulting, I still find the Bird to be my favorite place in town. The original Bluebird was about half the size it is today. Several years ago, they bought out the restaurant next door and added a large additional space, leading to a pretty big bar/nightclub with a 'bar area' that includes a nice full bar, booths and tables, and the 'live music' portion which has a big stage, plenty of room for big crowds, and a warehouse vibe that is second to none. When you arrive, you'll start to see pictures of the amazing acts that run thru the Bluebird when they're just on the cusp of being 'huge' - from REM to Miranda Lambert to Gryffin, just about every genre is represented and it's nice to say 'I saw them with a few hundred of my friends' after you give ticketmaster your kidney to pay for their giant stadium shows. Reasonable drink prices, good people behind the bar, and the best bands currently playing the area, you can't go wrong with a night at the Bluebird. I wish I was still young and able to do multiple shows every week, but for now I'll just appreciate having it in my backyard so I can attend with the mood hits . Best bar in Bloomington. Probably anywhere.

A classic IU and Bloomington live music tradition since 1973! Gotta check it out if you're ever in…read moreB-town. Such greats as John Cougar Mellencamp to Bill Monroe & The Blue Grass Boys have played there. If the walls of the place could only speak... and check out the walls for photos of the many famous bands that have played there. #TheBluebird