Favorite IU Foods

Sweet on Sweets

Living in Teter Quad for three years, I ate many meals there. To me, the cafeteria food was very good and plentiful. The ice cream was always a favorite! The small cups were available at all meals and there were times that breakfast consisted of ice cream (particularly the green mint chocolate chip). I do not recall where it was produced but seems like it was made locally. The chocolate chip cookies served at lunch were also a huge hit.

When a friend moved on to sorority life, she would reminisce about “Teter cookies,” and another friend and I would wrap up a few to share with them—we weren’t supposed to remove food from the cafeteria.

And then, the Special K chewies from Sugar & Spice at the IMU. Such a yummy treat. I have never been able to replicate at home, and now purchase them during Mini University each summer.

Also, on busy days, I could get a bagel and cream cheese with a soda for $1, which would be lunch or dinner. For a snack, the 10-cent bags of popcorn sold in a shop near Sugar & Spice were enough to get one through afternoon/evening classes or to munch while watching General Hospital in the IMU’s TV room (now long gone).

The days of eating as a young adult are passed, but now some of these things are a real treat and enjoying them is a trip down memory lane.

—Melanie Nii Lannan, BA’85

Pizza & Waffles

I have many fond memories of Garcia’s flying tomato pizza, my favorite being the stuffed pizza. I would frequently study in the eagle’s nest, a small loft in the restaurant. I loved it so much that I worked there my sophomore year.

In second place would be waffles for breakfast that you made yourself with the cafeteria waffle iron at Forest Quad. Sleep in Saturday morning, then head down to make a waffle. Top it off with maple syrup, quite tasty!

—Melissa Hatcher, BS’89, MD’94

Homemade Faves

Both my husband and I spent the ’70s in Bloomington pursuing both our undergraduate and graduate degrees, plus I taught at the School of Optometry for a few years. We fondly remember, of course, Mother Bear’s Pizza, Great Burgers downtown, and Thursday nights at the Reg. But our very favorite foods were all from the Tao Restaurant, where we ate some truly inspired and original food.

Shortly after relocating to the Seattle area in 1979, how delighted was I to find The Tao of Cooking cookbook by Sally Pasley, from that great restaurant. For the last four decades, I have been able to recreate their fabulous salad dressings, banana nut bread, poppyseed cake, and myriad other vegetarian delights.

—Patricia (Murphy), BA’74, OD’76, and Barry Keech, BA74, JD’77

All Scream for Ice Cream

The chocolate ice cream served in the dorms! As I recall, it was made on campus and came in a [short], flat round plastic cup. My college “10 pounds” were surely a result of the two cups I ate with most every dinner—and probably three during finals. What I wouldn’t do to taste it again!

—Mary Weaver, BA’78

Big Fergie Favorite

I attended IU from 1960 to 1965. My residence hall of choice was Trees Center, located where the School of Education is today. Since there were no credit cards, cash flow was a persistent problem. My mother did write me a letter every week, keeping me up to date on the family, and included a $5 bill in each letter. Regularly, I would immediately go to a restaurant (Fergie’s Drive-In) on the corner of Third Street and what is now Eagleson Avenue, just a few steps from where Mother Bear’s Pizza is still located.

This restaurant sold a double hamburger topped with a special sauce similar to a McDonald’s Big Mac, which was not yet available in Bloomington. This sandwich was called the Big Fergie and was my favorite food while at IU.

—Larry Thompson, BA’65

Biscuit Dreams

Hands down my favorite food in college was the biscuits and gravy from Bruce’s Cafe. The most delicious, fluffy homemade biscuits with the perfect sausage gravy, and maybe an egg over easy if I could afford it! I dream of this delicious meal, and since Bruce’s was open from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m., it was a favorite after a night out! Sadly, Bruce’s closed in the ’80s.

—Jeri Winkleblack, BA’80

Mama’s Best

Mother Bear’s Pizza was my favorite food when attending IU in the ’80s. I even came back and stayed in the Memorial Union mostly to get the pizza again.

