I was really disappointed when Roots started serving meat. But, I guess meat eaters hold majority and in a recession like this, you do what you gotta do.
That being said, I will always love roots. I'm slightly obsessed with the spring rolls. Some of the food is better than others, and the waitstaff is quirky, but nice. Like the food, some are better than others. The juice, coffee & smoothies are all pretty good, but like someone else said the smoothies are pre-packaged, and that's sketchy. Smoothies should NOT be pre-packaged...ever. I think if a little more work was done at the management level, this place could be one of the best in Bloomington.
What can I say about Roots? The experience was kind of a disappointment. Although the staff mean well, they were consistently inattentive (worse than the Owlery). I've waited upwards of half-an-hour or more to receive a menu or check (even after complaints).
My experience with the food is limited: I've only purchased a sandwich, and I've not heard anything about their Thai (?) cuisine. Their meat substitutes are fine, but their seasoning is generally bland. Even at around $10 per person, it's just not worth it.
We ran in here to get some smoothies and escape the heat. The smoothie I ordered was incredibly bland and forgettable, as was the one my friend had ordered. I've made better ones at home...that's saying something.
It was edible though, and that would have gotten 2 stars out of me. Unfortunately, the service was also terrible. Our "server" (who actually never ended up serving us, either) had the worst attitude, and made us feel completely unwelcome.
Never again.
Ate here after getting into town for a long weekend, and was located directly under the guest house where we were staying. Â We walked around downtown for a bit and decided we'd go with something simple, and since this seemed to be on the healthier, more natural side, we went with Roots.
Service was fine, nothing to get excited about either way, and they had some local beers that we tried which is always a good thing. Â They also seem to get some of their supplies (meats, etc.) locally, and that is something I'll always support. Â Seeing as neither of us are totally veggie, we went with something vegetarian and something meaty - the portabello melt and the cheeseburger. Â Unfortunately they don't seem to have actual mayo, so regardless of your selection you'll be getting vegannaise which I don't particularly care for. Â The melt was good, on wheat bread that was ok and very cheesey - the sweet potato fries were barely warm and when my wife asked for some mayo it took about 10 minutes to get and by that time they were done. Â The cheeseburger was excellent - really tasty and cooked perfectly.
Overall a good place for the veggies among us, but I wouldn't go out of my way necessarily if I was back in town.
Roots is hit or miss for me. Â I've had some killer polenta there (consistently awesome) but also some lackluster, overpriced falafel and black bean burgers. Â For me, the entire menu is about a dollar or two over what I think it should be for the area, even considering the portion sizes. Â With that said, their lemon-ginger tonics are wonderful and always a great choice for those trying to get over sickness. Â I've always found the service quick and nice, even at busy times. Â However, the main dining area can get pretty noisy due to the lack of carpeting or wall drapes. Â Personally, I prefer Upland's vegetarian options (even though I'm an omnivore), because they're consistent and always flavorful.
Review Source:Don't tell my roommate this, but I was less than impressed. Â
I was completely turned off from the get-go when my roommate asked for a smoothie without blueberries and the waitress said they're all pre-packaged. Â gross. Â
As for the food...I thought they had a hard time converging healthy with tasteful. Â Everything I tasted seemed bland. Â There are plenty of ways to mix healthy and delicious, and I felt as though this just didn't cut it. Â My roommate got a hummus wrap, which ended up coming out with frozen looking vegetables. Â I had a garden wrap, which was okay, but not what I expected and I honestly don't think it contained everything it was supposed (if it did, they were miniscule portions). Â The plum sauce was tasty, though. Â The sweet potato fries were highly disappointing. Â They just lacked flavor! Â
I keep hearing how cheap this place is...what? Â I thought everything was slightly overpriced. Â
Our service was also beyond slow and we were the one of two tables there. Â
I won't be back.
Hokay! I've only been here three times, and as of yet I don't get the majorly negative reviews, but let me talk about my three times!
