I hate the Pub. I realize that my status as an Illinois State alum is in direct conflict with my dislike for this establishment, but I'm okay with that. Â
The Pub prides itself on the fact that it was once one of Playboy's top college bars... except that was in the 80s and nothing has changed since. The same people who frequented the bar then are still coming now, and bringing their children along to enjoy the same sub-par food.
This Saturday we went in around 12:45 to have some lunch. The group I went with was craving cheese balls (which can be found at just about any other place in Uptown Normal for half the hassle of having to go here) and some bar food. It took our waitress 25 minutes of us sitting there to even acknowledge that we were there to be waited on. In the meantime, she was able to bus a table, stare at the tv, and bring multiple drinks and items to other tables.
After placing our order, we proceeded to wait another 45 minutes to receive our food, during which time our waitress ignored our table completely and went out of her way to not walk past us at all. When we received our food, it was room temperature at best. It took another 20 minutes to get our check, and no apology was offered about the lateness and overall lack of service. Meanwhile one of rocket scientists that work at the Pub must have been sitting on the remote control and repeatedly turned the X-Games coverage volume up enough to further ruin everyone's experience.
If you want indifferent service provided by students who would have been better off sleeping away their hangovers, the Pub is your place to go. Overpriced and low quality drinks, and lukewarm food. Doesn't get much worse than that. My expectations for the Pub are literally as low as it could get, but this experience definitely lowered the bar even more.
Typically end up in fights with the cooks- they are wannabe hard asses that like to drink in the beer garden after the kitchen closes. Bouncers are on their side typically (but not always) so basically if you want to get bitched at for ordering food within 20 mins of the kitchen closing then go here- be ready for fisticuffs in the beer garden- cooks are wusses but the bouncers are not to be messed with. Other than that food is good, cheap  beer, what else you need?
Review Source:What can I say about Pub II that hasn't already been said?
From a non-college student perspective:
1. I can't believe we had to wait in line to get in... I never had to wait in line to get in when I was in college.
2. Super crowded inside.
3. Several ladies behind the bar working - that was appreciated, it never took too long to flag one down for a beverage.
4. Which brings me to my next point - cheap drinks! Â We drank there for a few hours, including a round or two of shots (we took a cab) and the grand total including tip came to $21. Â Not shabby at all.
5. Frat-tastic. Â That's all.
This place has above-average bar food and fast service. Â The cheese balls are also quality. Â In fact, some ISU alums who return to town make this a must stop to get a cheeseburger and cheese balls. Â Read more in my "Food for Thought" food column for local radio station WJBC's website.
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwjbc.com%2Ffood-for-thought-dinner-and-a-movie-rental%2F&s=d387a0b2169d5641e802939ba28b9182e948ad63954a867845665ceef3ecd82b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://wjbc.com/food-for…</a>
Some of the best Pub food in town. everything is c heap and yummy.
Be sure to go for the burgers and cheese balls with a nice cold beer. You will be surrounded by college kids and early 30s people who haven't settled down lol.
this place is so much fun though. It get's a little annoying when you sit outside during the summer and the flies and bugs are everywhere. But it's worth eating outside.
Great pub food. Some of the best in town. Deep fried appetizer goodness. Best cheese balls in the city. Don't go if you're on a diet. You won't come out alive.
If I were still in college, I'd love it more. Now I have no patience for that crowd and I assume they'd have no patience for me. I can live with that. I'll sneak over there for lunch during the week or go there in the summer after work for impromptu happy hours. I just make sure to sneak out of there before all the bros and hos show up. Once it's elbow to elbow, it just makes you wish you were 22 again. Then you feel old. Then you leave.
Been here once and its a fun place! Of course I had a few whiskeys at Maggie Miley's first since it was Wednesday. I recommend coming to this place pregamed.
Everything was cheap, we had $4 pitchers of bud light and the famous cheeseballs. They were, of course, amazing.
As noted by many others it is full of college kids. Nothing wrong with that. It looks like a bar. Not much else to say style wise.
It was pretty divey though that I was suprised people weren't playing beer pong or flipcup like SF's Bar none.
The service was decent considering what was going on. I was probably more lenient though because we were having amazing discussions (as all are after enough whiskey).
Also, I guess technically having a patio where people drink beer is a beergarden, but having been to DC and NY I expect a certain ambience and wide selection from beergardens that Pub 2 is lacking. So don't get too excited about that.
Anyways, a fun way to spend a night if you are still young enough to still want the college life. It definitely serves its function.
I have been here a few times without problems til the last time when they said my id was fake when it was obvisously not, had to call the cops to even get it back, never got an apology when I asked to speak to a manager about it he was just as much of a jerk about it. Shows that he does not care about how his employees treat their customers
Review Source:Great food! However, the draft beer isn't what you order. If you order a bud light, miller lite or coors, you are really drinking PBR, Busch Light or Natural Light.
They have a ton of TVs so it's great to watch sports game;however none of them are in HD. They have HD TVs in there, but you must have the cables to hook them up in order to watch in HD. They do not so all of the games are still fuzzy.
