not the greatest. this was my first visit to mother bear's in about five years. parking at mother bear's is, well, a bear - there's virtually none. be prepared to risk a ticket from the university or a tow from one of the neighboring merchants. better yet, just plan to arrive on foot.
the food has always been okay, but nothing special. back in the day i preferred the breadsticks to the pizza. the pizza sauce and many of the toppings are not particularly flavorful. the thick crust tastes pretty good and has some nice carmelized cheese around the edges, but the pizza is otherwise unremarkable.
today's visit suffered from the hall & oates that was blaring from a tinny 4" speaker somewhere nearby. nothing against hall & oates, but most pop music isn't much to listen to without the bass.
the pizza was a little better than i remembered. the cheese and sausage were very tasty, but the pizza sauce was still lackluster, more bitter and salty than anything else.
the breadsticks were a complete disappointment. lukewarm and very rubbery. there appeared to be some spice sprinkled on the outside, but it had no flavor except the slightest hint of garlic salt. the cheese sauce is still good, but they don't give you enough to dip all eight breadsticks. mine lasted through six and a half stix.
this was a serviceable, filling meal, but i'm still not sure how this place snagged 4th-best-in-the-nation honors from people magazine (in 1982, mind you) and came to top the urbanspoon bloomington restaurant list. it's worth a try, but don't expect to be blown away.
as much as i'd like to like this place and buy into all the hype, the fact remains that the standout food item i obtained on this excursion was the good humor king cone i picked up at a village pantry on the way back to my car.