First, and most important, at a restaurant: the food. Now, I'm in no way vegan or vegetarian (I'm a happy omnivore, I dare say), but having visited a few other vegan/vegetarian places with my friends who ARE, I have to say that the food here is really good. Â I don't much care for the sweet potato fries, but I have never really liked them anywhere. On the other hand, the fresh veggies, the curry puffs, and my barbecue tempeh sandwich were FABULOUS. Â I've tried the black bean burger too (also good), and the curry (which I liked). I'm going to try the pad thai next round, I think.
Second: The service. I've never had bad service here, but my friends and I go around lunch where they seem to not have as many people. That might be why we do, because it's always prompt and courteous.
Third: I like the interior a lot. It's got a woodsy feel to it; everything seems to be carved or made naturally of wood. They have a stage set up for live music that doesn't look like it was just forced in to the place, and the layout is natural and intuitive to move around in, which considering the limited space they have to work with is nice.
The one problem I have noticed is that every time I go in, something is broken .Either the fryer is broken so you can't get anything involving that, or the blender is broken so you can't get anything involving smoothies, etcetera.
If I had one important thing to say about Roots, it'd be that I'm so sorry I didn't get to try more of their vegetarian offerings during my time at I.U. They have such a wide and varied menu boasting so many delicious offerings for vegetarians and vegans. After searching for delicious, flavorful vegan options at restaurants and coming up empty handed so frequently, it is absolutely refreshing to find this charming place. I love their middle east dishes and especially their sandwiches. Their black bean burger has great texture, flavor, and is huge! Also, their coffee isn't half bad either. I highly recommend giving them a try for lunch or dinner sometime.
Review Source:When they have what you want ( the juicer is working, etc ...) the food is really heathy and fairly tasty, it just seems rare that Roots actually has what I want. An example:
Went today for a late lunch. I ask about juices and was promptly told the juicer was broken. Ended up ordering a mediterranean salad with sesame ginger dressing. Â A moment later I was told that dressing was unavailable and they had no feta for my salad. .. Agh I hope the management gets it under control!!
Although a "long-time" Vegetarian, I'd have to say I wasn't actually blown away by this place...I went with fellow non-vegetarians, and that may have been it...If I do recall correctly, I didn't eat much, but I remember thinking their food was "weird." Now, I know you should not be closed-minded about things, but, at 26, I feel that I have earned the right to be. :)) Soo, if, Â like a skinny celebrity, also known as Gwyneth Paltrow, you feel you need to restrict yourself to lentils and brussells sprouts to feel good about yourself, then this is the place for you. I do remember, though, they had a lot of interesting varieties of organic vegetables, so, for the sake of supporting organic fare, this place might suit you. I just remember spiceless, somewhat insipid food. There is no particular ethnicity associated to the place, which may explain the seeming "lack of traditional cuisine."
~Suphie
Pesto sandwich with seitan, sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries were delicious, basically just sweet potatoes cut into fry shape. Sweet potatoes don't need to be deep fried. Pesto sandwich was tasty except the seitan. I don't know why it was there, it was just a thin, kind of soggy piece of fried.. Â Didn't ruin the sandwich but could have been prepared better.
Review Source:I love having a place like Roots in my town. Â I love the earthy atmosphere, the large wood tables, the plants, the large windows, and the cork boards covered with flyers for local goings-on. Â Its location is great, as it sits on a central street corner with a view of the old courthouse on one side and a big "Bienvenidos a Bloomington" mural on the other. Â It is a great place to bring guests from out of town to give them a glimpse of how cool and progressive a small Midwest college town can be.
The menu is pretty large and impressive for an operation of its size. Â The thai menu I have found to be outstanding for the most part, especially the basil fried rice. Â The pad thai has been good at times, but recently they changed the noodle size and on the whole the dish seems a lot sweeter. Â
The big "catch" with Roots, unfortunately, is the service. Â One waitress in particular, who has worked there for a long time - I won't name names, because it feels wrong to do so on the internet - is downright horrible. Â It is not uncommon to have to interrupt her as she converses with friends to get her to come to your table. Â If she visits your table more than twice during a visit, consider yourself lucky. Â Count on her being mildly impatient and condescending when she takes your order and clears your plates.
I am a waiter myself, and consider myself patient and tolerant when it comes to restaurant staff. Â However, it is also easier for me to notice when someone is slacking and not doing their job.
