The Vault Cafe & Bar

This bar is a great place! They have local beers and great food. Bri and Hannah were working the bar tonight and they were great! Really personable. We’ll be back!

Cool people nice neighborhood bar. Try the soup! The mushroom soup was awesome. And they have beer flights of Pollyanna brew. Really good. Very comfortable environment. We will be back! Carol the bartender is super cool!

The Vault’s appeal is the downtown Lemont location, available street parking, the building history and of course, the Vault and bank fixtures.
We were here on a Friday night. It was not crowded but not empty either. Our server was either not having a good day or maybe was new. She was not attentive but not on her game either. I mention this because service can make or break an experience.
Our food was good, not great, but not overpriced either. I had a burger. It was okay.
I’d like to say better things about The Vault, the place seems pretty cool, it just didn’t get anything more than okay for us. Maybe we’ll try again another day — or maybe not.

I have been wanting to try The Vault for a while and finally made it out there tonight. It was a bit quiet tonight tonight, I’m guessing because the weather was yuck. Grabbed a seat at the bar and we ordered a few beers. Pollyanna had a full selection on tap there, nice! Ordered the pretzels and a spinach goat cheese pizza. The pretzels are soft and so damn good! I will go back just for them. The pizza was awesome too! The place has a nice charm to it and the staff was so nice and friendly. Great place for a date night or to go hang with friends. I will defiantly make this a regular stop!

this place is fantastic! all menu choices are FRESH and without error. the availability and friendliness of the bar and wait staff are beyond recognition (mac & hannah). thanks for going ABOVE AND BEYOND every single time!

Wife and I have the deviled eggs as an appetizer and they were Awesome! The salad was great and my wife enjoyed her perfectly cooked burger.

We’ve been here a few times. I’ve really enjoyed the food I’ve ordered. Last time I got a caprese sandwich with fries which was really tasty. I had a nice stiff martini once as well. All the wait staff has been very nice and helpful. It’s a pretty good little place, especially compared to many of the other spots in Lemont.

I have liked this place for a long time, and I still like this place, but lately I feel like they are playing the music WAY too loud.
That’s something I never thought I would say about a bar.
I used to frequent this place for dinner and drinks. This is always the first place I suggest to my friends when we are in the area.
However, the last time I was there the music was BLASTING. I’m not talking about loud… I’m talking literally BLASTING. I had just ordered my first drink but my friends and I left without even finishing them. The space is way too small and the crowd was a bunch of people sitting at the tables talking. It appeared that some were ever finishing their meals. The only person who seemed to be enjoying the music was the bartender who was singing along to it. We even asked him to turn it down a little and he made a weird joke and dismissed us.
I like music as much as the next person but the volume was way too high and it set off a weird and uncomfortable vibe.
Definitely a disappointing experience at the Vault and I hope this doesn’t continue.

Simple pizzas and sandwich menu done with a twist and to perfection. I like how their sides include salads as well. Too many places leave it at fries only. They also have a pretty decent craft bottle list.
The place is small and nothing’s wrong with that. But what subtracts a star is their slot machine setup. It seems to be a higher class business that they don’t need them in their establishment and the machine’s bright gaudy look not only cheapens the ambiance, but likely takes away from much needed tables for patrons looking to drink and dine.

Was there on a Saturday afternoon. There were four tables of patrons and six people at the bar. Karen was working the place by herself. She hustled and did her best. She was very pleasant but bar tending, busing tables, serving food and receiving a delivery was overwhelming. The owner should have another person there. He is missing out on having patrons return by shorting on the help.
By the way … the food was great!!! My son & I had the vault burger while my wife and daughter had the ribeye steak sandwich and chicken pomadori. The sweet potato fries were great (crispy and not oily). We will definitely go back and hope the owner had a chance to read this. Hang in there Karen.

My husband and I really like this place. We’ve lived in Lemont for almost 30 years and have seen this location change hands many times, but this time seems to be a winner! The food is very good, esp. the cheese curds, the owners and staff are friendly, welcoming and know how to mix a drink, and there is a great blend of customers. To me this means that everyone can feel welcome, and we do! The Vault is our «go-​to» place and a spot we feel comfortable taking our friends to.

I’ve been here a few time in the past and there has always been a very welcoming and attentive female bartender. After not being here for a few months I stopped in today with a friend and was very disappointed.
We started out asking for a cocktail list. They didn’t have one. The bartender wasnt even helpful suggesting a cocktail. He almost seemed clueless about his job as a bartender. Even a few custom cocktails would have been nice to choose from.
After keeping it simple and ordering a beer, we decided to order martinins. He was unsure how to make them and also couldn’t measure the liquid properly to fill a martini glass. After making both drinks he had to add more liquid to the shaker to fill the glass a little more. Even after that, the martini glass wasn’t properly filled.
This place has such potential. If you had a drink list and charged $ 10 – 15 for a properly made cocktail, I would order one and possibly another and another. Also, a bartender should actually want to be at the bar servicing people. If you dont like people and dont want to have any knowledge of the industy, dont be a bartender.

