Best Bar

It’s been a part of Kirkwood for more than 80 years, but Nick’s English Hut never fails to stand out. Since its inception, Nick’s has been the reliable neighborhood bar where you can get a burger, a beer and be surrounded by IU history.

“It’s kind of an IU tradition,” Nick’s manager Pete Mikolaitis said. “It’s like a rite of passage.”

The food draws many Nick’s followers. From the burgers and fries to fresh fish and salads and the most famous dish, the stromboli, Nick’s offers a menu that exceeds normal bar food. Unlike its Kirkwood neighbors, you can go to Nick’s for dinner, not just a drink.

Also distinguishing Nick’s from its competitors is that it doesn’t only attract a college-age crowd. Most regulars are IU employees, alumni and older Bloomington residents. However, the bar doesn’t find it hard to attract the college crowd.

“They cater to everybody,” said regular Paul Spade, a professor in the Department of Philosophy.

Spade came into Nick’s one day in 1972 after moving to Bloomington. He now comes to Nick’s — where he can sit, read and relax — about three times a week.

“I don’t have any sort of sense they’re trying to rush me out or that they need this seat,” Spade said. “There’s not a lot of places in Bloomington where you can do that.”
Even though Spade and his fellow patrons can find solace in Nick’s, others go for a drastically different reason — to party.

The bar has an upstairs area devoted to larger groups that might want to play “Sink the Biz” — Nick’s famous drinking game — listen to music and get a little rowdy.

“With it being such a big bar, you can kind of pick and choose what kind of atmosphere you want,” Mikolaitis said.

The upstairs walls are covered in signatures from famous visitors, either alumni or those just passing through Bloomington. After President Barack Obama came to the women’s race of the 2008 Little 500, he stopped by Nick’s.

“If people come from out of town, they’re told to go to Nick’s,” Mikolaitis said.
After students graduate, it is Nick’s they typically return to. Despite remodeling and expanding in the past few years, it still remains basically the same.

“Coming to Nick’s, you don’t want to see too much change,” Mikolaitis said.