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Bloomington is lauded as a town with an impressive food scene, but in recent years, several local favorites have been lost. A few I miss include Laughing Planet, Darn Good Soup and Falafels. Some reading this story won’t have had the pleasure of ever trying these restaurants, but for longtime residents, we remember these spots fondly and feel their loss in Bloomington's shrinking restaurant scene.
There are plenty of reasons why some restaurants have closed their doors over the past few years. This is a college town, and the summer months are quiet when students head home. This reduction in population leads to a decrease in business for most restaurants.
And, like all cities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the restaurant industry had struggled to stay afloat. Bloomington was not saved from this fate. Darn Good Soup, a casual restaurant on the square that featured a variety of delicious soups, was one of my go-to restaurants, but it was permanently closed during the pandemic.
It wasn’t alone. According to the Washington Post, it’s estimated that 90,000 restaurants closed due to the pandemic. This includes everything from bars, cafes, dinners and much more.
Though we still have wonderful restaurants in town, especially on Fourth Street, some restaurants now feel very similar, and there’s a reason. The pandemic hurt Bloomington’s blossoming restaurant scene, which coincided with another significant development: the rise of restaurant hospitality groups.
These groups create different concepts for each restaurant, but somehow it all feels the same, like it was meant more for Instagram than a unique dining experience. I mean, the new Yogi’s, which is owned by a hospitality group, serves solid pub food, but lacks the personality of the original Yogi’s, which is now just an empty lot on 10th Street.
Bloomington has also become a hotspot for national chain restaurants, especially near campus. Raising Cane’s, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Five Guys and Goodfellas are just four new restaurants on Kirkwood alone in the past few years. While the food may be fast, these chains impact our local restaurant industry and change the vibe of Kirkwood. Local places shouldn’t have to be forgotten just because of large chains.
Recently, two longtime restaurants closed their doors for a better reason than the two previously mentioned. The owners of Irish Lion and Cafe Pizzaria both retired after years of tireless service in Bloomington.
Cafe Pizzaria is one of the most well-known restaurants in Bloomington, having been open for 70 years. Several people attempted to visit for one last meal without knowing it had unexpectedly closed its doors in August. According to one person quoted by WRTV, “It's a heartbreaker, it's one of the iconic places in Bloomington. It was part of my childhood and it's gone." Restaurants have a way of impacting our lives. Memories are made over meals.
For the 19 years I’ve lived in Bloomington, I’ve seen many of my favorite restaurants close shop. I crave the gyro from Falafels, the chicken tortilla soup from Darn Good Soup, and the carry-out burritos from Laughing Planet. These independent restaurants provided great food and had personality. We should do our best to lift our locally owned restaurants despite the ever-changing restaurant landscape in Bloomington. Encourage your friends and family to explore the diverse dining scene in Bloomington because the best way to keep them in business is by referring them to others in the community. Here’s to hoping something local goes into the space formerly known as Cafe Pizzaria.
Jack Davis (he/him) is a sophomore studying journalism.