Went on a Friday night at 6:30 and got the last high top. Draft beers were a little pricey at $ 7 but they are more craft, harder to find ones than usual so it was OK. Shared the chicken panini and the buffalo chicken pizza — both very good. Table next to us got the margarita pizza that looked better.
4 beers, 2 entrees, great friendly service from the bar and the waitress… will come back!

Upscale bar food for good prices.

Nice atmosphere in cute downtown Lemont. But it’s very quiet. For a Friday night, I was surprised barely anyone was there. The table next to us a group of people were sitting with drinks barely even talking to each other. I don’t know if this is just the thing to do in Lemont?
Anyway, my friends and I still had a good time with our drinks but the main reason I’m rating them low is because of the drinks and service. Not sure if the bartender was new, but he seemed confused on what they even had available at the bar. At the end of the night when one of my friends tried getting his check and told the bartender the drinks he had for the night, I guess he got confused and thought it was an order so remade those drinks…
but… the number one reason: THE DRINKS WERE WEAK!
You’re better off having just straight up whiskey on the rocks or a beer because the mixed drinks were terrible. I had myself a coke… with maybe a baby splash of jack? Not entirely sure if there even existed any whiskey in that…
In the end. I most likely won’t be going back.

I came here last night with my boyfriend after reading all the great reviews on Unilocal!Even though I live in the area, I’ve never really been to «downtown» Lemont. Very cute location! Parking seems limited, but since we went later on a Thursday night, we were able to find a spot pretty much in front of the bar.
When we walked in, we were able to seat ourselves and did so right after the bartender greeted us. Our waitress came over a few minutes later and handed us the menu and took our drink order. The menu had a decent amount of choices for a bar. My boyfriend and I ended up splitting an order of Bosco Sticks (haven’t had those gems since high school!). Then he ordered the Fish & Chips and I got the Vault Burger. I originally asked the waitress if there was any chance of the cook put a fried egg (my weakness) on it. Unfortunately, they were not able to. Everything was good. Not the best burger I’ve had, but certainly not the worst.
I thought my water tasted a little off (me being paranoid about the canal being so close? LOL), and I was expecting/​hoping more of an «old bank» feel. However, LOVED the tin ceilings and most of the décor. Would I return? If I found myself in the area craving a burger, yes.
3.5÷5

Came in here after a long day of hiking at Waterfall Glen looking for a cold beer and was not disappointed. Staff was extremely kind and personal. Great drink deals and great food! If you find yourself in Lemont stop here for a beer and some bruschetta!

3.5 stars… Pretty cool little place in downtown Lemont. It’s in an old bank building hence the name. They even have a Vault behind the bar. It’s a little on the smaller size, but they have a lot of seating with a long bar and a bunch of tables. Pretty standard on drinks, if you want something they’ll make it for you, but no specific drink menu. The food was a pleasant surprise. I ordered a chicken sandwich and it was very good. I was unlucky enough to come on a night when a bar crawl was moving through about 10 minutes after we sat down and it threw a wrench into the works. It slowed down the service and the bar crawlers got a little over crowded and obnoxious. This isn’t really the Vaults fault, but I also think a little more could have been done to corral some of the people too. I would definitely go back and recommend to try if your in the area.

Trying to break out of our rut of places we frequently dine, wanting to try something new, we selected The Vault. We had to take a little detour to pass the time because they were not open when we first arrived. Soooooooooooooo glad we waited.
I walk in, felt welcomed, and took it in. To the right of the door as you enter are 4 tables and at the far end of that wall there are 4 high top tables. To the left is the bar with 10 chairs, 2 for the gambling games, that’s it. The original tin ceiling is intact and the same with the hard wood floors. A loooooooooooooong time ago, it was a bank and the vault behind the bar is the original. You can read about the bank robbery, the story in newsprint, is on the wall. We also found out that this was originally the second floor. Because of the flooding from the canal, the first floor windows were bricked over and street level was raised, and the second floor is now street level.
On to the food. Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious cheeseburgers and fries done just right. The menu is limited, but what’s on it is very tasty.
Bree, our server, and Brian, behind the bar, made us feel like we had been there before. We will be back, we like the vibe. Works well for families, just a great spot.

We came in on a weeknight for a bite to eat. I’d been to The Vault in the past to drink, but don’t remember much…
The menu is a little small but the rib-​eye sandwich & chicken pomodori panini were both delicious. Large serving sizes as well. The bartender was really friendly and engaged us in conversation. We were in the area looking at a house to potentially buy and she gave us some helpful tips about the area.