Friday, February 13, 2009

Restaurant Review: Dunn Inn

Dunn Inn
208 S Dunn St.
Bloomington, IN
(812) 330-2002

Location: Downtown on Dunn between 4th and 3rd
Cuisine: American Bistro
Price: Sandwiches/Burgers about $10, Dinner Entrees about $15

I have been to the Dunn Inn two times, once for lunch with a group from work and once for dinner, so I have tried many things there! I enjoy going with groups because I tend to eat vegetarian and others don't, so I get a better idea of the whole menu.

The Dunn Inn is a relatively new restaurant in Bloomington. It's got a great patio for sitting outside, a nice, big bar area, and about 15 tables inside. Both times I went, I noticed it seemed kind of dark inside, especially at lunch time.

The Dunn Inn has a great beer selection including Guiness on draft, which made me very happy! The prices are pretty standard for beer and wine. Both times we had great servers. When I eat out I drink a lot, and the waiters were great about keeping up with my refills.

My first dining experience there was with co-workers for a birthday at lunch, so we all chose lighter options. I had the Black Bean Burger and Red Cabbage Slaw. The burger was pretty standard, but the Dunn Inn dressed it up with an avocado spread and feta, which I would have never thought to pair together, but were delicious. The slaw was also very good, fresh and crisp red cabbage in a sweet and sour vinaigrette.
All of my co-workers chose Burgers including the Bleu-Bacon, the Done Inn's Burger. They said they were both standard burgers, juicy and a good portion. All three ordered the fruit salad, which looked like it had specks of saffron and mint in it. I appreciated the way that took something simple like fruit salad, and added some nice, quality ingredients to really dress it up.

The second time I went to the Dunn Inn was when my dad visited Bloomington for the weekend. We started out our dinner with the Roasted Garlic Hummus with Grilled Pitas appetizer. The hummus was great, however we all felt that the portion could have been a bit bigger. I think we each got 2 pita points with a smear of hummus and piece of red pepper.
*As a side note, ordering/buying hummus and paying so much tends to irk me anyway because it's so cheap to make at home, but I try to look at reviewing restaurants from the average patron's point of view who can't make hummus*

When it came time to order, something very funny happened, JJ and my dad both ordered the same beer, and then both proceeded to order the Famous Crab Cake Sandwich. It was a large lump crab cake seared and served with a garlic aioli. Both my dad and JJ really enojoyed the crabcake and said it was priced well for what they got.
I ordered a Grilled Eggplant and Pepper Panini with Pesto and Mozzarella. I thought the sandwich components were delicious, but the bread was too greasy for me. It's important to note that I do not like greasy food at all, so others might not find it as greasy. I again ordered the red cabbage slaw, which was as great as the first time.

I would definitely recommend the Dunn Inn for a nice, casual restaurant with a great bar selection and something on the menu for everyone. It would be 'safe' for picky eaters (grilled turkey and provolone), but it has enough flare on the menu for patrons who expect something different (like the avocado spread and mint saffron fruit salad). I would also recommend going in the summer and enjoying the nice patio seating and the abundant parking downtown when school is out!

2 comments:

Meredith said...

You weren't joking about many small (non-chain) restaurants. You have already featured a variety of restaurants. Do you plan to do this when you get to Florida? It might be a great way to help you become familiar with the area.

Kelly said...

All these restaurants look great. I think it's a good reminder that there is great food outside of the venerable cities of San Fran & New York. I think those of us who have spent time in other parts of the country get this but not everyone does. :-)