Their service is so, so. We have had okay service and then we have had terrible service. Nothing is superb though.
Spent nearly all of my Thursdays during college here. Ok, maybe more than just Thursdays. :)
Love the cheeseballs. Love the service. Love the beer specials.
It's the same from when I was in college 10 years ago and a lot of the same people work there...
I highly suggest this neighborhood pub. It's always a good time.
I read some of the reviews and have to wonder what people were expecting...
This is a very popular college bar that's close to campus.
Are there Frat boys and Sorority girls? Yes
Is it loud? Yes or at least it can be especially on weekends and nights.
Will you find gourmet burgers, an extensive wine list, and 10000 different kinds of beer? No, no, and no!
Want to hang out get mellow listening to Fish or the Grateful Dead? Â This isn't going to be the place for you.
Go to the Pub II for the cheeseballs, cheap beer, lots of televisions which are always on a sports channel and if it's nice weather the beer garden.
Lunch is a lot more quiet and is quick to get in and out from. The best time for non-college students to go is dinner time till around 9pm when the crowd starts to change. It's also usually a lot less crazy during the times when students are not in school.
What? Only 3 Stars? What are you drinkin' Journalynn?? Well not great beer I'll tell you that. Â Truth be told my coworkers and I frequent the Pub II often because it does have a lot of great things to offer. Â However your lack of great imports is a disappointment to my beer snob wannabe status, your teeny tiny parking lot (and the constant confusion over when and what spots you can actually use in the Ace Hardware lot) instigates great debate on whether we pick you for drinking fun, and the frat boy obnoxiousness in the beer garden is rising to untolerable levels. (yes you can accuse me of being old now).
By negativity behind me, let's focus on why we tend to look past your flaws and come back time and again.
1. Cheeseballs! Holy cow, the most amazing cheeseballs that #Blono has to offer. Â Practically a resident of Wisconsin, I almost discriminate more on cheeseballs than I do with beer, and these are awesome. Â Tip, ask for double the ranch instead of the marinara, and yes Frances get the full order!
2. TVs TVs TVs.... if the game is on. Whichever one you want. Â You can see it. Keeps my boys happy.
3. Darts and more Darts. Â No fighting a frat boy for a board... plenty to pick from.
4. Blue Moon... hey this is my review, remember? If the best I can get is a Blue Moon, I'll take it over the insane selection of light beers. Â My one beacon of beer goodness among the array of piss water.
So grabs some friends, park in the deck and walk over, order lots o cheese curds, grab a pig tall table near the dart board and enjoy.
AWFUL experience. Went for price and convenience, as suggested here. My beer had a fly in it, and my (bland) cheeseburger had a burnt piece of paper in it (the paper used to separate the slices of cheese in the kitchen). Only positive aspect of the meal was the potato chips (which seemed store bought)
On top of it, the waitress 'miscalculated' our check by $5
Ok, so. Â The review I wrote was before I made it a habit of utilizing the beer garden every Freitag.
So, the Beer garden is great. Â I hate the winter, cause I can't use it. Â But, my girlfriend and I would head there after she got off work and we'd sit and sip beer and have a few appetizers for a few hours. Â I was able to smoke while I ate and drank, which was liberating.
Everything I said before still stands, but in the din of summer, it's great to sit in the beer garden.
Awesomely cheap beer & food prices. Â Where else can you get a pitcher of beer, cheese burger, fish sandwich, fries & cheese balls for around $22?! Â Oh, the cheese balls... Â But this is what it is: bar food with numerous deep-fried items on the menu. Â Don't expect a hidden gem of a diner here.
It has numerous TV's on with different games on each. Â It gets LOUD in there when it's full so don't expect to talk to your friends much.
It is a very popular bar (since "Uptown" Normal ran out the other great bars during their renovation phase a few years ago) and gets crowded fast. Â If you're just looking to eat & have a few drinks casually, just make sure you go before 5pm, not on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday (or Sunday or Monday if it's NFL season), or basically anytime students are here. Â Ugh... I love this bar, but just can't seem to find a time to go where I don't have to wait in line anymore. Â I'm in my 30's, those days are behind me.
Be warned about the parking situation. Â The main lot outside the entrance (off of Linden St) has very limited parking (think 20-25 spots) and has no real turn-around area if you get stuck. Â There is additional parking behind Pub II (East side - in front of Ace True Value) but BEWARE! Those spots marked no parking mean just that. Â If Ace is open, the owner/manager WILL have your car towed. Â There are only a few Pub II marked spots there. Â I wish you luck...
The Pub II is what it is, a great college town bar. There is fried food, plenty of TV's to watch sporting events and the type of drink specials that encourage binge drinking. The beer garden was a great addition. This is the type place where you can get drunk and full for $10, just be prepared for the boisterous atmosphere.
