Lovely spot that I remember from my youth (when it wasn't a lovely spot) and well worth going out of your way to reach.
The food was terrific. Â Very innovative and unusual, not just burgers and fries. Â Fresh ingredients and wonderful sauces. Â Good beer and wine list and very nice staff.
But, it's the view everyone comes for and when seated outside, everyone has a perfect view, overlooking the lake. Â Now that I've been again, I'll make the Scenic View the spot to seek out whenever we come to Indiana for our family visit.
As my birth mother would say,
"If you cannot say anything nice, do not say anything."
I shall write, though, that the view is as advertised - just stunning and the most scenic spot north of Monroe Lake, Indiana.
With better management techniques and higher quality hot coffee, the potential of this restaurant may be limitless. Â I am hoping that the extended family will take action sooner than later. It definately is "sacred ground."
Am so disappointed in this place--I really want to love it but the food and drinks last night were really bad. Â The place has great potential so I hope the owner and chef read the comments in Yelp and turn the place around. Â
It's a wonderful little restaurant that we keep trying because we want it to succeed, but at least 3/4 of the time I'm sorry that we came. Â Last night the service was slow and inattentive; that was irritating but bearable because we were there to relax on the patio. Â But my medium rare Angus burger was so dry that I kept drowning it in ketchup, my nicely crunchy fries were too peppery to eat and my Mojito was so bad I couldn't drink it (and I am NOT a picky drinker).
I'm a sucker for the atmosphere, the patio, the view, and the drive, but may have to give up on this place soon.
The view is indeed beautiful. Â The service not so much. Â Coffee not brought, cups chipped, silverware dirty, and food without all the ingredients as described on the menu.
The manager was called as his elbows were on our table he made excuses for all. Â Our host who recommended this as brunch was a bit dismayed. Â Perhaps the management needs to be more on the ball.
We had heard that the restaurant had great food. Â We were horribly disappointed. Â The service was mediocre. Â The food was lacking. Â I ordered a veggie omelette without onions. Â It had onions but few mushrooms or tomatoes. Â It was very greasy. Yech. The toast was bread barely warmed. Â Husband's meat omelet left him hungry. Â His comment, "A $9 breakfast should be filling.". Â The kids ordered a waffle and fruit. They received a1/2 waffle each and a mushy mess of what looked like it might have been fruit at some point. It was inedible. Â The dining room was freezing. Â We won't return as Bloomington has a vibrant restaurant scene. Â I have had more interesting meals at chains.
Review Source:This place is a great spot that is definately worthy of it's name! They have a great patio that overlooks lake Monroe, and food to match. We started off with a bacon bloody Mary, which while interesting failed to excite my tastebuds. My friend ordered fried pickles, which were very good, and unique in the sense they were not as "pickly" as all the other fried pickles I've had. I started my meal with the orange spinach salad with orange vinagrette. This was good, but nothing sensational. My main meal was the Hawaiian burger, which was fantastic! The burger had great flavor, and the pineapple and bacon went very well with the soft pretzel bun. The sweet relish on the and cilantro mayo took the place of my usual ketchup and mustard, and created a symphony of flavor in my mouth.
Bottom line is this is an amazing spot for a date, the food is good and atmosphere amazing for Bloomington. It is a little pricey, but worth it imo.
Went here midweek in the summer and had a fantastic meal (the lamb burger with sweet potato fries) with friendly service, and got to enjoy the view from a great outside table. Went back on a busy Friday night, and was thoroughly disappointed. Had to sit inside, and they were very understaffed - we waited more than an hour for food that arrived cold and  overcooked.
Review Source:This was my first visit to The Scenic View Restaurant, and I have to say it was not at all what I expected. A friend of mine, Neil Minger, accompanied me on the twenty-minute drive out to Lake Monroe.
Upon arriving we were both left in awe of, what else, the view. This restaurant sits atop a hill with an expansive view of the lake and the tree's and the rolling hills beyond. It's truly beautiful, but it doesn't mean the foods any good right?
