Banq, I love you, but...

I am completely smitten with the wooden, cave-like feeling of Banq, the gorgeous new South End restaurant. But the bar scene there is a bit frustrating. I visited twice over the weekend, and the staff has an annoying habit of bringing up the lights a little too early. On Friday night, the lights were turned up bright at 1 a.m. (!) and on Sunday night, the lights came blazing on at 11:20 (!!).

After a few cocktails, the last thing anyone wants is a bright, over-head light in the face. There are other establishments in town that seem to be a bit better about indicating that it's closing time without flippping light switches. The last thing we need is such a rude reminder of the city's too-early closing times.

That said, I would risk the bright lights again. Banq has a very tasty watermelon mint mojito on its menu that I can't recommend enough.