Weber Grill: Couldn't Have Been More Average (Chicago Area Restaurant Review 40)

To cap off a day of Christmas shopping at the Yorktown Center, we ate at the Weber Grill in Lombard. This is an expanding chain of casual meat-based restaurants where the meat is prepared using the famous Weber grilling method. Unlike Wildfire, which is popular, touristy and great, this place is popular, touristy and mediocre.

We started with a bottle of Zinfandel (Red) which we thought was good but not spectacular. Our first course was a shrimp cocktail which consisted of shrimpy shrimp. The diminutive nature of the shrimp was matched by its diminutive taste. Next, Lisa had the mixed green salad which she thought was okay. Steve had a Romaine wedge salad which didn't quite work since Romaine isn't crispy, although Steve did like the blue cheese dressing. For a main course, Lisa ordered a filet with sweet potatoes. The filet had good flavor but was tough and the sweet potatoes were too mushy. Steve had the hamburger, which was supposed to be the specialty of the house, but it was too well cooked (he ordered it medium rare and it was more like medium well) to be any good. Steve's side order of onion rings was also just average.

For dessert, we had an apple pie and key lime cheesecake. The apple pie was uninspired, but the cheesecake was excellent, with just the right tanginess.

The bathrooms were a bit messy, and the hands-free faucets were difficult to work and spit out cold water.

The total bill was $130 with a bottle of wine and would have been about $90 with wine by the glass.

Our ratings for Weber Grill, 2331 Fountain Square Drive, Lombard, Illinois:

5 of 10 Steak Knives (being generous); 1.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes (also being generous but we were in a Christmas mood)