Video Saloon

Make a good impression on the bouncer or prepare to get shit every time you walk into this bar. Great atmosphere, great music, great prices, and the bouncer is eh. Don’t drop the pool stick or you’re hated forever.

I love the Vid. Seriously — it’s a great dive bar and the people watching is fantastic. The vid is really a great place to hang out and chill. On this particular night, I played darts and enjoyed the ridiculousness of everyone at the bar. The guy at the door isn’t too keen on conversation, but he is salty — just the way I like ‘em :)
I didn’t explore the vid too much as I was on a 2^nd date and we really just stuck to the darts/​pool area. Darts are free if you leave your ID, but just remember to return them (which I totally forgot to do)

The vid is a great place to just hang out with friends and chill. Lots of bar games to play (pool, darts, ect.) prices are standard bar prices and the crowd is not usually too bad.

I feel like such a townie when I come here but I can’t help but love it. Cheap beers and cheap pitchers, I can come here any day of the week and have relax with a game of pool or darts. Not to mention that this place is ridiculously enormous.
Make sure to come with at least 3 or 4 friends MINIMUM or else your wandering eyes will get uneasy by the semi-​sketchy (but usually harmless) townie crowd

I really hate to rate it. Used to be the best townie bar in Bloomington. While the college idiots flocked to the Kilroys, us townies went to the Vid… Used to be such a great bar. Unfortunately money talks and Mike the owner decided to cash in. They opened up the downstairs and turned it into another cookie cutter college bar. I will still go there on weeknights to say hey to Mike (If you’ve been to the vid, you know Mike!) but for the most part, the magic of this bar is all but lost to the never ending flow of trust fun babies.

I’m not so secretly in love with The Vid. It’s laid-​back with a mix of townies and other random oddballs whether college-​aged or not. They’ve got pool tables and darts. Beer is cheap and available in many different sizes. The only thing that knocks The Vid down one star is that the draft beer selection is pretty limited. Sure, I’m often good with PBR or Honey Brown but sometimes I want a little something new or different.

This place has gone to shit. Another shitty college bar. It’s like a dirty sports now. :(

It really depends on the night. I love going during the week when it is an off night. The weekends here get super busy with a young college kid crowd that you can barely talk.
The Vid is the last place in Bloomington that you can go and have multiple pool tables. The price is still in quarters or you can rent by the hour.
They do have free darts if you leave your ID. Thats always a plus for free entertainment.
They also have MegaTouch, a basketball hoop game, and Pac Man. Not short of options.
Drinks are extremely cheap, and so are the drunks! Watch your stuff…

It’s a large space with a variety of bar games to keep you entertained. Drink prices are standard.
I like coming here with a solid group. The local crowd can be a little sketch but you’re okay if you’re surrounded by your friends.

I had heard this was a Bloomington institution, but for years I never went in. From the outside, it looks like some dirty biker bar that a guy like me would never enter. However, that was before I found Unilocal and read the reviews. After reading a couple, the Vid seemed like the perfect joint for me. Rock music (no Katy Perry!), cheap draft beer, no frat guys (for the most part) with their collars popped, and best of all, dart boards (real bristle boards, not electronic). So I packed up my darts and headed for the unassuming door, walked upstairs and found exactly what I was looking for.
I highly recommend the Vid if you just want a chill place to have a brew and avoid «the scene» crowd.

Drank a couple $ 5 cans of guinness here. Then I found out I am actually pretty good at darts. Funna go back an see if I can still shoot pool worth a damn.

Meh. I bet this place was cool 10 years ago. Invested with annoying sorority girls and slow bartenders. Atmosphere is dull and bright.

Great place, and now they accept credit cards!

The biggest thing to know about the Vid is that in the last few years since it’s remodel it’s gone from local/​grad bar to a younger/​undergrad vibe.
If you wonder where all the local hipsters went, walk on over to the Bishop or the Atlas.

The Vid is a great place to go and socialize, play pool or darts and have a beer. Now that they have expanded the bar, there is ample room to move around and there are plenty of places to sit or stand to hang out with your crew. You can call it a hipster or townie bar, but really it’s just a pretty chill place.
I can’t say that I’m a fan of the fact that it’s cash only but I’m guessing if I owned a bar it wouldn’t be a bad idea to keep a lot of business off the books. PBR is always on special if you enjoy drinking beer that tastes like pure fat.

Ah, The Vid. You’ve changed, my dear one. But only in good ways.
On a recent trip to Bloomington, three years after my last visit, I was taken aback by the new portion of the bar downstairs from the original. The addition of the space for a music venue actually worked out quite nicely, though I will warn those of my generation– the view from the street will throw you off. I was sure, looking at the façade, that my dear sweet Vid had changed from its dingy glory to a cleaned up operation.
All one needs do is head up the usual staircase, and bingo– you’re right at home again.
Man, drinking in Bloomington sure is cheap. Pitchers here were $ 6.50! That’s amaze-​balls!
So good to see you again, old friend.

Dear Vid,
I love you. The later afternoon is largely for townies, and that’s legit – it’s a huge space, obviously an amalgamation of former establishments in a friendly, dingy setting. The bar tenders are on point and the staff overall pretty damned friendly. $ 3 whiskeys + darts = one of the best ways to start an evening ever. By a late Saturday evening, the place is packed… but dont’ let that deter you. They’ve got a billion dart spots. All worth playing… until you’ve had one or four too many $ 3 whiskeys. I’m not speaking from experience, or anything :)

The vid is the best bar in town. No doubt about it. If you dont know what a coach purse looks like and you think UGGs are hideous then this is the place for you. It is not a townie bar but a place for people who are individuals looking for a night with friends. The vid is the type of place you can go to relax, have a beer, and meet up with old friends.
Im not a fan of the attachments and atmosphere to the place but it still has that sketchy, homey feel to it. And the bouncer, MIke just adds to the quirky wonderful feel of hte vid. So unless you looking for a blonde bimbo or a football jock to discuss the life style of Kim Kardashian, then this is the place for you!

Really? This place has 4 stars?
Here’s my review…
Eh
–Shelly
its for townies .not for IU students… enough said

All right, the dust has settled and perhaps I overreacted a tad to the changes. I still think there’s too much neon and the new room upstairs is way too bright, but it’s still a pretty cool place for Bloomingtonians of all types to hang. The beer is still effing cheap and the added space does make it easier to get around or find seating on busier nights.
I’m curious to see what becomes of the new downstairs bar. I’m hoping the fact that there’s a stage means that they’re going to start booking some decent bands there from time to time. And by «decent» I mean good original national and local acts and not just cheesy cover bands like Bluebird books. (Update: My dreams appear to be becoming reality, as I’ve already seen one awesome show there and there are more scheduled.)
I had initially upped it to 3 stars, but I’m taking it to four stars on account of the consistent staff who are all pretty awesome as long as you’re not a jackass to them. And if you’re a regular (and, again, not a jackass), the owner, bouncer and bartenders are always on your side in the face of any problems that might arise with the inevitable douchebag contingent that shows up on busier nights. It’s still not quite worthy of the 5 stars that I allotted back when it was divier, but it’s not as sucky as I thought it would be post-​renovation. In fact, it’s not sucky at all.