Sadly, I often skip trips to Roots if I look in the window and notice she is working; overall, I would eat there much more if the service issues weren't so deep.
I like Roots. I like their location and sitting outside. I like what they represent. I like that their juices are interesting and unusual. But their cooking is a little like a youthful, collegiate brand of idealism. It's got it's heart in the right place but it isn't fully realized. In other words, their ingredients may be fresh but their cooking isn't that good.
Their pelletized falafel was dry, presumably made well ahead of our order and not that tasty. Their baba ganoush tasted like it was made from apples and barley, not olive oil and eggplant. It was so bland I had to confirm it was really baba ganoush with the waitress. The fried samosas were seasoned well, though a little greasy, as were the other appetizers we had.
I really wanted to like Roots. In fact, it was one of the reasons I originally moved to Bloomington. "This place is so cute ... and they have an all-vegetarian restaurant!" Small town, midwest. Little things become exciting.
But it's really just not that good. The service is mediocre at best. They often seem to be out of things that I order.
I will say that the polenta I had at Roots was excellent. And the portions are generous. And when they're good, the seitan nuggets are really good. But overall, it's just kind of underwhelming and inconsistent. The seitan is sometimes really good, but one never knows if it's going to be good. Upland's is more consistent.
Roots has an amazing location and a captive audience with a town full of vegetarians, but I just don't see myself going back unless they really turn some things around. Especially now that the Owlery exists ... better off going there.
Good selection, good food. I have always gotten the padd thai when I go and it is top quality and very good. I need to try more items on the menu, but the padd thai is so delicious I can't resist getting it!
The service is good as well and the restaurant has a nice atmosphere, too. It can get a bit busy and the food takes some time to arrive, so plan for some time if you're eating during the busy part of lunch or dinner. As long as you're not in a rush, there's time to enjoy the artwork in the restaurant or talk to your fellow diners.
This is one of my favorite restaurants to eat at. Although I need to try more of the menu items, friends have always had good things to say about their food, which my sure is just as good as the padd thai.
I go for the vegan cake. I sit at the bar, and I talk tea with the Barista. Seems to be the best way to get the best service here. Other times, the service can be very slow. I don't really come here for a main course. The potential for greatness is definitely present, but this place persistently falls short in terms of ticket times. Methinks this place is a little too laid back for entree service.
Get the vegan cake and some juice.
This is definitely my current favorite restaurant in Bloomington. I've only been here twice, but all I can say is, "country fried seitan sandwich". Seriously. I'm not even vegetarian and I think I could eat this every other day.
Also, you have to try to cake! A little bit pricy, but well worth it.. The cake is vegan and made from all organic ingredients, and rather than tasting like a brick of sweetened tree bark (sorry for my non-vegan bias), it is super amazing!
The inside of this place is really cool- its like the inside of a log cabin, with a modern twist. I will happily be back!
Even my boyfriend and I like this place, and generally if I dont have a meal with meat, I dont feel like it's a meal. Â Soooo good and the beverages are awesome too. Â They have a great variety and are just all around unique in a very positive way. Â I'm a fan of this place, wish I had discovered it before as everything is good!! Â I had a seitan sandwich, we had reallly good spring rolls, I think there was a pasta in there... I can't remember we went two or three times and all but once ordered for a group of people. Â Did have an order messed up once, but no biggie, and one or two dishes that weren't soo outstanding, but I'd go back in a heartbeat. Â Its really good and does a great job catering to a different crowd than most restaurants in the area.
Review Source:Not bad, Roots! I've been to better all-vegetarian restaurants, but it's hard to complain when you get one at all in your town--especially in Indiana!
My advice to the chef: stop by Pittsburgh's Quiet Storm and order a Cubano. There is still yet for you to achieve. :)
The cakes are double-O C. Do yourself a favor and grab dessert on the way out.
This place is WAY overrated. They have a pretty cool menu, but it is very pricey for what you are getting. The portion sizes are not at all worth what you pay.
It gets a lot of positive attention since it's the only place of its kind in Bloomington, which I give it credit for. I wouldn't recommend going there unless you have properly lowered your expectations.
