4/4/2012 Update

Two additions to the list for this post:  RPM Sports Bar in Rock Island, and The Enchanted Inn in Davenport.  I was just informed that The Enchanted Inn had just reopened (thanks, Charlie) – it was only a little over a year ago I drove all the way out there to find it was closed and for sale.  RPM is located inside, but separate from, the Body Shop.  That takes my list up to 430.  I also knocked Rookies, Stadium Club, RIBCo, and Hard Times off Pre-List list (the list of bars that are still open, but I haven’t been to in the almost three years since I’ve been doing this).

I confirmed Stickman’s is closed, and found that Teasers in Davenport and Club 572 in Rock Island (the old Rexie’s Gourmet House) are also.  With that, the “What’s Left” list goes down to 13.  I’ll be adding the Rock Island location of Bent River Brewery and the Freight House location of Front Street Brewery when they get closer to completion, which looks like it will be soon.

In other bar news:

-          I was hoping for a new opening in the East Village soon, but apparently Rudy’s Tacos is expanding in to what was most recently Bleyart’s (and Players before that).  Also, what most recently was Beer Belly’s (and Jody’s, Miss Behavin’ prior) is being redone, but more like an office than a bar.

-          Excalibur, the ‘medieval-ly’ decorated Hispanic dance bar on 5th Ave. in Moline, has renamed itself to El Patron 2 – going to emphasize food, I suspect.

-          As I mentioned in a prior post, Cantina Los Cuates in East Moline became Pulse.  What I just heard was that Los Cuates actually moved to Silvis, behind the post office on 1st St.  I haven’t yet done the recon, so I can neither confirm nor deny this, and won’t put it back on the Bar Directory until I do.

I had a couple of goals I wanted to achieve by April 30th:  to run my total to 450, and to have visited 300 QC bars in the near three years I’ve been basically keeping a journal.  The latter should be no problem – 9 to go, and still 34 on my Pre-List list.  The former is a bit more of a challenge – I know I could do it by hitting every Mexican Restaurant with a couple of stools at a tiled counter (and I do just that when I’m looking to pad my stats), but that doesn’t really conform to the spirit of the blog.  I am also considering adding some towns into what I defined on my first blog 18 months ago as the Quad City area – though I did say “Approximately a 20 mile radius from the center of the I-74 Bridge”, and the towns I have in mind (Blue Grass and Orion, maybe others) conform to that.  Third option is failure;  I can live with that, too.

Finally, congratulations to Nam at Duck City Bistro, one of my original favorite bartenders ascending to my Hall Of Fame!  

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