Update time:
Went back to Eleven recently. I wish I had better things to say.
It was packed. My date and I were lucky to get seats at the bar, but we still had to wait about 10 minutes for those. There were people sitting on the couches, not seeming to care that their party of two occupied a six-person space. Jerks.
But that has nothing to do with Eleven's staff. This does: The drinks were nowhere near as good as they were during my first visit to Eleven. I got an old fashioned and it just wasn't good. Not enough sugar, lacking bitters.
I was happy to have a chance to try the kitchen's offerings. We ordered a plate of fried vegetables and the thai shrimp. The shrimp dish was ok. Fried shrimp in an egg-roll type of thing, with sweet chili sauce, can't really mess that up. The vegetables were awful. They were either enormous pieces of broccoli -like, palm-sized- or they were mushy pieces of zucchini or other vegetables. The batter was insanely heavy and it just didn't taste good.
Their kitchen is supposedly excellent, but I didn't eat anything excellent that night. And the drinks were sub-par.
They still get a couple stars for their atmosphere, but they're going to need to step their game up. If anyone at Eleven reads this, DON'T think you can hire a bartender who worked at Daddio's and expect her to make the drinks on your menu. Hire a bartender who actually cares about making a good drink. I'm not at Eleven to get drunk, I'm there to enjoy a good cocktail, and I wasn't able to get one on my last visit.
Love eleven! Downstairs is a great place to have an appetizer and catch up with friends while upstairs feels like you're in somebody's living room watching tv and hanging out with your own private bartender. I've met really cool people and the staff makes you feel welcome! Definately check out this cute bar and I've heard they have different nights coming up like trivia night, 80's night, and a DJ!
Review Source:Our party of 12 split up into two parties of 6, seated across the room from each other. We didn't mind at all because we just wanted a nice meal and a round of drinks before returning to the coliseum for an event.
Our server (Alli) was attentive, and she did the best she could keeping us hydrated.
The problem was getting us fed. Our party (now 6) ordered a round of drinks and shortly after put in our food order. One hour later our burgers, sliders and fries had still not arrived. When our fries arrived, they were cold. 90-minutes later our food order was still incomplete and incorrect. Again, our server did the best she could and responded to my request to talk with the shift manager.
Two hours later, the order was still incomplete and incorrect. We were told that the kitchen is small and though the local businesses were aware that a large event was happening down the street the kitchen was clearly short-staffed. I appreciate it when owners or managers make the first effort to come to the table to apologize and offer to correct the situation. In this case, I had to go the shift manager twice, finally telling her that we would tip our server but not pay the bill because we still had not received our order.
It looked like it could be a fun place, but unless you walk in and there is no one else there I wouldn't expect a hot, tasty meal anytime soon. It isn't enough to set up the place with a nice vibe. You need to be able to deliver the menu you offer. Staff your kitchen or change the menu to drinks and pretzels.
I'm giving them 5 stars. Â I can't think of a single thing they could have done to improve on our experience last night. Â The staff was very attentive. Â The food was very good and the drinks were very good as well. Â I loved that you can control the jukebox from your iPhone, (download the "Remote" app onto your phone) just ask the server for the Wi-Fi password. Â
My wife and I arrived at 5:15PM on a Saturday night and there were plenty of open tables. Â It wasn't dead but wasn't packed either. Â We stayed until about 7:30PM and when we left there were still plenty of seats at the bar and a couple of open tables. Â We didn't even look upstairs, so there may have been even more space for groups.
We ordered the Chorizo stuffed, bacon wrapped dates and my wife and I both loved them. Â Next we ordered the Firecracker Shrimp and they too were very good. Â Our server then realized it was my wife's birthday, so she brought out a platter of beignet's. Â Those little powder sugar coated donuts from New Orleans. Â Very tasty and thoughtful.
My wife had  a couple of "The Eleven Cosmopolitan's".  I took a sip and although it's pretty much all alcohol, it was very sweet.  I had a couple beers on tap, a Domain Dupage and one other I fail to recall the name (Cask 51 or Barrel 51, something like that) but it was good.