If Roots had been around when I was an undergrad at IU, I probably would have kept it in business single-handedly. Â I definitely appreciate what they do, and generally liked what I ordered. Â This was one of a handful of planned destinations on a recent trip back to Bloomington, but I wasn't floored. Â Â
The menu has a section explaining the differences between the various protein options. Â This is certainly a thoughtful touch, in particular for those omnivores who are accompanying their vegetarian friends and who may not know the fine points of tempeh vs. seitan. Â Both my omnivorous partner and I liked our tempeh sandwiches (bbq for him, gyro for me). Â
That said, the menu also lists many tea options. Â I am a tea drinker and this was exciting until the server shot down my first three choices because they were "out." Â Eventually I chose an iced green tea but didn't actually get it until after my sandwich came. Â Even then it was weakly brewed and there were no refills. Â Hmmm. Â
Â
Another limitation was the next day when we stopped in for a bevo. Â I requested my iced chai be prepared with skim milk, but the choices are either soy or 2%. Â I don't think it's too much to ask for a place with a specialty coffee menu to have skim milk on hand. Â Amiright? Â
Then again, they won huge points for the smoothie my companion let me sample (and sample and sample). Â There was no yogurt, which I usually prefer, but I love-love-loved the Tropical Breeze anyway. Â That smoothie kicked ass. Â Â Â
Roots, I'm on a see-saw. Â I want to love you but I think we should just be friends.
Once again, I was shanghaied into a vegetarian restaurant, and once again the food was so great that I didn't miss the meat. Â
We shared the curry puffs appetizer--some chopped vegetables and a vaguely curry-like sauce stuffed into a wonton and deep-fried. Â Yum-a-dum-dums. Â Thankfully they were not too heavy or greasy from the frying. Â My main dish was the Roots-B-Q sandwich with tempeh (your choice of protein--tofu, tempeh, or seitan). Â This sandwich was packed full and served on some unsturdy toast, but it was delicious nonetheless. Â And I'm dainty so I tend to eat my sandwiches with a knife and fork anyway. Â The sweet potato fries on the side were somewhat inconsequential but I ate all of mine plus my ladyfriend's leftovers anyway.
It's a pretty neat place inside with a lot of natural wood, and they have outdoor seating also. Â The service was warm but a little slow: Â each visit from either of the waitresses (it was a tag-team effort) seemed like it should have come a few minutes sooner. Â But that factor didn't detract from my enjoyment of the meal. Â
We stopped back in the next day to get a cold drink on our way out of town. Â I went for the "Tropical Breeze" smoothie--orange juice, pineapple, coconut, banana, and mango. Â SO freaking good and really really hit the spot on a nastily hot and humid Indiana afternoon.
Overall, I liked Roots far more than I expected to. Â I would go so far as to say that if this restaurant were in my home city of Chicago, my semi-vegetarian ladyfriend could drag me here semi-regularly without any complaints from me.
Awesome Veg food... their Thai specialities are amazing ! Â If you want quick service this might not be the fastest so keep that in mind. Â They are a little understaffed or it could be that that's how they want for folks to come in and relax. Â
So if you aren't restricted with time this is the place to try out, their Basil Fried Rice and Pad Ke Mao are awesome with spice level of 5 (love spicy) but if your pallet isn't suited for spicy I'd recommend you go with level 2-3. Â
The only reason I'm giving it 4 star rating is their not so quick service, if they improve it they'll definitely get my 5 star rating  !
I'm with those who say this place is hit or miss. I've been four times and twice the service was iffy and the food I ordered was bland, and the other two times my service was quick and friendly and my food was delicious.
The blandest meal I had there was a tempeh gyros sandwich, which was just some plain sauteed tempeh (with no discernible spices that might replicate those in a true gyros) thrown in a pita with some lettuce and tomato with a side of really boring tzatziki sauce. Â So, yeah, not too exciting but the sweet potato fries on the side were very good. I left full and proud for eating locally and healthfully, but I was sad to have spent money on something so flavorless.
