Irish lion pub in Bloomington

[littletommy]

Heading to Bloomington next weekend and have been looking on the webs at some places to eat and drink there. I'm on an Irish beer kick lately, and saw an ad for the Irish Lion pub. Is the place good? How's beer selection there? Is it worth going there for dinner and drinks, or should I hit Upland or one of the other beer places in town?

 

[Mr. Habib]

I haven't been there in a while, but it was pretty good every time that I have been. Besides, after a couple of yards of Guinness, who cares if the food is good.

 

[EyeCarry]

Hard to go wrong with a place to eat in Bloomington. The Irish Lion would not have been here all these years if they did not provide good food/service. Personally, pickled herring with soda bread and a pint is a good after work start to the evening. I have had the fish and chips, the coddle, the shepherds pie.....hmmm might be time to visit again, it's been awhile.

 

[woodsie57]

If you go upstairs, and a member of your group decides to show off their "river dance " skills on the wood floor, they WILL kick you out.

 

[Rick60]

D

 

[mrjarrell]

If you're going down for a long enough time, there's no reason you can't hit the pub and Upland. Upland will have them beat all to heck on the varieties and quality of beers. Get a Champagne Velvet if you go. That's a really good beer and they've got their seasonal offerings up now, too. They also have a good food menu. Hard to go wrong with a trip to Upland. Don't know if they currently have a stout on tap, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Brew Listing ? Upland

 

[Vigilant]

Food at the lion is excellent, beer selection, good, Scotch, Whiskey, Whisky, and Bourbon selection is second to none in this area!

 

[bikeman]

The Irish Lion is good and they have an ok beer list. I would suggest hitting the Lion and then one of the other places around the square. Function brewery is about a block away. Tap is a half block away and they have a hugh beer selection.

 

[ol' Huff]

I think the Upland kinda sold out. Food got better and the beer got worse. YMMV.

Of course, I don't drink as many meals at 36 as I did at 21 so I'm willing to believe in sample skew. Still, their second batch of porter was marvelous and every batch since has seemed like a gradual drift to the center. So it goes.

 

[oldpink]

I haven't been there in nearly twenty years, but yes, the food is good, and the beer is even better.
If you want to live dangerously, go ahead and get it in a half yard, or get it in a full yard if you want to be out on a limb.
Just be sure to have a designated driver first!

 

[littletommy]

We'll only be in town for a few hours, just time to eat and drink and head to the hotel, we're running a 10k the next day. It's become a tradition to indulge a little the night before a run!

sounds like dinner is a definite at the Lion, and maybe Upland for a night cap or two.

 

[dcr465]

Crazy Horse next door use to have a huge beer selection. But I haven't been there this century.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

Irish Lion ....goooood.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Another +1 for the lion. I am always down for a pint of the black stuff and coddle in a bread bowl, plus some blarney puffs. I'm pretty sure that the Crazy Horse next door to the lion still has a better beer selection than the Upland.

For trivia, the lion has one of the bars seen in the opening sequence of the television show "Cheers".

 

[Fenway]

Had my first beer there when I turned 21

 

[ghitch75]

make sure you get a yard of beer

 

[hoosierdaddy1976]

Been there once this past spring for lunch. Food was really good (leg of lamb with roasted potatoes). If I ever make it down there again, I'd definitely go back.

 

[nsolimini]

Skip all of the other places and go to The Tap. Awesome food, and TONS of beer choices.

 

[littletommy]

Update: We went to Irish lion last night, loved the place! I had a black and tan, wife had some sort of cocktail that she said was really good, we split a shepherds pie and an order of puff balls, loved those, too. The best thing we had there was a big slice of Irish cream cake, holy crap that was good! We headed over to the Tap after that, and got two flights to try, we were both really impressed with the Taps brews, and the bartender there was very accommodating in explaining to my wife what styles of beer she was drinking, we'll definitely go back there again!

We ended the night sitting in the bar at Cheddars, (it was right across the road for our hotel) eating nachos and drinking Sam Adams Octoberfest.

We had a great time in Bloomington, and saw quite a few other restaurants and bars around the square that we'd like to try sometime.

 

[AGarbers]

As Halloween approaches, remember that the Irish Lion is haunted. Or maybe the vapors they saw were due to spirits of another kind.