Destihl Restaurant & Brew Works

Great service. Food well prepared. Had the warm salmon and potato and it was one of the best dishes I’ve ever been served in a restaurant. Goat cheese and berry salad was excellent as well.

My first Destihl’s experience was back in my college years in Champaign/​Urbana, it was considered one of the best places to eat around campus. When I was here for my business trip, I decided to give this location a try. I ordered the corn and chicken soup, skirt steak and some beer. The waitress was attentive, friendly and made very good suggestions for beer selections. My food came out fast. It was a really enjoyable experience.

Always a good dining experience and interesting menu choices. The servers are always friendly attentive and helpful.

Food is overpriced in my opinion and there is not a large selection, however, their staff is always great and they have wonderful beer.

Terrible service for a 35 dollar lunch for 2. I remember telling my wife this steak smells weird. I don’t usually eat steak. I cant always blame exactly who did it when you get food sickness and vomit all night but this food was weird all the way around. The Thai Steak Salad. The guy said we recommend this medium rare, it came out rare. The whole salad tasted nasty but my wife wanted to treat me so I just ate it and I would bet that it was what made me sick. Even if it wasn’t what made me sick the food was not good and the actual restaurant was colder than the beer they served me. I had to put my coat on and keep my feet off the floor because they were cold. I was just passing through town. Wont be back here. They seem to be a good restaurant that went down hill with probably management that cuts too many corners.

This is really one of the very best restaurants in Bloomington/​Normal. It’s better than the Destihl’s in Champaign/​Urbana. The property is set apart from others with plenty of parking and open seating. The staff are excellent and the management is great. Also the food, and even the restrooms are top of the line.
I took a group there so they could experience some local culture. Everything was spot on. The food, the service, the special request accomodation, the beers, the tour. the whole thing. It’s really probably my favorite place in B/​N.

Pretty decent food and drinks with terrible service. It wasn’t crazy busy when we were there and there were only four of us with simple orders, but it took about a half hour for our drinks to appear and almost an hour to be fed. If you feel like having good food but aren’t in a rush and don’t mind being ignored, go for it!

Phenomenal!!! I didn’t think I can such quality food in a smaller town. I would have expected this from Chicago. We had the sword fish tacos, and the stuffed peppers. Everything was fresh, well cooked and the you can see the emphasis on quality. Highly recommend everyone to come here

Grading on a curve.. . Let’s be clear, this would be a second tier restaurant in any city with a population greater than 200K. However, this in Blo-​No where it seems like 90% of the restaurants rely upon the grill/​microwave/​fryer to prepare GFS/​Sysco items with pedestrian preparations. Destihl gets credit for an original menu and consistent preparation. I think the sambal cucumber side is tasty and a novel alternative to chips, fries, etc. The beers are remarkably inconsistent, but kudos are deserved for the effort in the variety of recipes/​styles. It is laudable that this brewery has survived this long in the Miller Lite/​Bud Light/​Coors Light stronghold that is Blo-​No.

Macaroni and cheese was amazing. It tastes like angels and butter. Truly an outstanding experience. Great waitstaff, bread and biscuits were awesome. Beer yums, best in town. #yummy

While passing through town, we decided to stop in for dinner. Managed to snag a table in the bar, since the wait was long. The food took a long time to come out (our appetizer came out with the entrée) but was decent.
The real ‘fly in the ointment’ was when a fruit fly died in my beer, mid-​drink. I guess he enjoyed it too. I brought it to the attention of the waitress, only to be told that since I was half way through it, I could get a half-​sized beer. I was surprised, since the beer itself was only $ 3.50. So I confirmed that yes, she could only give me half the beer. From the way she acted, I’m surprised that she didn’t try to charge me for the replacement! I was going to order another beer, but after that experience with the fly, it wasn’t worth it. Destihl is trying to be a fancy restaurant, but the service was sorely lacking. Thanks but no thanks.

Super disappointed. Walked in at 11:08 and we (2) were seated quickly. Three tables were already seated. Two girls up front and 5 servers standing about. We sit there decoding what to eat, a waiter comes about the area helping the two tables around us, doesn’t look at us and walks by, no words. So we wait… 5 minutes and nothing. No apologies, I’ll be right with you, or anything nice. So… We get up and leave. When leaving, we see three male waiters standing around chatting, as we walk out, the girl at the front tells us to have a nice day… She just seated us… No concern for why we’re leaving. And continues back to a conversation with a waiter and the other girl at the front.
Unsatisfactory. Will not be returning.