So far, my favorite meal is the tofu and veggies in peanut sauce, although the amount of rice and veggies you're given doesn't quite match up with the copious amount of peanut sauce and I'm always left with a terrine half full of peanut sauce going to waste. Still, it is tasty and organic and healthful.
As others have said, the price is a little high for the amount of food you get (and, as mentioned, sometimes for the blander items or poorer servers), but local and organic produce does cost more than your average grocery store-grade stuff so I'm willing to ignore that.
Over all, I'm happy to have an organic, meat-free restaurant in town that serves entrees featuring vegetables and whole grains. (Seriously, why are there so few places in town with brown rice or other whole grains on the menu?)
So, yeah, if you go there on a good day and order the right thing, this place is pretty good. I'm certainly hoping those experiences will eventually outweigh the others.
Roots is really hit and miss. Â I like their sweet potato curry soup, but for the price I can make a whole pot of it at home. Â I also think their fried seitan sandwich is great, but again, I can make it at home for just as cheap.
The main problem with Roots is sometimes the food just isn't good and you can't justify the price. Â However, their house juice is fabulous.
Can't complain about this place. I had been kind of avoiding it since I thought it was going to fit into the "expensive for what you get" mold that plagues many of the places in Bloomington. I was pleasantly surprised however.
When I first got there I noticed most of the food consisted of either organic/veg types of food or Thai food. A little different, but ok I thought. One of my friends who I was with told me that a Thai couple purchased the restaurant a while back. So that mystery solved.
The highlight of the place was definitely the food. I got the sampler which was a bunch of different fried foods ranging from tofu to Thai fried appetizers. It was good, but at the same time it's difficult to screw up fried food. A few of my friends got Pad Thai and Fried Rice, and both were good. I would go back to try that.
There were a few rough areas however. First was the service. Our waitress managed to spill an entire tray of water on my friend and myself. This by itself isn't a big deal, accidents happen. If I did this, I'd make sure that I took care of that table afterward. She didn't. We only saw her to take our order and drop off our bill. Someone else brought out the food and water, plus we had to get our own silverware. Judging by many of the reviews, this isn't a unique experience.
The other downside is the prices. They're a little bit high, but comparable to everything else on the square.
I'd go back, perhaps with a raincoat.
I've been to Roots many times, and I cannot understand the negative reviews here. I guess that everyone gets tickled by different things.
I love the food; I'm yet to have anything bad at Roots. I always thought that the service was really up to the par, so I am not sure if I am extremely lucky, or if the reviewers that had complaints expected something else than what Roots offers.
A note on the food. I love the food at Roots, but my wife only likes few dishes. She does like the one she likes, but she just does not find the selection of Roots exciting. They have a nice Thai selection though, and she discovered some of her favorites there.
Roots is not the cheapest place, but you get what you pay for. In Roots they actually chop things and cook from fresh ingredients. They get local veggies when possible. Oh, and an important thing, Roots is an entirely vegetarian restaurant. To me that's a huge plus, but if you cannot eat a meal without devouring flesh, steer clear.
Update: Roots now has fish and seafood on the menu. Big minus for me. They have to update their mission statement printed on the menus...
I really want to like this place but for the life of me I cannot figure out why:
1--there are no snacks besides cookies. nothing to pick up and just eat on the run. which would come in handy because...
2--i've never met a more air-headed staff in my life. I cannot tell you how many times i've been told i have to wait for my coffee until the staff is "done making someone else's order." really? you can't multi-task and throw a shot of  espresso in the machine while you slice that bread? you can't even *start* something else, especially considering you paused from the other task long enough to take my order in the first place?
the synapses are not entirely firing in hippie-land.
As it's been a long-time staple of my Bloomington diet, I'm a little confused at the other reviews for Roots. There is no better restaurant in town for vegetarian food. The food, service, and atmosphere are all top-notch.
The Black Bean Burger is a favorite...
If you like vegetarian food, give Roots some love!
Finding good food, especially vegetarian food, while on tour with a band is very difficult. This place saved me from biting someone's face off while having an attack of low blood sugar. Roots was just what I needed.
