Daddios

As a student this was one of my favorite bars to go to on the weekends. Thursdays were awesome for cheap drinks and the weekends were great to see bands like Hairbangers Ball, and it was always a good time. Only complaint then was the huge amount of fraternity bros with a chip on their shoulders that would frequently attend. But then again the best way to beat that crowd is going when they have a live band, for some reason it repels that type of crowd. Then again that was a few years ago. But it was a good place then.

Daddios poorly attempts to be a club. The cheap drink prices are mitigated by their portion size. While the bartenders are attractive, they know nothing about actual bar tending.

Great place to see live music and DJs.
Flat out. If you want to have a good time and dance and drink, than Thursday night at Daddios is THE place to be in BloNo. DJ Brainstorm is tearing up the music and guaranteed to heat it up. $ 2.00 everythings? C’mon, what else do you need. The crowd rolls in at 11:00, but it bumps from 11:00 — 1:00.
Friday night, you can catch a changing lineup of DJs and $ 6 32oz drinks. Again, I don’t know what you’re looking for, but if that’s not it…
Saturday night, they have live music. It is the best place to catch some of your favorite cover bands from Chicago as well as local cover bands.

uuuuuhhhh ok, I graduated ISU years ago and now it is time to review. You will see some towny reviews on this place, just ignore those posts, I have to ask, if you are a towny what are you doing at this place during a school year if you can’t stand ISU kids? Go elsewhere, don’t come here and have a bad time then leave a crappy review, c’mon you know this place is for ISU kids from late Aug til early May.
This review is mainly for ISU students, this place is a blast with cheap drink but only on a Thursday night. If you come here Friday or Saturday it is full price and not worth it, come here Thursday. I hope it has not changed since I last went here, and if it has not, this is the Thursday night bar. Great music, cheap drinks, and lots of good times!

It will never cease to amaze me how Daddio’s can go from dead to packed in a matter of minutes.
We were there on Saturday night (¹⁰⁄₆) for ISU homecoming/​Wedding Banned. Cover was $ 5, and the bouncers were being very strict with carding people. I don’t mind, I’m 28 at a college bar, and would rather not see a bunch of 19 year olds get sloppy, especially since with my luck, one of them would end up blowing chunks right on me.
Daddio’s is a CASH ONLY establishment. Drinks are CHEAP. A Jack Daniels shot or mixed drink was $ 3.00, and a Miller Lite $ 3.25. You cannot drink that cheap on a daily basis in the ‘burbs.
Like I said, it got VERY crowded VERY fast. The band was good, but we ended up leaving mid-​way through the second set because it was just TOO crowded. I couldn’t move or breathe.
I guess that’s what happens when I’m a 28 year old at a college party.

Every time I look at my credit card receipts from Chicago, I miss Daddios. I used to go out with $ 50 and see a live band, buy rounds of shots and drinks all night, and still have the $ 6 left to get a cab home to Normal. Half the time I walk into a Chicago bar with a cover, I ask who’s playing as I pay the $ 10 or $ 20, and there’s a DJ or nothing… $ 5 to see a band = awesome, $ 20 to see idiots wearing blazers and $ 300 t-​shirts run up their parent’s credit card bill while paying $ 10 for a vodka and 7 up = crappy. When I was still going to ISU, Cheese Pizza, King Solomon’s Grave, Bottle of Justus and Mike and Joe were my fav’s, I still like check out 16 Candles, Wedding Banned, Too White Crew, if I happen down there and they are playing. And at least when I was down there, bands used to rave that they had the hottest bartenders in the mid-​west. The only reason I ever got slow service there was because the guy in front of me was too busy staring at the bartenders to order.

I like bands and Daddio’s. Daddio’s has good bands. I like drinks Daddio’s has bartenders that can make a good drink and do it quickly. Daddio’s has bouncers that realize their job is not to beat people up, but to help the people who want to have fun have a good time. It’s a college bar, but there is a pretty wide mix of people who come to the club to see bands. It’s cheap and it’s fun. Someone made a comment in their review that said, «We’re in Bloomington, not in a Wrigleyville bar on a Cubs game night.» This person has never been to Wrigleyville and if they were they were very drunk. A can of Miller Lite cost $ 6 in Wrigleyville. A bomb is $ 9 – 10. When I was at Daddio’s pitchers of Lite were $ 3..

