Latest reviews from Normal
| 70 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Came here on 30.11.2022. Located quite centrally in the small town Normal (2 hours drive from Chicago). Place was quite empty when I arrived at 8.30 pm on a Wednesday and was going to take last order at 9.00 pm. Quite a few beers on tap. The IPA I had was excellent. Service was nice and served me after closing time. Food was good. Overall a more commercial place but with good beers.“ |
| 82 /100 1200 GREENBRIAR DRIVE “I'm reviewing the Beer Hall in Normal. Truly awe-inspiring place. Huge building with plenty of parking and a nice outdoor area with a pond. Inside is huge as well, very well organized, no table service, you order your own beer, food & merch and bring it to your table. Nice view of the brewing facility, big fireplace, everything is clean and new looking. 20 or so beers, just about everything Destihl makes. Good food. Great service. Very impressive, an absolute must stop.“ |
| 70 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Stand alone restaurant in a shopping plaza. Inside looks like a chain restaurant. About only 8 beers on tap but they had lots of cans for drinking there or take home. Decent sized menu. Not just typical pub food. They had sandwiches and burgers but also some down home type meals. I had the jambalaya that came with a loaf of jalapeno corn bread and it was quite good. The helles I ordered was poor at best. Service and value were fine. It was not crowded as we came in on a Friday at about 5 but as we left there was a line waiting to get in out of the door. Decent place for o.k. beers but really good food.“ |
| 84 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “A nice stop on the trip north towards Wisconsin, this brewpub is one of two Destihl locations that can be visited on the drive down I-74. Located near the main commercial strip in Normal it has a typical American brewpub atmosphere - slightly upscale, a few televisions, and indie music playing in the background.
The beer selection here offers about ten Destihl drafts. Some are year round releases. About three are from experimental releases including the St Dekkera program or the Wild Sour projects. Something is available for people who like all styles, from the simple clean sessionable California Common to a heavy barrel aged barleywine. It is worth ordering food while here. Prices are reasonable for central Illinois. Upscale brewpub food includes pizzas, sandwiches, burgers, and more. Portions are generous enough to soak up the beer without leaving you feeling stuffed. A worthwhile destination deserves at least a short break from driving. If you find yourself in the area do not miss one of the finest beer related destinations in Bloomington-Normal.“ |
| 92 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Well, this is going to be hard to rate this place. Stopped in with deyholla and TheAlum on our way to St. Louis to try some beers and pick up stuff for RateBeer Summer Gathering and they truly rolled out the red carpet for us.
Incredibly friendly people from the service staff to the brewing stuff to the management. They really made us feel at home. Food was great and was much more than typical pub food. Lots of the dishes are sort of typical pub food (sausages, burgers, etc.) but done in a more upscale fashion. Pretty reasonable prices, too, particularly when you see how much food you get. Beers are also better than your typical brewpub lineup of pale ale, brown ale, blonde ale, wheat beer, etc. Though, they do have all of those styles as well. Lots of experimental stuff, some higher gravity beers. On the whole, well done. Highly recommend a stop, even if you’re not going to get the VIP treatment.“ |
| 82 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “We stopped for lunch on a Friday afternoon heading to DLD 2014. There was a good crowd, but we were seated pretty quickly. We ordered two samplers and were able to sample about a dozen beers. Food was good as well as the service. Our waiter gave us all dessert beers, very nice. We decided to grab a growler of their Wild Sour Adambier, it was a hit at DLD. Well worth the trip.“ |
| 84 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “This is an excellent brew pub. Great food, great beer and a really comfortable space. Get the wings, they are delicious.“ |
| 86 /100 The Medici (Restaurant) 120 NORTH ST. “Stopped in last spring to check this place out. Upscale college town atmosphere next to my alma mater, ISU. We didn’t get a chance to try the food, but the beer selection was awesome.“ |
| 74 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Visited 06/19/2013. Ambiance is good. Very clean sterile. Very branded, I mean they are trying their best to look like a brewery. Beers were good, Food was good but way overpriced, and our waiter was awesome if not trying a little too hard for a tip. Overall I’d eat there again, but I wouldn’t seek it out.“ |
| 24 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “1/2013: had not been in for 6 months. Made the mistake of coming in for brunch. Tasted 5 different beers that were all infected or dms bombs. Food has continued to worsen. Veggie burger is inedible, likewise the cranberry french toast. Sad because it was nice to have a brewpub in town, but I will not be heading back.
