12/10/2012 Update

Zero To Sixty opened back in August in what most recently was the 811 Lockdown.  Not sure what it looked like before, but I’m guessing they did a pretty massive redo.  The diamond-plate on the walls is there to remind you it’s a NASCAR themed bar, but the red and white walls and all the mirrors give it a real kitschy (never thought I’d use that word in this blog) cross between a 50’s malt shop / 70’s disco feel.

Goombazz, next to Rudy’s Tacos on 18^th Ave in Rock Island, is certainly more of a food destination than a bar, though they have 16 stools, and the gambling machines were getting installed the first time I was there in the “Atlantic City” room.  Menu includes pizza, calzones, stromboli, corned beef and pastrami, hot dogs, and a darned fine muffuletta. 

The addition of these two brings my total up to 470.  Also stopped by the Greenbriar, one of the bars on my Pre-List list (the bars still open that I haven’t been to since before May 2009, when I started tracking).  That list is down to 18: The New Opendore, The Hat, The Meat Market, The Gallery, Larry Bob’s Oasis, and The Dugout in Davenport; Belgian Village, Viking Club, the VFW, and the Dew Drop Inn in Moline; Bennigan’s, Del’s in the District, and O’Melia’s in Rock Island; and the Beach Pub in Buffalo, VFW in Bettendorf, and Jim’s Knoxville Tap in Milan.  

We also visited the reopened and renamed Valley Inn Ale House in Pleasant Valley, and though it remains to be seen if all the money sunk into it will translate into additional profit, they sure did the place up right (though I do miss the Elvis paraphernalia).  The menu has changed, also, reflecting the more upscale surroundings.  Though we didn’t see the dinner menu, the lunch / bar menu had a couple of surprises on it, such as Scotch Eggs (I like Scotch Eggs, but I’m use to having it be a hardboiled egg encased in a quarter inch of sausage.  This was a thin film of sausage with panko breading on top) and a Deep Fried PBJ Sandwich.  Note to Steve Block – a frozen daiquiri would have hit the spot with the deep fried (battered) bacon strips. 

I’m a little confused on what to do about the Valley Inn Ale House:  slight name change, ownership change that was phased in over a few years, I’m led to believe, and vastly different bar.  Do I count it as #471?  According to my rules, a name change is enough, but adding “Ale House” to the end seems weak.  I’ll table that until my next post.

It appears that Rubikon in downtown Moline is closed – no surprise to me, but I think the location is too good to be unoccupied for very long.  My-Lee’s in Bettendorf also shut its doors – this wasn’t a place on my list to hit, but it’s been many different bars in the past (Open Range, Pizza Express, Phitz’ Phast Lane, among others) and hopefully will be again.  Location, parking, and layout are all good; I’m led to believe the problem is the rent, which seems to escalate dramatically after the first year of the lease.  Another place that’s in my count (though definitely not a bar destination) that closed is Shogun. 

Good news:  Bad Boy’z Pizza is opening another location next to Pint’s on Utica Ridge in Davenport, and goes on my What’s Left list, which still stands at 14.

My favorite bartender list has shuffled a bit:  EJ, who I’ve lost all track of, goes from favorite current to favorite past bartenders; Tori is a welcome addition back to the Village, moving from the Moline Bierstube to Bleyart’s; and Beth at Fargo is deservedly added to the list.

I have no top-ten list to share with you this post.  My hope was to give you my favorite music venues, but until I actually see some music at Rascal’s and Rozz-Tox, I don’t think my opinions would be valid.  Hopefully I’ll remedy that over the holidays, and get back to you in 2013.

Merry Christmas!