Ok, so it's about time for a cocktail. Coincidentally, the liquor offerings at The View are all half price on Thursday. Sure enough we had wondered in on a Thursday. Perfect. We both ordered Bloody Mary's, and let me assure you I make a damn good bloody Mary, just ask around, but these were something else. Made with tequila and vodka, tomato juice, tons of horseradish, spices and vegetables. They were unreal. The glass was rimmed with a salty, spicy powder of some kind, and the drink was garnished with olives, celery, pickle and baby corn. Slightly sweet and appropriately spicy, this cocktail and picturesque setting alone warrant the drive out.
Next we ordered the buttermilk battered calamari. According to the website it comes with garlic mayo and marinara, and that may have saved this dish. We received ours with a plum hoisin sauce. If that is a permanent amendment to the menu, it's an unfortunate one. The squid itself doesn't stand out as anything other than slightly more chewy and rubbery than I've had elsewhere and the batter was pretty bland.
For our main course I ordered the special. BBQ Pork Ribs with jalapeño baked beans, jalapeño corn bread and jicama slaw. At around $15 this was a steal. I received a massive plate of food that I was barely able to make a dent in with some really great things going on, and some not so great things that were easy to ignore.
The baked beans were amazing. That sounds ridiculous, being that they are baked beans, but I'm serious. These were great beans with tons of bright, slightly sour, spicy jalapeño flavor.
Next was the jicama slaw. It was sweet and crunchy and bright, and was a nice break from the heat of my cocktail and the heat of the beans. Some chopped cranberry and a nice light sauce made this an exceptionally good slaw.
The cornbread doesn't warrant it's own paragraph. It wasn't special, it was slightly dry and it lacked the jalapeño influence it advertised.
The ribs were good. I ended up with a huge half rack of some of the most tender and juicy ribs slathered in sweet, smoky barbecue sauce. Â The sauce actually took away a bit from the meat. There was simply too much of it, and it masked the flavor of the meat and what appeared to be a nice dry rub. All in all they were very good but would have benefited nicely from a slightly more conservative helping of sauce.
Would I revisit The View? Â Yes. It would make for a very nice date spot, and if we'd had slightly warmer weather would have been insanely enjoyable. The patio is gorgeous, and I'll go back in the summer just to sit outside and have another Bloody Mary.
The view is worth trip down 446 at this small restaurant. Â I was glad to see somebody open a restaurant here again after a few years. Â The scenic view brings the total number of places to eat on the length of 446 to three (this counts the cabin lounge and the gas station at the hwy 50 junction).
The substantial view burger was served with a pretzel-style bun and the nachos arrived on a big platter. Â Fish tacos with mango salsa were good, but I like the Trojan Horse's version better.
They had eight or so regional microbrews on tap to go with the usual bud light and chardonnay.
The inside dining room is pretty tiny, but if the weather is nice you should sit outside anyway. Â There is a bed and breakfast type lodge next to the restaurant.
This place has so much potential. The view is pretty but VERY distant (god forbid anyone get anywhere near the shore of Lake Monroe), but the place itself is pretty cheap and underwhelming. The food was average -- we had a Margarita pizza that had a rubbery crust which had clearly been frozen for days. The corn fritters with pineapple salsa were GREAT, on the other hand. They had a small yet cute bar with a very decent selection of local brews. The service was perhaps the worst I've ever had, but they claimed to be short staffed that night. The clientele were boisterish and hisckish t-shirt families, but if you sit outside you hardly notice them. AVOID sitting inside -- WAY too loud with good old boys and screaming children. Â In short, this is a nice place to go once for a drink, but avoid making a habit of it.
Review Source:My SO and I  went back here in March after one of those annoying where-do-you-want to-eat discussions. For  Bloomington standards, this place is "Woohoo! As good as it gets!". I had the smoked salmon linguine-$14. and my dining partner sampled the fish tacos-$9, plus we split an appetizer of calamari. I know, I know, "fish in Indiana?, ew!" but regardless the fish was really dang good.
We have also patronized this place for the weekend brunch. I had the Peaches with Rum sauce Crepe Du Jour with a mimosa which was amazing. Great bacon too.
Prices were very fair for the quality of the food and portion size.
Only complaint was that the dining room was FREEZING!
On Sunday nights the pints are 2.50! The food was great. Service was great. It is so awesome to sit outside and stare at the lake. It was like we were on vacation. Peaceful atmosphere and good menu selections. I want to make The View our Sunday hang-out and bring all our friends. Thanks Bower brothers!
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