Review Source:The food is alright, but the drinks are ripoffs (like Jena said, you kind of expect bars to water down drinks somewhat, but they take it to the extreme), and it is always, ALWAYS crowded, and always with the loudest, dumbest frat boys around. As far as bars go, the Pub II was definitely not a favorite by any means. I'd rather go to Lunker's quite honestly, because for whatever reason it's a bit more laid-back there.
Review Source:I ended up here after looking for a place to watch a Cubs playoff game. Â This was pretty much a great place to do it as they had a good number of TVs. Â The crowd was pretty much college kids. Â It's definitely a place to get cheap beer and cheap food, but don't expect anything to be particularly good.
2.5
I spent many a college night at Pub II and considered myself lucky to live right around the corner from it my junior year. When I think, fondly of Pub II, I am reminded of cheese balls and broccoli bites, cheap beer, the bouncers almost stealing my fake id from me, free shots from Haas of Vanilla McGillicutty's, sneaking in the back side door on busy nights, and hot bouncers who were mostly ISU sports players. Pub II has plenty of seating, but it still amazed me how packed the place gets, on every night of the week and during the day. They also have outdoor seating, something not available when I went to school there. Fond school memories, and the one place we have to stop off at (besides Fat Jacks) whenever we think of planning our sorority reunion down at ISU.
Review Source:I recently visited ISU for Homecoming '08 and tailgated all morning. Since the majority of my peers in attendance were ISU alums they decided to take me to the "PUB II".
Upon entering it is your typical sports bar nothing fancy, neon signs and ISU Redbird banners. I wasn't too thrilled about sitting inside the bar because it was rather warm. However there is a comfortable beer garden just a step away.
Now, this is where the fun starts. The menu is super cheap...I'm talking $3-$4 sandwiches. I ordered the $2.99 1/4lb cheeseburger. It was good but nothing special, similar to what you can grill at home. For the price who can complain..right? I highly suggest their "CHEESEBALLS"...we got ours with ranch and marinara sauce for dipping.
Since it was homecoming weekend they had a 32oz. Lite Beer on special for $4.25 (you also got to keep the mug). This was soooo worth every penny.
Service was to be expected as slow because of the drunken homecoming crowd. I thought our server Tyler did a reasonable job despite the chaos and constant jager/car bomb ordering from our table.
The Pub II has a nice beer garden and is a great place to go pretty much any night if you want to have some drinks. Â If you are looking for a quiet place to talk with friends, you should go somewhere else...but if you are looking to check out some guys or girls, this is a good spot to do so.
As good of a place as it is to drink, it is an awful place to eat. Â Most of their food is blatantly purchased frozen from some big vendor, fried, and bought to your table. Â However, forget about that and just go there when you are looking to have a good time. Â Go somewhere else when you are hungry.
I mostly have love for the Pub II. Love: atmosphere, jukebox, CHEESE BALLS, cheap beer. Also love the new beer garden. Hates: the staff (excluding door guys and bartenders). So I guess that leaves servers. I have never had a good server at the Pub II. Never. It takes forever to get a beer, and the girls can be just plain rude. Most give off the impression they've never worked in a bar before. One time I actually saw my server go sit down at an empty table and do homework. The food and drink prices make up for the service, and you can save some money on tipping.
Review Source:Pub 2, lame.
If you basically don't fit the mold, you get kinda looked over when it comes to service. For it is, the waitresses are moderately attractive, and get more so when slanging the beer; they work hard for their tips. The food helps, but really doesn't do much. You'll get the look over if you take a regular's table, but really, what else can you expect? The 'tough guys' here should hop over to the Original Pub and take a reality check.
I miss the Pub!! I spent many an underage drinking night here during college, it was the place to be on Wednesdays, but not so much on the weekends. Their cheese balls are the best and they have daily specials as well that were usually pretty good. Â The best part: cheap alcohol! Â They opened a beer garden within the last year or so that looks pretty nice, it can get super crowded and smoky when it's packed so the beer garden looks like a good option. Â I loved when they had this horse racing game in the back! Â I will have to visit the Pub on my next trip to B/N, even though I'm sure I will feel super old now compared to the 19 year olds running around....ah, college.
Review Source:Yeah, Pub II has college kids ... it is in f-ing Normal what did you expect? Â However, they also have $3 sandwiches and $3.50 pitchers of beer ... along with some eye candy for both genders and a juke box so you can pick the trash you listen to while getting trashed. Â
I think I have been here almost every Wednesday night with friends and almost always have a good time while spending $10 ... the door guys are funny, the people are mostly friendly, and everyone there has the same goal for the night ... although as a lady I would figure out how to not need the restroom as the lines can be long and the facilities less than pleasant ... but what do you want? Â It is a cheap college bar at the end of the night, use it for its strengths and dont be pissed about the college kids ... they mean you no harm.
Boo, I say, boo pub 2. If you need your daily dose of faux-sorority girls from the south side of Chi-town, check this place out. Trust me, though, this is not as appealing a demographic as it sounds.
If you can get access to their cheese balls and buffalo shrimp, however, without actually having to enter this lame, lame place, they do prove to be pretty good barfood dishes. The opportunity cost of going there, though, is too great.
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