Both times I have been here I sat at the bar during a slow time. The food and beer has always been on point and the service is pretty good. I will stop here anytime I am passing through because I like it that much. Plus, how can you top great beers, good food and friendly service? Trick question because you really can’t.

While staying in Bloomington-​Normal I decided to try Destihl for dinner. Being a craft beer drinker I thought this place would be a good choice. It was crowded on a Wednesday night. I took the last seat at the bar and waited for a bartender to finally notice me. I ordered a cask ale first. I was surprised that they didn’t have a better selection of beer. When I looked at their website I was ready to sample many of what looked to be great year round brewed beers. Unfortunately the selection that night didn’t have many of those beers.
I started dinner with the cheese and ale soup. I enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone. I had the Ancho Chip Crusted Pork Loin. The sandwich was large but lacking in flavor. When I read Ancho Chip Crusted I was expecting more flavor and spice.
The other beers I had were par for a brewpub. The staff was slow at keeping my glass from staying empty. This place has potential I think it could be so much better

Good service at the bar, complimented by a menu of very interesting homemade beers. I bought a growler with every intention of going back. With such a unique selection of beers, make sure you sample to get a pint (or growler) of something you actually like.

I really, really want to give them a 4 star, because they are so darn nice. The food, however, was pretty bad. Chicken so dry, I would call it chicken jerky. The local soup somehow was able to drown out the taste of fresh corn with slimy blandness.
There were good things. The beer was fabulous. The fried green tomatoes were great, once I scraped off the extra fish, avocado, and chives. And the service was fabulous. Everyone was nice and helpful. When they saw I didn’t eat much, they offered to get me something else. If I come this way again, I would go back just for the beer, the people, and maybe stick to fish and chips.

This place ranks high to visit with my clients as it is close to their office. Last night, I got to check it out for dinner, which is rare since it’s usually a lunch. I was happy to order a cocktail and I tried the torched cherry rum drink, a spin on a caipirinha. It was awesome. Our server was super cool and was training, which he made a point of letting us know so we weren’t overloaded with two people. I got the fennel sausage and date pizza and it is plenty big to share with someone. Just the right amount of bite from the fennel and a nice creaminess from the garlic sauce. My client got the Mediterranean pizza and a bloody mary. The bloody mary looked like a mean in and of itself! A great place to check out and close to local hotels too!

Service: amazing. Our waiter really knew his stuff. Had great recommendations.
Food: fantastic! I’m a vegetarian and they had some great options. The ceaser salad is very tasty and so is the herbivore burger.
Beer:this is why I gave the 4 stars. For a brewery I expected better tasting beer.
Overall:strongly recommend trying. Outstanding place!

Destihl Restaurant and Brew Works works for me!
Very delicious. I recommend the Thai pork pizza. It is quite spicy and a tad sweet. BUT, despair not when consumed with a fourflight of 4-​oz brews on tap. I had the Redbird Ale, Intermission Session IPA, Pappy’s Porter, and Oengus Irish Stout, all for less than six bucks. The atmosphere in here is quite appealing, with the nice backdrop glass view of the brew tanks behind the bar. Highly recommend this Brew Works for anyone visiting the Bloomington area.

I have been to Destihl on multiple occasions. A few times on birthdays, a few times for some drinks and a quick lunch. Destihl is one of the best restaurants in Blo-​No. Their menu is constantly changing which makes it fun every time you come in. But, I hope they never take the chorizo stuffed dates of the menu. They are small, but they pack a tasty punch.
One thing they have changed that I am not a fan of is their new pizza crust. They sacrificed a larger thinner crust for a smaller thicker crust. Personally, I thought their artisan pizzas worked better on the thinner crust because the complexity of the toppings.
Also, their fish and chips is the best in town. It is crisp and fresh served with a house made tarter like sauce. You also cannot go wrong with any of their burgers, but their bison burger can become dry if you order it anything past medium-​rare.
The menu items are diverse and ever-​changing. We will be back often. (The beers are also good; this review was long enough already.)