Took daughter for an event at IU Bloomington and needed some bubble tea…read more Very cute inside, bathroom available . I enjoyed an orange tea with orange popping bubbles. Service was kind. I did have to pay to park and walk to the location.

Okay, so I have been here a handful of times now, and I really like the drinks, but the menu is…read morejust so inconsistent. Almost every time I've come here, they're either out of something or the fryer is down/not on yet. They have non dairy milk listed on the menu, and the first time I came here, I ordered and received an oolong milk tea with almond milk, but next time, when I tried to order a green milk tea with soy milk, they said all the milk teas were made with non-dairy creamer and they could only do the alt milk for lattes. All that aside, I have never been unhappy with anything that I actually got. Their matcha latte (regular or strawberry) is pretty good and the honey boba is excellent. The regular sugar level is too sweet for me, but less sweet is great. The cheese corn dog varies in the ratio of cornbread to cheese and how "done" it's cooked, but I've never gotten one that was bad. The most recent one I got was the best. They are kind of difficult and messy to eat because the melted cheese doesn't want to stay on the stick with the breading weighing it down. I haven't had the issue with the super long wait time again. The corn dog normally takes about 10 minutes because of how long it takes to make the thing, drinks are usually ready sooner. Most of the baristas are friendly, some not so much. I have gotten the eye roll once when I asked for a topping they were out of even though there was no way I could have known this. I do think it's overall worth it to come here, because again, the product is good and the cafe space is cute, but the situation where you can't count on anything being available is frustrating.

I come here pretty often because of the location, and I've found them to be pretty consistent in…read moredelivering fresh poke and bubble tea. Something I like here is that a lot of the proteins are marinated/sauced, and the marinades are very tasty, although this does result in the bowls coming out really saucy when you add sauces and dressings on top of that. All of the poke I've ordered has come out delicious. The unagi in the unagi don was a little tough, but the other proteins seem to be good quality and the veggies are fresh. Even the small bowl is filling enough for a meal for me, and since most toppings are free, you can load up with the veggies you want. I never feel like they get stingy with the portions. I'm not super impressed with the other food besides poke. It's not bad but nothing special. The spring rolls were unoffensive but could've been grocery store frozen spring rolls, and were only served with the duck sauce packets you get with Chinese takeout. The caramel pudding was okay but the texture was a little grainy. They have really good drinks if you know what to order. Some of their bubble tea is just the basic flavoured stuff, but the fancy-sounding teas - anything from the specialty drink series or pure tea series - are really good. They do run a bit sweet and I'm still not sure if you can adjust the sugar level. Maybe I'll remember to ask next time now that I've written it down. The staff here are nice, and the assembly-line ordering for the poke means it's very fast to grab food here. They take a little longer to make drinks but they're still usually a little faster than most bubble tea places in town.

Overall, a solid spot - especially for poke…read more The poke bowls are really good: fresh ingredients, nice portions, and a great variety of toppings and combinations to choose from. It's a reliable place if you're craving something quick, customizable, and satisfying. They also have a wide selection of boba drinks with lots of different flavors, which is great in terms of variety. That said, I found the drinks to be a bit too sweet for my taste, and it would be great if there were adjustment options available. That's really the only reason I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5. Still, a great option in Bloomington for both poke and boba - just be mindful of the boba if you do get it here.

Stopped by for takeout and got: pork buns, salt & pepper fish, fried spicy chicken and dan dan…read morenoodle. Everything tasted great--my favorite is always the salt & pepper fish. Perfectly seasoned. Good authentic Chinese food! Staff was very friendly.

My partner and I got the fried rice and the lo mien house special. Along with shrimp tempura as an…read moreappetizer. Everything was amazing the black ice tea was good also. I recommend everything we got. The service was also great. Very nice server

This is one of our favorite coffee shops in Bloomington. I love their themed drinks. They have…read moretheir standards and their seasonals. Have not tried their food but their coffee is consistent. Service is always quick and accurate. They let us use our own travel mugs as well. Generally a busy spot so not always able to get a table but most of the time we are just getting our coffee to go anyway. Seems like this would be a great spot to hang out and work if you were a college student or artist.

It's a shame there aren't more Soma coffee shops dotted around Bloomington instead of Starbucks…read more Soma holds the title of my favorite coffee spot in town, but their locations tend to be off my beaten path. While visiting this particular spot, my boyfriend was delighted to find they offer the Swamp, although it's not listed on their menu--a pleasant surprise for those in the know. The location doesn't have much indoor seating, but it does also offer outdoor seating. Luckily today, the indoor seating was available with many tables still open but with some tables needing some TLC.

Super yummy boba and cheese corn dog definitely would recommend, slightly secluded, they deserve…read moremore customers!!

They have claw machines in this establishment WITH LABUBUS. I WON A LABUBU. BDE. They also have…read moreboard games. The Korean corndog are very good and the boba smoothies are excellent!