Being 35, this so isn’t my scene anymore, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a blast every time I came here. This time, we wound up going because A coworker’s daughter is a server, and lo and behold, the Wedding Band is playing. Hilarious. So, we order a pitcher (all of $ 3 … which all the college kids should be thankful for, because you know what that would get you in Chicago? Nothing. At least not in a bar where you have to pay cover to get into), and rocked out. Pretty fun … as long as you go early.

This place is terrible. It’s expensive, the bands suck and the bartenders are worthless. The drinks options are eh… there’s no place to sit and the bouncers are jerks. Unless you just turned 21 and go to ISU… forget about this place. it blows.

This is a townie bar for weird ISU students and even weirder people who live in Bloomington-​Normal. As Theresa C. stated, let this serve as a warning for you in case you plan on coming here (for whatever reason).
Our friend’s band played here and that was about all this place had going for it. The bands get free drinks which is nice for them, but everything else here is unnecessarily expensive. We’re in Bloomington, not in a Wrigleyville bar on a Cubs game night… why are all the bottled domestics $ 4.50? That price is just unnecessary since this bar isn’t that great.
Heeled sororistitutes, nasty Chads with popped collars and good cover bands are about all you’ll get at this bar. I’m not sure why you’re hanging out in downtown Bloomington, but I guess this is as good a place to go as any since all of these bars have to be the same. At least Daddio’s is across from the public parking garage so you can make a quick getaway when downtown Bloomington becomes too unbearable to stand.
Also, the front doors to this bar open inward… isn’t that a huge fire hazard? I don’t want to be in this place when it bursts into flames and there’s a horrifying stampede into the inward swinging door. I’m just saying.

This bar gets an «A-​ok» instead of a «oh my god, this must be one of the circles of hell, what is happening?» because it is in downtown Bloomington and everything in downtown Bloomington is disgusting, so I’m grading on a curve. The place has live music, good sound and a nice stage. The physical layout is kind of annoying, with uneven footing and the main bar across from the stage (where is gets super crowded). The bathrooms were clean, all night, which is amazing considering I was there on Senior Bar Crawl weekend and the amount of dirty vagina managed to make outside, Central Illinois smell like the ocean. The drinks are expensive for Bloomington and weak as all get out. I would stick to beer. They have decent shows, but there is a cover (usually just $ 5). It’s definitely not the worst option, but it’s still gross and if you’re not used to college town scenes, be warned, it is terrifying.

Daddio’s is what concerned parents see in their mind’s eye when they warn their daughters to be careful at college bars. The entire establishment is painted black, inside and out. There are large bouncers who drink «muscle milk» while checking IDs under the glow of black-​lights. The bartenders are mostly females who try to earn their tips by appearance more than service. You get the idea. It’s the type of place where you feel drunk just by standing there.
I don’t mean to suggest that the patrons here are seedy characters because they’re not. At least they’re not any seedier than any other college bar. So, why should you go to Daddio’s? Because they have cornered the live music market in Bloomington. Daddio’s hosts some fun groups like «Two White Crew» and «Wedding Banned» and if you’re up for dancing, I hear there’s a great DJ on Thursday nights. Be prepared for a $ 5 cover charge when these bands are playing though. They typically go on stage around 10:30 but it won’t get busy until after 11:00 PM.
Other things to keep in mind: you have to buy water — they won’t give you a cup, they don’t have much (if any) draft beer, they don’t take credit, if the main bar is busy, try the much smaller bars around the corner on either side, if the bathrooms are packed it might be worth stumbling to the opposite end of the bar (north) where there is rarely a line, be prepared to stand — there is very little room to sit and very few tables. Good luck!

The bar setup here makes it hard to get a drink without a fight on a busy night, I recommend the back bar for quicker drinking.
The idiot who made this place has all sorts of different levels on the floor that are about 6 inch inclines … if you want to talk about the worst idea for a bar with drunk girls in heels … this is right up there.
Thursday nights and weekends this place can get packed … dancing happens and usually it is in the form of drunken floundering, but once again this is a college environment so take it for what it is.
Every once and a while they have really good bands here too.