11/15/2012 Update: Tiki bars!

November 15, 2012

I wasn’t quite as prompt getting to Legends Corner Sports Bar & Grill when it opened on November 8^thas I was with Pepperjack; it took me until the next day to chalk it off my list. My desperation for new bar inventory is showing. On the corner of 7^th Ave and 30^th St in Rock Island, I think the location by Augustana and down the hill from Kavanaugh’s might work out for them. The owners are the same as own Legends in Aledo, so experience will help, too.

As I had surmised, the name change from Do Dah Tap to Gateway Pub was an attempt to clean up the perception of the place, if nothing else. Same owners, same dump inside, same clientele (who I assume are there because they can’t afford the bus fare to Big Daddy’s), and probably the same volume of 911 calls. I read in the QC Times that the Davenport city council was debating renewing their liquor license, concerned that it sits at the “gateway to the city, with 20 to 30 thousand cars passing” it every day. I believe choosing the name Gateway Pub was a big middle finger to the council.

I also added Oculus, the sports bar in the center of Jumer’s Casino, and even got to the Knights of Pythias – oh, yes I did. My list is now up to 468.

Replacing Gateway Pub on my What’s Left list is the 0 to 60 Bar, two blocks away in the old 811 Lockdown. The bar and building is owned by the owner of the QC Marts, and he plans to open one there as well, in what used to be Club Fusion. He also had a stake in Rockin’ Ham before it was sold to Kraft Foods.

Really nothing else new on the horizon that I’m aware of, so my What’s Left list is reduced to 14. Work is continuing on the Moline location of the Barrel House (I noticed that they even have it posted on their webpage now), while down the street the bar I visited when it was Excalibur, which then became El Patron II, is now closed. Waste of a damn fine Dungeons and Dragons mural. I’d welcome any intelligence any of my readers have on any upcoming openings.

TIKI BARS

My wife and I just returned from Key West, and got to revisit some of my favorite spots – The Chart Room, Schooner Wharf, Captain Tony’s, Willie T’s, The Green Parrot, Hog’s Breath Saloon, The Smokin’ Tuna, and Margaritaville, among others – but also got to hit a couple new (to us) spots. Though we didn’t make it to some places I had targeted, such as Blue Heaven, Louie’s Backyard, and Irish Kevin’s, we did get to Island Dogs, The Rum Barrel, Dante’s Pool Bar, The Half Shell, and the Beach Club Bar at the Pier House.

What I was looking forward to most on this trip was the drive from Miami through the Keys. Originally we were scheduled to fly directly in to Key West, as we did last year, but US Air put the kybosh on that plan three weeks prior to our trip. Of course, I wasn’t just excited about driving from island to island and over large expanses of ocean; I was looking forward to pinballing off Tiki Bars all the way to Key West! I did my research and had a list of open air, thatch roof, ocean view (mostly, we did stop at an inland one, but it was dark by then) possibilities for the three hour drive that I budgeted eight hours for.

On the way down, we hit Snapper’s (Key Largo), Lorelei (Islamorada), Sunset Grille, Salty’s (both Marathon Key), and the Looe Key Tiki Bar (Ramrod Key, and the title of a Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band son); on the way back, we stopped at Burdine’s Chiki Tiki (Marathon) and the Safari Lounge (Islamorada). Come with me on a pictorial journey!