The staff was very friendly and invited my fiance and I to have a seat at the bar. We started with the hummus appetizer. The hummus was delicious and obviously homemade and the pita was warm and tasty, although oily from tossing it on the griddle for moment. The ginseng and yerba mate teas were delicious. I had the pad thai. The portioning was generous, the ingredients were fresh and delicious, and the sauce was delightful. My fiance had the soup and salad combo. The greens were fresh, thankfully it wasn't iceburg, and the homemade dressing was delicious, sweet and tangy and vaguely tasted like chocolate. The soup was miso, very standard but very tasty.
The only thing I didn't like was the price, but that's because I don't have much to spend. It was actually reasonably priced given that the ingredients were mostly local, organic, and natural and much of it was homemade, not bought through GFS or the like.
To sum it up, we loved it.
Not good at all. Â I got the falafel here once. Â It was dry and flavorless. Â Perhaps some of their juices etc. are decent, but the food was pretty bad.
I will end my review here before saying anything that may be interpreted as mean spirited. Â But I was surprised by these peoples' ability to destroy falafel.
Yum! When I reviewed Soma, I said that it didn't live up to the high expectations that I had due to Yelp reviews. Roots benefited from the Yelp enhanced expectations. I went in not expecting it to be particularly great, but I LOVED it. I had the biscuits with sage gravy and my husband had french toast. I wish we had another day in Bloomington just to try the country fried seitan! The Yerba Mate Latte was great and when the espresso wasn't, the waitress made a new one. The experience was a great one, but I wish they'd hire more wait staff. We were never waiting long, but it did seem like the waitress was running around non stop just to keep everyone happy.
Review Source:We had been warned by some locals about this place, but decided to give it a shot anyway, as the items on the Sunday brunch menu sounded tasty and were reasonably priced.
It should be noted that I have incredible patience when it comes to poor service and/or order errors in restaurants. Roots pushed my patience to its limit, so much so that my partner observed it was the first time in two years he'd ever seen me get surly at a restaurant.
We popped into Roots for a "quick" brunch that took nearly 1 1/2 hours, and not because we are slow eaters. After waiting nearly thirty minutes just to order, my biscuits and gravy arrived with the wrong gravy - a nearly inedible mushroom gravy as opposed to the tastier sage gravy I'd asked for. I didn't send the food back because (a) I hate wasting food and (b) God knows how long it would have taken to get the replacement. I was trying to empathize with the ONE waitress who was franticly attempting to serve the entire room, but one can only take so much waiting, poor service, and errors.
The food itself was pretty good, but not worth the trouble. It's a shame to see an otherwise decent restaurant suffer so much from issues that the extraordinarily simple addition of at least one more waitress would help solve.
Unfortunately, I have to change this review.
My original review which can still be seen below listed 4 stars. Â Now, I wouldn't recommend anyone go to Roots.
We recently returned to Roots to have an unbelievably bad experience. Â Nearly everyone's food was way to spicy. Â Even foods that were not listed as spicy on the menu were nearly inedible. Â Service was again poor, and it seems like everyone that works here is high. Â At the end of the bad meal the waiter informed us that they were under new management and we could expect more Thai food in the future, and likely some meat too. Â So, WTF. Â The current (and near future) incarnations are nothing like what I reviewed.
**Original Review for Posterity**
I've been to roots on two occasions the first experience was 3 stars, the second was a full 5. Â So I've averaged for 4.
The first was for a Sunday brunch, which I don' t recommend. Â The breakfast menu has mostly items that shouldn't be vegan (biscuits and gravy). Â However, the country-fried seitan was quite good, so if you find yourself in need of breakfast, check it out.
One thing that was excellent over both visits were the juices and smoothies. Â All of these were fresh and tasty.
Many of their lunch dishes featured local seasonable vegetables, which is a big plus.
For lunch, we had several entres around the table. Â The shining star was definitely the appetizer sampler platter that included: sweet potato fries (the best I've ever had), veggie spring rolls, summer rolls, dumplings, fried tofu, fried seitan, and tasty sweet chilli and mustard sauces. Â The pesto sandwich and peanut-curried noodles were also excellent.
The decor in the place is really warm featuring wood with exposed features and a lot of character.  I would definitely recommend this for a  change of pace.
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