Mother Bear’s Pizza

Love me some Mother Bear’s! When I was in college at IU back in the olden days (late 1970’s) I lived in Read which was basically across the street from Bear’s. Ate there a few times when I was a student and always enjoyed it.
Fast forward to now, just moved back to Bloomington after many years in California. Have tried pizza all over town and Bear’s is still the BEST. Crust that is somewhere between thick and thin, fresh ingredients, very tasty sauce. The salads are great too and huge.
Have eaten in a few times and gotten take out a few times, either experience is great. Service is good all the way around. Love that when you do take out, they do not make the salad until you come to pick up your pizza.
Parking can be a hassle, but you just need to do some homework before you go. You can park at the dorm across the street on weekends, or at the At-​Swain building. The fact that Bear’s is so close to campus definitely impacts the parking situation. Hey, it’s a beautiful campus, you can always ride your bike or walk to Bear’s too!
Highly recommend!

BEST. PIZZA. IN. BLOOMINGTON.
I would always bring my out of town family and friends here. Great quality pizza that is well worth the price! Not going to lie, the service is a little slow. I guess they want you to be mentally ready for their mind blowing pizza? And I am okay with that…

I’ve been a resident of this city for almost ten years and can tell you with absolute certainty that Mother Bear’s has the best pizza, thin or thick crust, in all of Bloomington. Bar none. No debate.

Hands down some of the best pizza I’ve ever had!

People love it. This is true. And in a sense I see why. It’s a local btown favorite with a cozy feel and decent food. Someone apparently voted this one of the best pizzas in America. I whole heartedly disagree. The thick sloppy mess of a pizza isn’t terrible or anything, but it doesn’t compete with the majority of pizza I have ever eaten. Don’t get me wrong, if it wasn’t always so crowded (usually a thirty minute wait on most nights) I would probably go relatively regularly since the service is simple and efficient which is hard to get it Bloomington. But the love for this place just doesn’t make sense to me. Enjoy it if you like it! But I’ll go elsewhere.

A little bit overhyped but still make good pizza. Cant go wrong with it.

My favorite Bloomington Pizza place. Great IU history atmosphere, big tables, and great pizza. The pizza isn’t thin– it’s thick crust, perfectly crisp on the bottom and chewy within. There are tons of speciality pizzas (I always get the Veggie) and the salads are fresh and huge. Bring a sharpie! Graffiti on the booths is encouraged. Mother Bears does get really crowded for dinner, though I have never had to wait long.

By far the best pizza in B-​Town, you always get amazing service, it’s clean, and provides a great view of past classes of Hoosiers with all the signatures and messages on the booths and walls. For value purposes, the Munchie Madness special is by far the best, providing breadsticks, a 10″ pizza, two brownies, and a liter bottle of soda for only $ 12.95! If you’re near campus, look them up and give them a shot!

If I could give this a higher rating, I would.
I was here with some teammates for a roller derby tournament. After playing two games in one day, we were all famished. We went to Mother Bear’s and ordered take out.
I knew that pizza would be abundant in this college town, but I didn’t know it would be so damned delicious.
I came home from that weekend telling all of my Cincinnati friends about the place with the best pizza I’ve had in years.
Mother Bear’s doesn’t mess around. Their sauce is tangy, their pizza is baked to crispy perfection, and their prices are great.
I split a «Munchie Madness» deal with a teammate, and it meant that we spent about $ 7 a piece for pizza, breadsticks, soda and a brownie. I couldn’t get that in Cincinnati if I tried. And it sure as shit wouldn’t taste this good.
The wait was quick (especially for a Saturday night) and the staff were kind.
Next time I’m in Bloomington, I’m just gonna set up shop here. Good luck getting rid of me.

Was down in Bloomington for a college visit and stopped by after being on campus all day. The place is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside. Plenty of seating from what we saw. Typical college town pizza place. Since it was just my daughter and I we ordered two 6 inch pizza’s. They are about the size of the plate but a nice thick crust. Pizza was pretty good and not too expensive for what we ordered. We also tired the cheesy bread and that was really good. Looking forward to coming back here again.

