Baxters American Grille - Bloomington, Illinois

makenzie T.

Beautiful place with delicious food and amazing costumer service. We started off with the pretzel and spinach dip. We got the steak and Alfredo with the purple hazel mojito and blueberry lemon drop. Everything was well worth it.

Kathryn B.

We held the rehearsal dinner for our wedding at Baxter’s and could not be more pleased with our decision! Paige was super easy to work with over email and even made time to meet with us in person. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. The space was perfect for our number of guests and the staff hosting our event were very professional and helpful. We also had a cash bar which worked perfectly for our guests. The staff took lots of pictures of our group and went above and beyond! We are so happy we chose Baxter’s for our rehearsal dinner and highly recommend them!

Gerald G.

Great food, Friendly service, reasonable prices
Second visit ! Dinning room service was amazing! Jeremy made the visit worth while! Prime rib could have been cooked a little more as requested but the rib eye was spot on!!

Laurie A.

We were celebrating our anniversary lastnight. Our server, Malik was outstanding(we’ve had him one other time); our filets were grilled perfectly, twice-baked potato perfect, wine choices excellent, ooey gooey butter cake delish!! We always have a consistently great experience dining at Baxter’s!!

M

Oh boyo. They're still a mess five years after covid. They simply haven't recovered. Three gals up front tonight, working their butts off to ignore a line of people standing in front of them. Impressive level of dedication to avoiding interaction really. Seating folks would be a lower effort, lower stress solution. They don't seem comfortable with it. It's just people are trying to join already seated parties - not waiting on tables to open up. I was left to meander in and around the place looking for the group as the third time I addressed the three hostesses from within four feet one finally let me know that my party wasn't there. They were, had been for 30 mins, and confirmed they had let her know others were coming. The waiter let us know pretty openly that he couldn't care less. He'd been there since six, which was remarkably early for him, and was "just looking to get today over with." Knowing they can't handle a steak, I got sliders and potato chips which weren't totally botched - so a huge improvement.

A disappointing spot, heavily invested in decor and social media worthy photo backdrops. They really present themselves well until you have to interact with their hostesses, waiters, or kitchen staff's work. There really isn't an element being done well. They just got a spot near the airport and a hotel, so will be around with or without good service. They seem to understand this well. They know themselves. That's what I'd say they do well.

Sliders - 5/10
-Your typical kids menu fare. Bun, meat, cheese... It's hard to go wrong here.

Potato chips - 4/10
-Overcooked. Browned and oily, a bit chewy instead of crispy.

Salad - 9/10
-Their salad starter is good! Too much topping and moisture compared to lettuce, but this you can scrape off. A ton of cheese, and a Midwestern amount of dressing on it.

Here tonight. Rating this dump while we yet again wait.

Buns - 4/10
-Below average. Undercooked and gooey/white. The butter was good.

Baxters Salad - 2/10
-lightly oiled and very mildly vinegar'd. Huge uncut leaves, full-size onion rings, a wad of cheese, some carrot slices and walnuts. Embarrassing to eat in a restaurant when you're wiping greasy leaves all over your face.

Calamari - 1/10
-Dry, chewey, overcooked, burnt exterior. All suckers and no mini octopuses.

Steak - 0/10
-$50 for a bone-in ribeye, this is how they cook a medium rare, with blue cheese and onion COOKED ON THE STEAK. Wouldn't make a deal out of the sides, but specifically he asked me when I said on the side am I sure and he recommends cooking on top. I agreed and he said good choice. and made sure that I did indeed want it cooked on the steak only to throw it on the side. Didn't aks a w thing when i sent my full plate back. They just don't care at all. You be the judge of their cook. I'd rate it as low as possible.

French fries - 7/10
-as good as burger King, not as good as McDonald's or steak and shake. The best thing on their menu by FAR. They just cater to college kids that's their regular crowd now.

Drinks:
Blackberry 'smack' something - 4/10.
-Not quite as good as whiskey and coca cola so below average for sure. A bit weak. Plenty of accoutrement though.

Sweet Caroline - 6/10
-Not at all to my taste, but I can see people liking this. Very very saccarine, with raspberry chunks. There may or may not have been alcohol in this one.

Service - 1/10
-I sat with an empty drink for 60 minutes of our 70 minutes here. He wasn't busy. He was talking with another girl and guy at the computer screen most of the night 15ft from our table.

Atmosphere - 2/10
-Loud, hard chairs, a strange mix of business people in sport coats, and 18 year olds in grey goodies and sweat pants. This isn't on Baxters, but I'm a 6'1 250lb guy. Fairly built. Some 80 year old, bald spot on top, white hair around sides, in a white sweatshirt, was peering over the stalls in the mens room smiling and murmuring in the bathrooms (at 7:07PM on Friday, March 24th 2023 if you want to actually do something about it). It's all on camera, do something about this place please.

Anthony D.

Filet mignon is a fantastic choice here. Comes with a nice house demi sauce. Asparagus was cooked nicely! Baxter salad was delicious! Garlic mashed potatoes were nice! Bread pudding words can not describe how delicious it was! Different drink special every night. Millionaire margarita is amazing! Pork chop was delicious, but mine, however, was cut tapered and was overdone on one half. Service was fast and very attentive.

LULU L. A.

Very impressive dinner spot! We came here for a wedding and stayed at Holiday inn, this restaurant is just next door. It is perfect for a nice dinner after a long flight. The restaurant looks pretty nice with great interior decorations. I ordered a miso glazed salmon, my husband had a prime steak, both uncle and mom had pretzel bun burgers, and dad ordered a salad. All of us enjoyed our foods, we also loved our wine. It is a nice place for a date, business dinner or family hangout. Plus the service is nice too.

Theresa M.

Prime Rib was awesome my husband said. I got a solid and it was very big. Drinks was good and the staff was very good as well