I come here a lot because it's right across the street from IU Jacobs, and it's the only…read moreindependent coffee shop that opens early (they open at 6 am M-F and actually have food out when they open, unlike the nearby Crumble and Inkwell that open at 7/7:30 but don't have baked goods out until about an hour later). The baristas are always friendly. The place is spacious with a good amount of seating, but it can sometimes be hard to find a good seat inside because, as you would expect, students come to study/work and stay for a long time. I love their baked goods - they have interesting and unique offerings and everything tastes wholesome. Besides their Soma-made bakes (muffins, loaves, scones, dessert bars, cookies, and more), the bagels (I think from Gables) and Piccolo Dolci pastries are great, but they have these two muffins that are from a different supplier that I didn't think were of very good quality - I recommend avoiding the chocolate cheesecake muffin and banana nut muffin. I think the veggie/cheese sandwich is decent. It's just deli cheese slices with lettuce, cucumber, pesto, and mayo, but the bread is good and if you want something simple it's surprisingly satisfying. The coffee is pretty good. I am a decaf drinker so I appreciate that they have both decaf coffee and decaf espresso. They have a really good loose leaf tea selection and the teas are legit. Between the variety and quality it's the best tea selection I've found at a coffee shop in Bloomington. The quality of the chai and matcha are less impressive. I feel like there's a slight artificial flavour to the matcha, but to be fair, I've only tried it with flavour added, so maybe it's better unsweetened. When I asked for half sweet, that was better than regular sweetness. Both are still better than Starbucks. But I'd definitely recommend the loose leaf tea lattes over the chai/matcha. As mentioned in my previous review, some things are self-serve. It turns out they do have glasses and mugs available if you ask, but if you don't ask for dine-in, the default is disposable cups. Brewed coffee is self-serve, with your choice of (usually) two regular roasts and one decaf. If you want a toasted bagel, you have to slice and toast it yourself in the toaster on the condiment table. It seems like you sort of have to know what to order here, but as I'm learning what's good, I really appreciate the offerings that are good, the comfortable unpretentious environment, and long hours at Soma.

You will find this coffee shop right across the street from the main IU campus. There is a small…read morelot available in front of the the shop that has spots with a 20 minute max. Since the shop is so close to IU campus, most people walk here. The dining area is large and has couches, tables/chairs and bar seating along the front window. You can imagine that the place is usually filled with IU students working away on their laptops of in small social groups, given the shop's close proximity to the campus. The women that were working during my visit were all so very helpful and friendly. they helped my make my selection. They serve a wide array of hot and iced coffees and also has teas, smoothies and juices as well. The coffees come in 3 sizes, yep you guessed it, small, medium and large. The light food options that they have includes cookies, scones, muffins, parfaits, quiche, zucchini bread, brownies, and cinnamon rolls. I ended up getting a large iced pumpkin spice latte. It took about 7 minutes for me to get my drink. It was very savory and hit the spot. It was gone in a matter of seconds. Anyway, I highly recommend checking this place out. It is a traditional coffee house, with a great staff, savory drinks and delicious treats. I highly recommend checking this place out.

This and Siam House are both great. Can't go wrong with any dish and it's a nice vibe.read more

Really liked it! I really chose this place for dinner because I wanted bubble tea, and the bubble…read moretea was good but the food was the highlight. The menu is very vegetarian-friendly since you can choose tofu as a protein for most entrees, and even vegan-friendly since they have nondairy milk options for drinks and some entrees can be easily customized to be vegan (order with tofu/no meat and remove egg). I got a matcha latte with brown sugar crystal boba and the Pattaya pineapple rice. Matcha latte: The matcha was decent - it had the flavour of matcha latte mix rather than pure matcha, but it wasn't unpleasant, and it was strong. I like the brown sugar crystal boba as a topping - the flavour is very similar to brown sugar tapioca boba, but it doesn't sit as heavy. It's a different kind of chewy than tapioca, but it's close enough that it basically gives the same kind of experience as regular tapioca boba in a drink. Pattaya pineapple rice: Really good! The rice was well-seasoned and the pieces of juicy pineapple and raisins added some sweetness that contrasted very nicely with the curry-spiced rice. They have 5 spice levels (mild, medium, hot, extra hot, Thai hot). I usually went for medium heat when I lived on the west coast, but since this is the Midwest, I tried "hot" and found it had a bit of a kick, but the heat was still secondary to the other flavours, so it was the right choice for me. Very good service. The waiter was very friendly and attentive without hovering - he came by at just the right times. My drink and food came out not too long after I ordered. The place is nice. Like the other restaurants in this area, it's situated in a small house-like building. The atmosphere feels down-to-earth. There were lots of things on the menu that caught my interest, so I'll definitely be back!

The food here was home-style and homemade, and reasonably tasty, but not my favorite Chinese food…read morein Bloomington. Wonton noodle soup: broth was a chicken broth that tasted super homemade, and might have been the best part of the meal. Wontons were okay, noodles were average premade. It all balances out.

I had the vegetable lo mein and a Thai milk tea with boba. All was very good. The lo mein was very…read moretasty, the noodles were tender, there were lots of vegetables, and the sauce wasn't too oily. The serving size was perfect for dinner. When I first saw the Thai milk tea, I thought it looked pale compared to the distinct orange colour most Thai tea has, and I worried it would be weak, but it was actually a nice milk tea with a subtle Thai-style spice, and the boba were supremely good. The guy who takes orders comes off as very unfriendly. I am used to no-nonsense Cantonese service and I don't think that's what this is; it feels like he doesn't want you to order. The first time I tried to order here I kind of got intimidated out of it because he told me it would be a 20 minute wait for food as I was just opening my mouth to order and the way it was delivered, I thought that was his way of telling me to go away. There was no 20-minute wait this time (I guess they were less busy) but it was the same vibe. I do intend to eat here again and look forward to it, I'm just not setting high expectations for the service.