8/2010: FYI there are at least three different menus and you can order off any of them. Shrimp ceviche was very good.
6/2010 Update:
NEW MENU! Lots of new options that provide some variety to the menu. The Mahi-Mahi bahn mi is a excellent sandwich, and the Cuban pork, though nowhere near authentic is enjoyable. Avoid the open-faced chicken sandwich. Huevos rancheros is a hit, the frittas a miss.
The menu has some real winners (flat bread with garlic, carrot cake) and some real losers (pot roast sandwich). They have recently added some small plates on the menu, which help to round out the offerings. Their mustard is some of the best I have ever had. The beers have been solid offerings, and the bar staff is knowledgeable. Definitely swing by if you are in town. I would prefer dinner here to Medici anytime. There is some semi private, and private seating available.
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| 42 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Was not a giant fan of this place, actually. We drove in off the highway for dinner on our way from Chicago to KS and were immediately disappointed by the appearance. Incredibly corporate looking, anti-septic, and lacking anything approaching "character." The beer and food were okay (with notable exception of the incredible sour ale) and the service was miserable. Would probably go back for a sour beer and then quickly leave...“ |
| 68 /100 The Medici (Restaurant) 120 NORTH ST. “First time here, found it on RB. Nice place with a pretty good selectrion of a variet of beers - 23 taps plus more on the bar upstairs apprently, with another bunch upstairs. Food was very good - had the salmon brulee.“ |
| 84 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “in the middle of nowhere Illinois, the last place you would expect to find a gem... new really nice looking building... 13 of their own beers on tap, most of them were great... service was very friendly and knowledgeable of their beers... food was good as well... a must stop if in the area“ |
| 84 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Come here whenever in Blo-No because their beer is well crafted and they always have a variety of styles. Sour Belgian, black IPA, fresh IPA and harvest ales... this is a good spot and the best IL beer establishment outside the Chicagoland.“ |
| 80 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Clean, sharp atmosphere. I visited in mid-afternoon and didn’t have much competition for the bartender’s attention. We had a nice conversation about the beers, she seemed to be knowledgeable about their brewing process and such. They had 14 beers on tap in a wide range of styles, quite impressive I thought. The beers range from average to outstanding. Some of the brewing operation, including the barrels for the barrel-aged sours, is visible immediately behind the bar area, which I like. I ate the beer-battered bacon, which was silly and delicious, and a spinach salad, also quite tasty. I will definitely visit again next time I pass through through that area.“ |
| 70 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Stopped on a Thursday at opening time. It was deserted but was completely full in an hour with profrssionals. This is a very nice place with tasty and creative food. The beer was also fine. My favorite was their sour strawberry raspberry.“ |
| 74 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Was visiting the Bloomington/Normal area, so decided to stop in during the mid-afternoon. Already had eaten, but grabbed a few appetizers. Beer was pretty good - the Quad and Tripel were great, and the Baldock IPA was good as well. Food was tasty, and service was adequate for middle of the afternoon. Server was helpful enough to know what kind of Belgian Sour it was, since neither the menu nor the sign near the bar indicated which sour they had on tap at the time.“ |
| 76 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Very good place with a combination of god beer and good food. About 8-10 types of beer on tap. Overall, very good beer and food. Hit this place everytime I am in Bloomington.“ |
| 90 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “I’ve visited the Normal location a couple times. The food is terrific, the beers are even better. The selection is always rotating, and the brews are unique. First visited in 2009.“ |
| 80 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Dropped in on a Saturday afternoon during a rainout of a softball tourney.