Prior to our leaving, a homeless man came in and asked for the cheapest beer on tap. Â He was using a cane and it was cold out. Â I signaled to the bartender to put a couple drinks on my tab. Â Then gave him our platter of beignets. Â We were pretty full. Â To my satisfaction the staff were accommodating and let the man sit at the bar. Â
I will be back and next time plan on a flight of sliders!
Eleven is cool. You walk in the door and the bar looks absolutely incredible. I think they did a great job designing it. They have a great selection of alcohol, everything I would usually want plus a few others if I wanna try something new. I also really like the large selection of glassware they have. I love when a beer is served in the right glass.
I gave the good news first. The service here is mediocre at best. (There was one visit where the guy behind the bar did actually seemed like he cared). Almost every time I've been to Eleven the staff has been pretty arrogant and lazy. Being 21 and going to Eleven where the average age is a little bit higher, this is understandable this but by no means acceptable. I work in the service industry. I'm around food and alcohol a lot. Please don't start talking to me like I'm ignorant. Most of the time the bartenders seem to be standing at the far corner of the bar talking amongst themselves or the rest of the staff while I have my empty glass pushed away from me waiting for someone to offer me another drink. On the positive side they do seem somewhat knowledgeable. Most of the drinks I've had there have been pretty well made.
Saved the worst for last. The food at Eleven is just awful. The worst part to me if they try to pass it of as being some higher quality food that you would expect to find in a some fine dining restaurant. It's anything but. There's no attention to detail. I'd much rather go eat at Rosie's or even get a burger from McGuire's down the street.
I think Eleven has a lot of potential. I really hope they improve over time. It's a nice bar that's a little removed from the rest of downtown Bloomington, which is nice if you're not into 75 cent well drinks and sweaty college kids. I'll try it again in a couple months.
We have now gone back to Eleven twice since my initial review of this interesting new option in the BloNo food (and drink) scene. And upon further review we are upping our opinion slightly based on the consistency of the food, the quality of beer selections and what seems to be a happy and burgeoning crowd at this place.
We definitely recommend the sirloin pin wheels, the expanding list of 'sliders', and when its available, the tex-mex quesadillas were shockingly tasty.
The only negatives were that the bartender seemed overworked (albeit pretty  accomodating just the same) and the wi-fi jukebox signal (not the music itself, just the Apple 'Remote' access to it) kept going up and down.
Otherwise, we now consider this a solid option before (or after) events at US Cellular Coliseum in particular.
I really wanted to like Eleven. The atmosphere was good, but everything else was a huge disappointment. I ordered a Presbyterian, which was not mixed well. For dinner I ordered a salad, and the pears on the salad were inedible because they were so underripe. I also ordered some steak kababs/skewers medium rare. They came out well done and it was clear they had been microwaved from earlier that day. I actually don't think I've ever been so appalled at a bar or restaurant. Bloomington could really use a gastropub, but I don't think Eleven will be it.
Review Source:Had the opportunity to visit  Eleven for the fourth time since it opened. This was the second time since the upstairs lounge came online. An alright place to go below are my thoughts
Pro's
Unlike most places downtown they serve food until midnight.
The food is a nice change of pace from the usual bar food
The staff is courteous and friendly
The upstairs lounge area provides a good atmosphere to hang out
Con's
The bartenders are great at serving beer but are still learning the mixed drinks
The space is great but the place doesn't have a unique vibe and lacks character
They are located next door to a bar that has a loud obnoxious clientele, impossible to get in without walking through a cloud of smoke and profanity.
I think Eleven is a decent place and adds a needed option to the downtown scene
Highlights...
1. When you're here you don't feel like you're in Bloomington (and that's a good thing)
2. Cool atmosphere (see #1)
3. Interesting menu mostly shareable appetizerish items. Go with friends!
4. Yea! Letting you taste what's on draft before you order. The sign of a great bar.
5. Pretzel buns. Sliders on pretzel buns. Kaiser rolls are so 10 minutes ago.
Lowlights...
1. Parking is of course limited since its downtown but the big garage is next to Rosie's so more of a medium light than a lowlight
2. Lights are low. Bad for instagram food photos :-P
Will I go back? Yep
Will I try more on their menu? Yep
Do I recommend you go? I'll give you one guess what my answer is for that one...
