In Bloomington’s rich food scene, there’s a good chance you still haven’t tried every restaurant in the city yet. With the spring semester quickly coming to a close, I recommend trying these Bloomington restaurants before you leave for summer break.
Uptown Café
If you’ve never had brunch at Uptown Café, you should definitely squeeze it into your final weekends of the school year. Uptown Café has a wonderful brunch selection that is exclusively served 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on the weekends. If you are looking for a sweet breakfast, you can order crème brûlée French toast, Belgian waffles, cornmeal pancakes or coffee cake. If you are craving a savory meal, you can order a smoked salmon eggs benedict, andouille omelet or avocado toast.
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream
With this ice cream parlor being relatively far from campus, it may fly under the radar for many IU students. However, Bruster’s is worth trying if you’ve never had it before, considering its popularity as a franchise in states east of the Mississippi River. If you stop by, I recommend pairing your favorite ice cream flavor with the shop’s famous green dino sugar cookie.
Osteria Rago
After two and a half years of wanting to try this Italian restaurant, I finally had dinner at Osteria Rago. My table ordered tomatoes vesta, eggplant rotolini, bruschetta pizza and Tuscan salmon pasta. My meal began with tomatoes vestas which is whipped lemon ricotta on homemade focaccia bread topped with balsamic glazed arugula. I recommend stopping by Osteria Rago, if you want a nice Italian meal to celebrate the end of the school year.
Inkwell Bakery and Café
If you’ve never been to Inkwell Bakery and Café, you need to find a reason to stop by. Whether you say goodbye to friends over their iced lattes or study for a final exam while trying a sandwich, you must visit Inkwell before the year ends. I believe Inkwell has the best coffee drinks, food menu and pastries in all of Bloomington and will miss it dearly over the summer. My go-to order is an iced vanilla latte with the turkey club, but you can never go wrong with the carrot muffin or broken yolk sandwich.
The school year is ending, but we can savor the tastes of Bloomington for a little while longer. Enjoy these yummy eats before it’s too late!