Decent beer selection, Redbird Ale was very good. Wife had an apricot ale that she said was decent.“ |
| 66 /100 Budget Liquors (Beer Store) 200 S LINDEN ST “This is the other place that was a go to pre-Friar Tuck’s. very good range of micros, as well as your standard BMC fair for the frat guys. Prices are reasonable. Offers plenty of choice in a not so bad area.“ |
| 70 /100 The Medici (Restaurant) 120 NORTH ST. “I have mixed feelings about this place. On the one hand, I commend them for bringing in some great draft choices. The downside is that they do not take care of the lines. Had infected line beer from them which is unacceptable, particularly for a beer bar. If they sort this out, they’ll be good to go. Didn’t eat anything.“ |
| 62 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Located in a poorly marked and difficult to find new-ish big open building on a mall out-lot -- you know, the kind of building and location that typically houses a Chili’s or Crapplebee’s or something of that nature.No matter how you do up the decor in a building like that, whether it’s faux-Irish, faux-classic-bar-and-grille, or in this case, faux-contemporary, there’s just no disguising what it is, and any attempt to just comes off as contrived. I won’t deny that it’s nice inside but somehow it still feels phony. Food was OK, a little disappointing given its "casual-upscale" pretension. Beer was slightly better than average, though one was so butterscotchy that I sent it back. Learning from two sources now that the head brewer here used to head up the Elmwood brewery goes a long way toward explaining the average quality of the beers here. It’s no mystery to anyone who tried their beers why Elmwood went out of business; fortunately, the fellow seems to have honed his skills a little bit in the intervening years. Maybe the brewpub format suits him better than bottling. Service was pretty good -- a little slow to come around sometimes but I never had to endure an unduly long wait. She was very patient about answering my never-ending stream of questions. I drove about 250 miles round-trip to check this place out, and I won’t be making another 250-mile round trip just on account of this place. If I’m in B-N on other business I’ll hit this place up but otherwise I have little desire to go back. Nor will I eagerly anticipate their arrival in Champaign.“ |
| 66 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Im going against the grain on this one. I have been to this place 4-5 times and was disapointed eveyrtime i went. The beer and food is average at best and the contemporary ambiance is terrible. From what i gather, this brewer was the same guy that was brewing at Elmwood brewing in west central IL-maybe why the beer is not so good.“ |
| 64 /100 The Medici (Restaurant) 120 NORTH ST. “Medici recently re-imaged to a fancier local. The menu has dropped the "bar food" in favor of sit down dining. Wednesday beers have increased to $4. Wednesday warrior club is still alive and kicking. Service is really hit or miss. I have consistent good service in the bar area and have had really poor and really good table service.“ |
| 68 /100 Budget Liquors (Beer Store) 200 S LINDEN ST “From outside the place, and based on the sign and the fact that it’s in a college town, most beer folk would probably pass this place by, but if you’re in town, stop in. I’ve been here a million times because they keep good beers around and because it just so happens to be literally a few steps from my fiancee’s apartment. The ambiance is fine. It’s bright, clean, and full of goofy shit that mainly appeals to a college crowd. There are frequent give-aways like kegerators, fridges, etc. The service is fair to bad. Unless you’re getting a keg, nobody really knows what they’re selling you. If you go during the day and catch the manager, you’re in good shape. Go at night and the brah and blondes working won’t be able to tell you where the Expedition Stout is because it’s not by the Skol Vodka. The selection is pretty good for the area, the location, etc. They carry tons of Bell’s, Three Floyds, Ommegang, Schlafly, and I could go on. They have a lot, and they focus a fair amount on keeping good craft beer in stock. It was one of the first places I saw Hopslam after Bell’s finally recontracted Illinois. The value is pretty average. They aren’t screwing you, but you won’t get any great deals. Overall, definitely stop by for a bomber or good six pack if you’re in the area. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.“ |
| 90 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “A must-stop for one in the area. I can’t really add much to what has already been said. Food is very good, service is very good, the prices are a bit steep, however (but worth it in my humble opinion).“ |
| 70 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Destihl, but I went rather quickly after they opened. The ambiance was nice, upscale restaurant and not very beer-focused, and I’m not sure the beer drinker is who they appeal to. The service was very good; we had a waiter at our table who was very attentive, moderately knowledgeable about the beers, and got us what we needed. The selection was basically limited to their beers and a few others, which was okay. The food was pretty good, which leads into the value. You need to know going in that this is a moderately expensive upscale type place that will easily charge 20 bucks a steak and 14 bucks for a burger basket... it’s not a pub! The food is still really good, though! Overall, if you’re around the town and want to hit a brewpub, go here, but be prepared to pay for the food you’re getting with their overall average beers.“ |
| 76 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Nice upscale style decoration. More of a restaurant feel than brewpub. Five "flagship" beers and five specials on tap when I was there ranging from a Pale Lager to to double IPA and barrel aged beers. I was pleasantly suprised by the variety and quality of the beers. Food was solid, featuring a lot of sandwiches and salads as well as some entrees and a limited brunch menu on the Sunday I was there. Creative ingredients and food offerings. Offering 2 dollar pints never hurts either which they were. They have interesting looking flip top growlers which they charge you 8 bucks for, but I was not complaining as it was only $6-12 to fill it up, with the price increasing for the higher abv or specialty beers. I’d like to go back and try some of their barrel aged beers and get a feel for some of their more experimental beers.“ |
| 92 /100 The Medici (Restaurant) 120 NORTH ST. “This is as good as it gets for central, IL. 32 taps, my recent favorites are Storm King, Old Rasputin, Robert the Bruce, Alpha King & Matilda. The selection is constantly changing. Wednesdays, all beers are $3. Join the Wednesday Warrior club, 10 different trips on Wednesdays buying a beer gets you a free T-shirt. When you wear the T-shirt in your glass gets upgraded to a larger size. That makes wearing the shirt on Wednesday a great deal since all drafts are $3. The glass upgrade is from a challis to a pint for high alcohol brews and from a pint to a 20 oz. glass for other brews.