—John Kristelli, BA’86, MLS’87

Scented Giveaway

My friend Barbara invited me to eat out at Hinkle’s before our next class. She said there will be a line, but the hamburger will be well worth the wait. She was right. We got burgers, fries, and drinks to go. The burger was smashed down, thin and crispy around the edges. I always added mustard. When I lifted the deflated bun, I noticed a generous heaping of grilled onions, not my usual addition. After one bite, I was in burger heaven while sitting on the curb. I rushed to my class and, even before I scooted into my seat, several classmates knew I had been to Hinkle’s by the aroma of those grilled onions.

—Glenda Ferguson, MS ‘83

Delightful Dessert

My friends and I lived in McNutt and we lived for the zebra cake dessert. We couldn’t tell you what was in it or how to make it, but we were so excited when we saw that as we came down the dinner line.

—Gerard Molnar, BS’88

Converted Cookies

I transferred to IU as a junior and lived in Teter Quadrangle. I liked their molasses cookies and asked the dietician for the recipe. It was in pounds! My mother and I converted it down (math and chemistry skills come in handy).

My wife—Margaret Vogel Adams, BA’72, MS’73—and I make them if [we’re] having company, as they have become an expected treat by family and friends.

—Cyrus Adams, BA’71, MD’75

The Stromboli Debate

Readers were divided on where the best stromboli can be found in Bloomington—Nick’s English Hut or Cafe Pizzaria. What’s your pick? Let us know at iueditor@iu.edu.

Strombolis from Pizzaria or bizmarks from Reed Center—best cold milk ever.

—Billie Jo Kaufman, BS’71, MS,74

Whole strom, extra cheese, with a pitcher of beer at Nick’s! Hands down, no second place! I do the same whenever I’m in Bloomington and it never gets old!

—John Myrland, BA’73

My husband and I met in our senior year in 1970. Without question, our go-to favorite food in Bloomington, then in 1971, and still today in 2024, is the stromboli sub at the Cafe Pizzaria on Kirkwood. Other places in Bloomington have a stromboli sub on the menu, but the Pizzaria’s is the best.

We have returned to campus numerous times over the years, and more recently to Mini University, which is held in June every year. Our first meal every visit is the Pizzaria stromboli. If we are staying several days, we have been known to go back a second time before we leave town. We always order an extra order of the sweet pickles that are served with this scrumptious sub. And now, the “strom” even tastes a little better because you can order a cold beer with it! In the old days they did not serve alcohol at the Pizzaria. A welcome addition to a great tasting sub!

—Theresa (Stepanek) Wilson, BA’71

My favorite food for three years was Nick’s barbecue strom. I lived at Sixth and Grant for law school, and while Cafe Pizzaria was on the same block, I liked Nick’s better. The strom came with sweet pickles. Don’t know the recipe, but anybody can do a strom if they can make a pizza.

—William R. Fatout, BA’73, JD’75, MBA’82

During my four years on campus there was one food that I craved and ate at every chance, and it deliciously haunts my memory to this day—the stromboli sandwich at Nick’s English Hut! Whenever I visited campus after graduating, I would always take my parents and friends to Nick’s and insist that they just had to experience this wonderful sandwich!

However, my most recent visit was disappointing, not because Nick’s had changed, but because I had changed—I became vegan in 2011. When I went to Nick’s and asked for my stromboli to be made vegan, they graciously complied. But needless to say, peppers, mushrooms and onions alone just weren’t the same without that crumbled spicy sausage and melted cheese!

—Donna Schmidt, BS’68, MS’69

During my time at Indiana (1969–72) as a member of the school’s football team, I was able to “savor” the many different eating establishments in Bloomington. Of them all, one ranks as No. 1—Nick’s English Hut. I remember going in for the first time and hoping they weren’t checking IDs and wondering what the menu had to offer. We asked the waitress what she recommended, and without hesitation, she replied, “the stromboli.”

From that moment forward, each time I entered Nick’s, a stromboli (with extra sweet pickles) was ordered. After leaving IU and entering the military, travels took me worldwide. With each “port of call,” I’d ask for or check the menu to see if it offered a “stromboli.” Alas, each time was a negative, but the taste remained a vivid memory. When I would return to IU for a football event, Nick’s was on my list of stops and a stromboli was ordered.

—Roger Bir, BS’81