They do have an autographed Joe Montana Chief’s jersey. That’s pretty cool. But after the initial excitement it was downhill all the way.

Our trip to Wallaby’s, on West Lincoln Way near the old Hy-Vee, was a big disappointment. We’d heard a lot of praise for the sports bar and grill, and we were expecting our trip to be fun-filled and the food tasty.

We were dead wrong.

Wallaby’s does not have a seating area, and since we were facing a 15-minute wait, it would have been nice to take a seat. They do have a bar. However, it was quite busy and seemed to crowd the room more than it let you relax as you wait.

A lot of sports memorabilia gave Wallaby’s a lively atmosphere, soothing the savage sports beast in all of us. The autographed jerseys and photographs reminded us of our days as towel boys for the Iowa Barnstormers.

How often have you said to yourself, “Gee, I wish I could watch the San Diego game, but the Pats are playing on ESPN.” Well, the purpose of the sports bar has forever been to fulfill that wish.

Not so at Wallaby’s.

The three different TVs in our dining section were strategically placed, and while smaller than your average big screen sports bar TV, they could have held their own. Except for one little thing.

Every one of the TVs was playing the exact same thing! Hello? Viva variety, we say. But Wallaby’s apparently has a different attitude.

And on a Saturday night, just weeks before March Madness begins, college hoops was running rampant. The nerve of those people, forcing us to watch just one game.

As for the service, well, our refills appeared as if through hat magic, but the service time was slow, and our waitress was as dull as the fish sandwich.

To begin our meal, we selected a bloomin’ onion from the appetizer menu. The price of $6.00 was steep, but we received a significant quantity of batter-dipped onion.

Served with a zesty ranchero sauce, it was good, but not great, and unless your party consists of four or more, it is definitely not cost-effective.

Tom: I was not aware that it was possible to make a bad club sandwich, but Wallaby’s opened my eyes. I really can’t describe it. Just take my advice, and don’t ever order one.

Word on the 1/2 pound cheeseburger was “very tasty.” Cooked to order, juicy and flavorful, it received the highest praise of the day.

Pete: I had a breaded pork tenderloin, and I have to say, it was not bad. They serve it with lettuce, onion, tomato and some sort of mutant mayonnaise-mustard combination.

I ordered it plain and put a little ketchup and mustard on it. Good old American condiments. Still, it wasn’t too great.

Word on the fish at Wallaby’s was that it’s good but bland. It seems that Wallaby’s does serve up a good quality fish, yet it seems to lack seasoning of any kind. Still, it was enjoyed and received a recommendation, with reservations.

We all found the fries to be boring. Simply put, they seemed to be just Oreida crinkle cut French fries that were popped into the oven and served up. If we wanted that, we could have eaten at home. Or at Food Service, if we went on a good day.

---

Peter Gudlewski is a sophomore in English from Davenport. Tom Hanks is a sophomore in computer engineering from Coal Valley, IL.