The Bank in Wheaton, Illinois: Don't Bank on It (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 56)

It was a rare beautiful Chicago spring day, and we felt like taking a walk, so we drove to our favorite walking suburb, Wheaton, home of the most churches per capita in Illinois. Though not religious, we do enjoy the buildings and landscape.

After a nice walk, we decided to try one of the few restaurants in Wheaton we had not yet visited, the just-opened Bank Restaurant. As the name suggests, this used to be a bank, though most recently it was a lackluster Blockbuster Video. The decor is very nice, with lots of wood, and an old-time feel.

We started with a bottle of River's Edge Pinot Noir. It had a hint of vanilla and was very smooth. For an appetizer, we ordered a cheese plate, which we both really liked. It had many types of cheese, plus honey and nuts, and the portions were ample. Unfortunately, as we have often found lately, things went downhill from there. The salads were okay. Steve's wedge was good but not great. Lisa's mixed green was also okay, and she amused Steve by adding blue cheese crumbles from the remainder of the cheese plate, which tasted very good on the salad.

The entrees, however, were awful. Lisa's filet was almost medium well instead of medium rare (which is what she ordered) and had basically no flavor. Steve made the mistake of ordering barbequed duck. It came slathered in a hideous sauce and the duck seemed undercooked, which caused him not to finish it for fear of getting sick. Since we were both still hungry, we risked ordering dessert. Lisa's lava cake was pretty good, and was dark chocolate, though the center was not as liquid as she likes. Steve had tres laches, which consisted of three types of very moist cake. The texture was the kind Steve likes in cake, but the taste was forgettable.

Service here was friendly but very uneven, with some courses brought before the previous one was finished, and others coming only after a long delay. On the bright side, the restaurant does apear to employ much of Wheaton's youth.

We found the bathrooms vile. While, if clean, the decor would be fairly nice and in keeping with the style of the restaurant, we can't quite bring ourselves to describe either of them. Let's just say the previous users were not hygenic and the restaurant did not seem to make much effort to keep them clean or in good working order.

Dinner for two, with a bottle of wine, was $130 and would have been about $110. If the food had been a bit better, this wouldn't be a bad deal, especially given the nice surroundings (bathrooms excepted). But, given the relatively low quality of the food and the disturbing bathrooms, we wouldn't recommend this place.

Our ratings for The Bank Restaurant, 123 W. Front Street, Wheaton, Illinois:

5 of 10 Steak Knives; .5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes