mother bear's pizza

best breadsticks in town. i love their pizza too but i definitely go here for their breadsticks. doing the early bird special or the munchie madness makes thisplacevery affordable.

there is a very good reason why thisplacehas such a high rating. great service making you feel so welcome, to die for pizza and cheesy garlic breads. definitely worth the 35mile (scenic) drive to bloomington. good job guys!!

this is definitely the bestplaceto get pizzas from in bloomington and the ambience of theplaceis also amazing. the serving size at thisplaceis pretty good and i think it's worth the money. talking about money it isn't outlandish. the food here is pretty affordable. also the service is amazing and very fast. so no complaints.

best pizza in town. love their salads too! it's a greatplaceto visit with friends to share a pizza. never had any issues with service. it gets very busy so patience is key.

great pizza. the pizza here is so decadent and yummy. thisplaceis a sure bet for a satisfying meal

oh no!! they quit offering the polpette meatball appetizer. going to miss that favorite. divine swine pizza still awesome as usual! 20160326


-----06 jul, 2014
another great visit to have our favorite divine swine pizza! 20140706


-----19 apr, 2014-----

wish we had thisplacein indianapolis!. wife & i stopped by here again while in town! the pizza was just as great as last time we had it. looks like they expanded since our last visit, not sure. we'll be back, love this joint!


-----11 nov, 2012-----

best pizza outside indianapolis!. had this on my wishlist to try next time wife and i passed through here on our way back to indianapolis on a trip and made sure we tried this place. thought we got here early enough around 4:00pm. not sure if iu game was in town but the wait was around 25 min. once we finally got seated (25 min to the second), the service was great and fast. kudos to the wait staff! absolutely everything was great! we love a locally owned establishment that continues tradition with great food and service! thisplacehas a history and great character! exceeded all our expectations! pics included with review!

meatballs were exceptional! be forewarned of the "rafano sauce". basically it is their pizza sauce with a heavy dose of horseradish! this concoction, even in moderate doses, will remove the knee caps off of most veteran hot sauce connoisseurs leaving them in writhing pain but surprisingly unobstructed breathing!!

pizza (the divine swine) was excellent! can't say enough! very good pizza pie!

we'll be back!

if a fan of this joint is in indy, try some locally owned favorites - barry's pizza (west side), bob's tu your door (southside), route 36 pizza (west side) for a few...

enjoy all!

mother bear's thanksgiving pizza.... at least once, living in bloomington or travelling through, check the time, stand in line and try an interesting thanksgiving pizza thisplaceputs out grey thursday. i got it free, no coupon. it came with slow-cooked green beans, a decent cranberry sauce and gravy as a dip, along with optional pumpkin pie and a drink. the piece had a layer of dressing, over diced turkey breast and, i think, a white sauce. the pick-me-up was excellent, for free.

not much to say about thisplacethat hasn't already been said. mother bear's is simply fantastic. soft crust, flavorful sauce and fresh toppings that all compliment each other perfectly. what impresses me most is that i've never seen a pizzaplacemake french fries so well. it might seem random or insignificant to you, but they are very good. try them when you stop in. oh, and don't forget to sign the wall.

good pizza. no matter what your personal taste in a pizza is, you can't go wrong here. thisplaceis always super busy, but somehow they consistently turn out a tasty product. although i'm a 'thin crust' person and therefore normally would not recommend such a substantial pizza crust, mother bear's is a winner. and prices are very reasonable for the quality of the fare.

i can't imagine that there is a better pizzaplacein the bloomington area.

great food but do not even think about going there during parents weekend, a game weekend, or really a friday saturday or sunday in general because thisplaceis always obnoxiously packed.... good luck getting in!

yummy pizza, great local/college vibe. wandering around in indiana, where to eat? thanks, urbanspoon for pointing the way to mother bear's pizza! loved the pizza and the college town charm inside. university was not in session but theplacewas still packed.

just average.. i'm not sure if i just caught them on a bad day or what. i went there just because of all of the good reviews. but when i went it was just ok. the booths were very small and theplacewas dark and kinda grimy. you are only allowed one refill on your drinks, its not too bad because they give you a huge cup but still. the pizza was average. i had a sausage pizza with bread sticks.

good pizza, great meeting spot. i love the pizza here, and they have a decent beer selection (always go with the seasonal--it's usually the best one they have). i don't think this should be rated the number one restaurant in bloomington, (just based on the food) but i can completely understand why it is. it's a hugely popularplacefor students to hang out, which means it can get extremely crowded and slow. there are plenty of places with better food, but if you just want pizza and a beer, you can't do better in bloomington.

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 thisplacesnagged 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 thisplaceand 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.