Recently in The Bottom Line Category

The Bottom Line #4-Opera
1301 S. Wabash

Women's Bathroom at Opera

The atmosphere at Opera is pretty funky-cool. Very colorful with lots of reds and colored glass and private "vaults" for dining. I was confident that the bathroom was also going to be pretty awesome, but boy was I disappointed.

The bathroom is fairly large with multiple stalls with big heavy doors for lots of privacy. However, every single stall the night I was there was completely disgusting. Nothing was clean, and there was toilet paper strewn all over the floor. All of the rolls were empty, but there were stacks in every stall. Normally this is a good thing in my opinion to have extra TP in a stall, but couldn't the staff make a periodic check to make sure everything was presentable? In my limited experience in the food service industry, we were supposed to check the bathrooms every time we walked by.

In their defense, the walls are lovely-there is good art and a great rustic paint job that does match the decor of the rest of the place. But there are no amenities-only a couple sinks and a giant mirror.

Cleanliness: 1
Amenities: 0
Atmosphere: 4
Overall: 2

Maybe I was just there on a bad night. I have plans to go there again soon, so we'll see...

Men's Bathroom at Opera

The Bottom Line #3-The Continental
2801 W. Chicago Avenue

I just went to The Continental for the first time last week, and I was instantly sad that it was so far away from my house. As much as I love a good dive bar, it was refreshing to have a drink in a clean, beautiful, and sleek lounge. And with every drink comes a couple trips to the ole restroom. So how does it measure up? First of all, I loved the choice of wall color-it was very warm and inviting, a welcome change to the cold, sterile do-your-business-and-get-out that a lot of bars have. It was very clean, but that could be because I was there at 7:30pm (the bar is open till 4am), and though there were no "extras,' there was a lovely chandelier. There were 2 stalls, each with a sort of a saloon door, so that means less "I just had a lot of beer" waiting (yay!) that might result in the doors being cracked open if you improperly "just had a lot of beer" locked it (boo.)
Cleanliness: 4
Amenities: 0
Atmosphere:3
Overall: 3
But maybe I should take the trek over to check it out when it is more 'used.'

The Bottom Line #2-The L&L Tavern
3207 N. Clark
I have to admit that this was one of the first bathrooms I was impressed by when I first moved here from Mississippi almost 7 years ago. Tampons! A one-seater! Wow! Though I do remember a frightening time when the Ladies room was broken and I had to use the Men's...that was bad news from start to finish. But on my last visit, it was business as usual. I wasn't a fan of the bar soap-germs can fester on bars of soap that just sit there-so that was the main turn off. Faded art and fake flowers make it a little more 'homey."

Cleanliness: 3
Amenities: 1
Atmosphere: 2
Overall: 2

Pretty awesome for your neighborhood dive bar.

The Bottom Line #1-Konak Pizza and Grill
5150 N. Clark Street

What's not to love about Konak? They serve food way later any other Andersonville restaurant, are the creators of the much admired "Chicken Chop," and are the most theatre-friendly bar in the neighborhood. So how does the bathroom compare?

First, there is a little stroll to get to the bathrooms past the dartboard, so make sure you look both ways before you cross the board. On especially chilly nights, it can be kind of an arctic tundra back there, too. There are separate men/women rooms, and each is a one-seater, so that is a plus. The bathroom is fairly lowly lit, and pretty barebones-there is a mirror and a towel dispenser and that is about it. Both nights I was there last week found there to be no soap, which I found to be rather bothersome. However, I didn't find the toilet to be scary, so I could sit in peace (not always the case in a low lit bathroom.)

Cleanliness: 4
Amenities:0
Atmosphere:1
Overall Rating: 2

Not the best, but not the most frightening either.

The Bottom Line--
We all read about restaurant reviews--the food, the drinks, the atmosphere, etc. But how can we overlook the one little room that can make or break any evening out--the most intimate room in the place--the bathroom. That is what I am here for. To let you know which bathrooms are happy places, and which ones to avoid. I will happily 'take one for the team' and report back to you, so you can rest easy in the rest room.

Areas of Critique:
Cleanliness: The most important factor in bathrooms.
Amenities: The little things that matter.
Atmosphere: Is it a nice place to get down to business?
Overall: An general overall rating.

Each will be rated on a scale of 1 to 5.

I hope that you will find this to be as entertaining and informative as I do!