Mother Bear's Pizza West

I go to the campus Mother Bear's regularly but just tried the west side location since my parents are visiting and staying on this side of town. I took my parents here since I thought they should experience Mother Bear's, so, needless to say, I really enjoy the pizza I get at the campus location, and the one I got here was no exception. You can order one of the specialty pizzas off the menu, build your own from scratch, or customize a menu pizza to your liking, and there’s also a number of non-pizza dishes that I have yet to try. Their pan pizza is like an intermediate between a regular thick crust pizza and a deep dish, with a delicious dense crust and cheese caramelized up against the edges of the pizza. Their sauces are also notably good. This time I built a pizza with the olive tapenade, and the tapenade was delicious with the artichoke hearts topping. Pretty good house salad too - simple, but the lettuce was fresh and crisp, the balsamic vinaigrette was good, and the goldfish are fun and surprisingly do a lot to enhance the salad. The service was very good. They were very busy on a Saturday evening, and we were told it would be about 25 minutes for a table, which ended up being accurate, and once we were seated, our drinks and food both came out in a timely manner. Our waitress was also friendly. This was a better service experience than I've gotten at the campus location. The atmosphere is family-oriented. There were as many or more families with kids than young students. The writing covering the walls is mostly PG. The furniture has the old school pizza parlor look. There are sound panels all over the ceiling which keeps it from getting too loud.

We've been to this location multiple times and have always had a great experience. From the food to the service! Recently I just took my two nieces here, who have never been, and they said it was the best pizza they've ever had. As always, can't wait to come back!

My experience was good first time seeing a place that mains with pizza being super busy took roughly 20 mins for my carryout. Did carryout simply because the amount of people and I got the the country clucker pizza. The mixture of SBR bbq sauce and the ranch drizzle was a perfect combo the chicken pieces were big chunks which was A1!. The undercarriage was nice and not soggy from the sauce which is perfect!

Don’t go in there an hour before closing, even if you don’t plan on staying long. Apparently the waitresses think customers shouldn’t visit although they’re still open. You’ll be treated without a smile, you won’t feel welcomed, the food and beer will still be great, but the staff will make you feel like you shouldn’t be there giving your business. Worst part is, we had to leave without tipping, and we don’t like doing that, but it was definitely the right call this time.

I got a deep dish pizza with Italian sausage and salami, and it was good but nothing extraordinary. My wife got their gluten free (-ish) pizza and thought the sauce was too watery and made the pizza soggy. They seem to have leaned heavily into the grungy sports bar sort of ambience. I'd eat their pizza again but probably just do takeout.

Whenever I'm in Bloomington I usually try to stop for some Mother Bears. They always have outstanding pizza and sandwiches.

My husband and I really loved the toasted cheese ravioli with pizza dipping sauce as an appetizer. It was filling enough for me, so I settled for a 6" cheese pizza. Very flavorful! My husband enjoyed and sausage and grilled chicken pizza. Service is very kind and prompt. Everything was great!

Mother Bear’s has been my go-to for the past 2 years, and it’s no secret it’s a Bloomington gem. Their salads are weirdly addictive—I blame the goldfish crackers. I’ve tried to recreate it at home, and nope… not the same. Their ranch is the best I’ve ever had, and yes, it belongs on your pizza. Pizza-wise, I typically always go with traditional crust and vodka sauce. Today I topped it up with mozzarella, feta, green peppers, and onion. Had to get it one last time before leaving Bloomington, and honestly… what a way to go out. Forever a Mother Bear’s fan. Always a 10/10.