My wife and I have eaten there once or twice a week for the past few months and never a bad meal. The garbage pizza is honestly the best pizza I’ve ever had and I eat a lot of pizza. The bar service is excellent. The seated service is the reason I did not give the overall service a perfect rating.
I used to travel to Kellehers in Peoria or Flossmoor Station for a combination of great beer and food. No need to any“ |
| 48 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “I grew up in Bloomington/Normal so when I was back in town for a wedding I wanted to finally hit this place up. Neither my parents or my sister thought it was anything special, and I agree. I have been too spoiled by Rock Bottom Chicago. The food although it sounded good...was average at best. All the beer seemed watered down and a little thin to me. I got the rotational sampler and the server couldn’t tell me what any of the beer was. When he did return he pointed at one and said it was like Bud Light and said another was like Bud Light Lime and he still had no idea what the names were. If I was the brewer I would be pissed.“ |
| 68 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “We finally made our way here and while the restaurant has a weird upscale feel to it, it wasn’t really snooty. It is laid out really oddly with an 8-top on a stage. At any rate, being so new/young I didn’t have huge expectations, but they still didn’t live up to what they could be. Hopefully it’ll get better with time.“ |
| 52 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “it was alright. they had a really great looking food selection, but the execution was pretty average. They’re trying really hard to be an upscale place but its just kind of a hodge-podge.“ |
| 80 /100 The Medici (Restaurant) 120 NORTH ST. “a casual, but upscale restaruant with a well thought out beer selection. plenty of good taps and bottles to choose from, i enjoyed a red seal ale, crooked tree ipa (darkhorse), and a prima pils. according to the bartender they like to change up their taps, and the menu said that they ware working on expanding their already decent bottle selection. (90 minute was availible with a few others that weren’t listed yet.)
food is pretty good too, seems to be bread based, with pizzas and stuff (is a bakery too) there are also pastas, burgers and steaks.
lots of wood in the decorating, this is a cool new place to have a beer in uptown normal“ |
| 82 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Ok, the setting is nothign special as it’s next to a big Target and poorly marked, I drove past it twice with out seeing it. The interior has a simple industrial feel that is also like a maze. The staff I talked to knew their beer. The beers were solid overall with a nice variety. The food I had was plated in a fancy manner and was very tasty. I also enjoyed the eclectic music, These guys are barrel aging lots of stuff, look for them to be contenders at future festivals. I will definitely stop in again if in that part of IL.“ |
| 68 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “Being a new spot on the Veterans Parkway mall/shop/restaurant/motel strip that cuts through Bloomington-Normal, this has the shiny clean look of a something-better-than-family restaurant. There’s few food choices for someone (like me) with a restrictive diet, but the Asian Chicken Salad was pretty decent... once I found the few bits of chicken in it. Somewhat pricey. But the beer is what’s most important to me, and this is a place that shows promise. They have thirteen taps, but right now have only seven beers on tap, including a fairly tasty barleywine when I stopped in. This is definitely a place to stop at if you’re in the area. The location was crying out for a brewpub. The alternatives were either the Illinois Brewing company in Bloomington (which you might want to pass on) or a 30-to-45 minute drive to Rhodell’s in Peoria (a must stop).“ |
| 78 /100 318 S. TOWANDA AVENUE “A really nice place. Apparently, they just opened the place up recently... and I just happened to drive by and see it. Upscale interior. Seven different beers on tap, most of which were pretty good. Food is a little expensive, but better than typical brewpub fare. Service was pretty good, despite how busy the place was. Overall, I was very impressed with the place... especially after just driving up and seeing it!“ |