Best pizza in Indiana, which might sound like a joke considering the context and location, but this is legit pizza. I grew up in Chicago and this place would make it there as a «pan pizza», not deep dish or stuffed. But who cares, it’s great. Great sauce, terrific caramelized cheese crust a la Pequod’s or Burt’s, tasty salty cheese, and a nice portion. This is about as close to a classic college town joint as one might find in the entire country, and honestly it’s the one «must-​eat» in all of Bloomington for visitors.

Coming from NY I’m cynical about pizza anywhere else. Had the deep dish veggie delight with sauce on top and it might have been the tastiest pizza that I’ve had in a few years. So cheap. Classic college town vibe. I wish I lived in Bloomington solely to come here more often!

My family and I were really excited to try Mother Bear’s when we were in Bloomington for IU graduation since we had heard so much about it. The verdict? It’s good pizza, but nowhere near the best any of us had eaten.
We waited about 30 minutes for a table on a Saturday afternoon. The space is huge and kinda divey but I guess that Is part of the college town charm.
We ordered for 5:
–Stuffed Mushrooms: Meh, pretty average
–Breadstix with Marinara and Garlic Butter dipping sauces: These were okay, I don’t get the hype since they’re exactly like Pizza Hut’s. The Garlic Butter was pretty good though
–6″ Spinnoccoli: Really good, definitely the favorite
–6″ Margherita: Decent, could have used more crust
–6″ Vodka, Mozzarella, Spinach and Garlic: Really disappointing, I think they forgot to put the sauce on
–Medium Deep Dish Veggie Delight: Good, but too much sauce
Overall, the pizza was good but I left disappointed. I wonder if the reason people rave about this place is due to the lack of good pizza in Indiana, the cheap prices or the memories made during their time at IU. I suspect it is a combination of the 3.

My dad came to visit me in Bloomington one summer and complained about everything. He complained about the weather, he complained about the dirt, he complained about my apartment.
He did NOT complain about Mother Bear’s. Mother Bear’s, with its abundance of specialty pizzas, with its well-​seasoned breadsticks and warm atmosphere. With its crispy crusts and generous sauce. Mother Bear’s, whose deep dish isn’t really recognizable as deep dish, but is still wonderful in its own right as an excuse for more cheese and sauce.
After Mother Bear’s, my dad said, and I quote: «This town isn’t too bad.»
You make miracles happen, Mother Bear’s.

This is kind of a cool-​looking place. It looks like it’s been here forever and they expanded to add some seating areas in front. The standard pizza is pan crust. The edge has a the nice burnt finish to it (the way I like it). However, the sauce is too salty and not sweet enough for my taste. The combination of crust plus not sweet (enough) sauce makes the pizza taste TOO burnt.

As a Purdue grad, it pains me to give a restaurant in IU’s home turf 5 stars. However, Mother Bear’s more than deserves it!
I’m from Chicago so I grew up with deep dish pizza. Pizza in Indiana doesn’t compare. Although Bazbeaux’s in Indy and Bruno’s in West Lafayette offer delicious pies, they still pale in comparison to Chicago pizza. Mother Bear’s is HANDS (paws?) DOWN the best pizza in Indiana, if not some of the best I’ve ever had.
My group ordered the pesto cheese bread. Delicious and creative take on a staple app.
I can’t remember the exact pizza I had (I want to say it was the count of Monte Cristo or something similar), but it was phenomenonal. As a cheese lover, it was superb. The pan style crust is oh so buttery and delicious too.
Really nice and pleasant service. They have giant cups of drinks that are fun.
The place is a fun setting. Reminds me of Gino’s in Chicago– you can write on the walls. We happened to be placed in a booth that had «Boiler Up!» written in it, so it helped make the experience more enjoyable ;)

