Quad Cities Bars

At long last, the Riverside Grille has opened in Bettendorf, but pretty much too late for college football season.  They opened the Monday before Christmas, and I was in having lunch and a beer a half hour later (hope I didn’t look desperate after originally hearing they would be open around Labor Day).  After seeing the place, I still expect it will put a dent in Sports Fans business – nice size bar, 19 flat screens, good food, even a fireplace.  Only thing odd about it is the layout, doesn’t have much of a flow – a lot of wide openness toward the front.  That won’t bother us; we’ll take our customary seats at the bar. The Smoking Dog Pub opened December 28th in the district of Rock Island, in what until recently was Malarkey’s .  I’d only been in Malarkey’s once (about 4 years ago) and can’t really visualize what it was like, but I’m pretty sure I like this one better.  They added a stage so it’s not necessarily just DJ dance music.  Unusual f...