Pretty good. Â They had a decent draft beer selection. Â I was expecting it to be a little pricey based on other reviews but prices were good. Â We didn't try any food this time but saw a few things that looked very yummy.
We'll definately try to go back if we are in the neighborhood.
This is a great bar if you want to relax and have some great drinks and yummy appetizers. Â We like that the music is geared to fans of classic rock......their play list is very unique. Â They have drink specials every night, and will even modify their recipe to suit your taste. Â Not the typical bar food that is microwaved frozen food...everything is freshly made. Â The staff is very friendly and they remember you. Â Bathrooms are clean. Â They just opened an upstairs area with couches and a 92" projection tv for games.....beautiful bar upstairs, too. Â You are missing out if you don't check out ths great little bar!
Review Source:Light crowd on a Wed. night, but we really enjoyed our first visit to eleven. Service was fantastic. Our server/bartender was very knowledgeable. She pretty much knew the food and drink menus backwards and forwards. You don't see that very often anymore. She was attentive, but not too attentive. There is a fine line there.
The food - it's good. A bit hit or miss, but good. Highlights are definitely the hummus, chorizo stuffed dates, onion rings, and the grilled cheese. At our table of four, these dishes got the most raves. Lowlights would be the fries and beignets. Both lacked flavor and depth. Maybe lack of salt? Fries would be awesome with some spicy seasoning or even seasoned salt. Beignets were just plain flat. Don't get me wrong, they got eaten, just weren't favored.
Drinks are top notch. They know how to mix decent cocktails here. Refreshing change of pace.
I must start by saying that I've only been to Eleven once, so I don't have any breadth of experience. But it does say something that I was compelled to write a review after only one visit.
Eleven fills a small market that has been lacking in Downtown Bloomington. I don't have a name for it but I think you'll see what I mean when you go there.
It feels like more of a bar than a restaurant but it has very good food and service. It's like Rosie's if you replaced the hip intellectuals with aspiring executives.
Eleven has a more sophisticated feel than other bars, maybe because the lights are low and they specialize in "menu drinks" instead of your run-of-the-mill beers. My group of 4 was there in the early evening on a Thursday and it was quite busy. We got the last table in the place and had wonderful service. One drink in, the acting manager came up to us and asked "If I were to offer you all a free round of drinks, would you mind moving to the next table over? I have a group of six coming in." We were happy to move. Then, when our server was informed that we would be receiving a round on the house, she opened up the drink menu and (while eyeing my Coors Light), said with a smile, "If it's free, you're going to want to get something from here."
As I mentioned, they don't have the cheap drink options that I have come to expect in B-N. The standing special is a $3 pint of Coors while other beers (Fat Tire, Bell's, etc.) are $5-6 and cocktails are $8+. This makes it the place to come with a friend, date, your couple friends, etc., for a couple nice drinks without having to worry about a drunk 20-something spilling a PBR on you. If anything, you'd get a Manhattan spilled on you by a guy who looks like your uncle wearing your clothes.
As for the food, everything that we had was great and most of it has already been reviewed here. We tried the 'five slider' burger special and got a variety. We were going to get a mix of kaiser and pretzel rolls but our server told us not to bother with the kaiser and to go all pretzel. I like that kind of honesty.
All in all, it was a great experience and I'm looking forward to returning. It was still in its "soft opening" while we were there. There's an entire upstairs that we weren't able to access. Rest assured that if my opinion changes after my next visit, so will my review.
I highly recommend the chorizo stuffed dates wrapped in bacon. They definitely nailed it with those. I also tried the onion rings, and wasn't as pleased with them. I enjoyed the flavor of the breading, but texturally it was very hard. Also the onions were sliced very thin so I didn't get much of the onion flavor that I expect from an onion ring. I had heard good things about their cocktails so between my table I was able to try a gin gimlet (which I enjoyed very much) and old fashioned which was also good, and a manhattan which I was not impressed with. I do want to try more of their food, and service was very good so I will undoubtedly return.
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