A rebounding restaurant scene saw 34 eateries open last year, according to Twin City restaurant watcher Larry Carius, with 14 open or set to open thus far in 2024.
Carius, a retired McLean County food inspector, keeps close tabs on the regional restaurant scene through his successful Facebook blog, which now exceeds 40,000 followers.
Carius captures his conversations with restaurant owners as digests on his page. It's a passion that began nearly 15 years ago when his wife Kay noticed how many hours he was logging in a recliner. The success of his retirement hobby is as much a surprise to him as anyone else.
“I’m not a good writer,” he said in an interview for WGLT’s Sound Ideas. Carius keeps a narrow focus on openings, closings and renovations with the occasional aside into menu items and other tidbits he finds interesting. But more than anything, Carius is drawn to the people.
“I find them absolutely fascinating,” Carius said. “You have to be a different type of person to be a successful restaurant owner. And I mean that in a positive way.”
Recent closures
By Carius’ count, 2023 was a net gain for restaurants, with just eight closures. Two more spots—Under the Ground and Zeta Coffee, both in downtown Bloomington—have announced closing shop in the first two months of 2024.
Vegan-friendly Under the Ground struggled in its location on North Main Street, a spot occupied by several restaurants that have closed. Flingers, a craft pizza pub now stationed on Vernon Avenue, is a notable exception, but Carius said a good restaurant doesn’t necessarily depend on a good location.
“I rarely blame location for a restaurant’s demise,” he said. “A good, local restaurant that serves food—they can survive in most locations.”
In a Facebook post, Zeta Coffee said they closed their Bloomington location at Red Raccoon Games to focus on their main shop in Downs.
New or back in the game
Greenwood, Ind., restaurant Revery has brought its contemporary American cuisine to Bloomington, after a major renovation to the former Ozark House Restaurant’s interior on McGregor Street. Ozark House closed in 2022 after 50 years of operation.
Also new on the scene is Social Taco, a concept restaurant placing all sorts of global delights on a tortilla. Social Taco is now open in the Shoppes at College Hills, replacing Flat Top Grill—and staff say, so far, they’re busy. Speaking of tortillas, both Moe's Southwest Grill locations have reopened following remodeling in Bloomington and Normal. Rounding out the Tex-Mex options, Tequilas Mexican Restaurant also recently opened in Heyworth.
Lucca Grill in downtown Bloomington is open again after a 10-day closure.
“They had a walk-in cooler in the basement—it could have been the original,” Carius said of the 87-year-old restaurant. While closed, Lucca Grill also updated its beer taps with a glycol cooler system, enabling the bar and Italian restaurant to better regulate temperature as beer travels from keg to tap.
Some openings delayed
Detroit-based Jet’s Pizza is set to launch its first Bloomington franchise soon, after a planned late January opening got pushed back. They picked a spot in Eastland Commons to serve pizza its signature eight corner pies.
“When Jet started, their first pizza pans were used from one of the automobile manufacturers,” Carius said. “They were a special, heavy-duty pan. When you made the pizza in these pans it formed special corners. They were very thick and very crispy.”
Carius said people fought over the pizza equivalent of burnt ends, so Jet’s, which also serves wings and subs, began serving up two smaller pies when a large is ordered—giving more diners an end piece.
Jet’s opening means Pizza Payaa will no longer be the only Detroit-style pizza game in town—this a year after local restauranteur Adam Elpayaa expanded his operation with a new flagship location in Uptown Normal. The spot at 4 Currency Drive still has pickup, delivery and counter service, with a bar and full service dining available on Beaufort St. in Normal.
The return of Green Gables Bar & Grill, which has also experienced delays after a fire destroyed the Lake Bloomington hot spot, is now pushed back to mid-April.