Mother Bear’s is a Bloomington institution; you know nothing about Bloomington until you’ve been here and eaten their pies. Until last year I was firmly in the set of having not been there, but that has since (obviously) changed.
Let me give you some background: every year my boyfriend and four of his friends do POCAR, which is a two day adventure race that takes place in a (different each year) state forest in Southern Indiana over Martin Luther King weekend. The race is generally anywhere from 40 to 100 miles of walking over the 48-​hours you have to complete the race. If this sounds grueling (and more than a little insane), that’s because it is.
After two days of walking, sleeping in the woods, and falling into frozen lakes and holes, one of the wives and I meet up with the guys at Mother Bear’s (seriously, this year they drove south from Martinsville to go to B-​town for the sake of tradition – we live in Indy), fill them to bursting with food, then drive them home where they sleep for two consecutive days.
Each year we meet up in the restaurant, with its wooden décor and benches and drunk university students out for a pie. No less than four large pizzas grace the tables, as well as tons of breadsticks and sauces. So it’s safe to say I’ve gotten a good idea of what they have to offer.
Mother Bear’s Pizza has earned its place in Bloomington’s food Hall of Fame. Their crusts are phenomenal, crispy and buttery. Their sauce is flavorful and delicious, and the pizzas are fresh and made to order. The breadsticks are garlicky and dippable. Anything would taste good after all that time in the woods, but I opt to stay home with my heated blanket so I promise it’s not desperation talking. Their pizza is one of the best I’ve ever had.
They give giant drinks (water or soda) in case you’re dehydrated from two days in the woods with minimal access to water, and they’re always quick to bring a replacement when yours gets close to empty.
The best part of Mother Bear’s? They’re open late, so if your race finishes at 10pm, you can still afford to sit for three hours before hobbling back to the car and passing out to sleep your way home.
Two words of warning: be prepared to walk to find a place to park. Their back lot is minuscule, and most of the places around them will tow those who dare park in their lots. And also, be prepared to pay. Mother Bear’s isn’t outrageously expensive, but it’s not somewhere you go if you’re only willing to drop a dime.
A word of advice: eat here even if you haven’t been subjected to dehydrated meat and trail mix for two days. You won’t regret it.

Nom! Ate here recently with my girlfriend who went to IU. Sometimes when you visit places like that you realize the person loves it more for the nostalgia than the quality but this place lived up to her hype. We had Caesar salad, cheese bread, and pizza and all were delicious. I’m sad we only had enough room in our stomachs to try one type of pizza bc they had a large selection and many sounded good. The atmosphere was fun, though it was crowded the wait was only 20 minutes, and the waitress was good. When they were out of the beer we wanted the waitress was able to recommend one we loved so much so I’ve since convinced the liquor store down the street from me to carry and now have a whole case in my fridge (Green Flash Passion Fruit Kicker if you wondered…)

One of my favorite pizza places nationally, and I haven’t tried another pizza that’s been quite as good since. Sorry, my love, Chicago, deep dish is good but messy and not the best.
This place gets packed often for dinner but especially weekends and special events at IU, and the wait can be 1+ hour (s). Plan your visit well by calling ahead to ensure that you get your bite of The Deluxe or Veggie Delight pizza! The regular pizzas come with a regular-​thickness crust. The pizza stands on it’s own, but I’ll add that the place almost looks like a nice town pizza place. The writing on the booths/​walls gives it more character and gives a quick history of past IU alum. People of any age and students and non-​students alike will have a great time at this place with good company and delicious pizza! Can’t visit Bloomington or IU without trying this iconic pizza!

I’m a proud Boilermaker (Purdue ’02), but Bloomington wipes the floor with West Lafayette when it comes to pizza. Seriously. Mother Bear’s is phenomenal. I had a personal-​sized Dixie Two-​Step and a Summer Garden that were as good as any pizza I’ve ever had. Holy smokes. It is an enormous place that could probably hold 500 people when full, but their amazing staff get the food out quickly and everyone is super nice. If I lived closer, I would stop in just to read or study in a booth. FIVE STARS!
P. S. The salad with goldfish crackers must be tried. Don’t judge it!