11/20/2017 Update: Covering new ground.
Rudy’s Bicycles, Beers, and Brats opened in Davenport in what was back 3/4
(front quarter is a panini restaurant) of Jaguar Alley, and is now the farthest
eastern outpost for drinking in the rapidly broadening downtown. A garage door opens to the back patio where,
if you stand, you can see a little bit of the Mississippi (sitting, you only
see the railroad bridge crossing to Arsenal Island, and the vacant lot across
Iowa St.), and they’re putting in a sand volleyball court and some much needed
landscaping. The bar is long, with about
a couple dozen stools, 20+ tap beers, and a bicycle shop in the very front of
the bar. My last trip in, the kitchen had
started serving appetizers, and should have their full (but brief) menu available
now. The thing that struck here was how
happy the owner and employees seemed to be – we had very recently been to UP for the first time, and despite
working in an upscale rooftop bar in downtown, most of the staff seemed to be a
little pissed off that they were working.
Boots Western Saloon replaced Bootleggers
in Davenport’s East Village. No
remodeling, just a slight décor change – bicycle rims, business end of a
pitchfork (no handle), and a sign that says “Cowboy up!” If they’re trying to emulate Broken Saddle, they’re falling a bit
short.
Also in the East
Village, Wide River Winery opened a
second tasting room (the other is in LeClaire, plus the actual winery in
Clinton) in a 160 year old house. There are decks front and back with heaters, as
well as more inside seating than the Leclaire location. Though it’s perched a bit higher at the
corner of 12th and Mound Streets, the river views aren’t quite as good as the
bars on 11th St.
On October 27, Armored Gardens – another location in
the eastward expansion of downtown Davenport, this is contiguous with Triple Crown Whiskey Bar and Raccoon Motel
on Pershing just north of 2nd St., and is owned by the same people as Analog
Arcade. To the right, sleek modern bar
stools line a modern bar with flat screens that not only have the draught beer
menu with the ABV and IBU ratings, but also the size glass it’s served in, and
a graphic showing how full the keg is.
Fortunately there are paper menus too, since even from the bar the
screens are hard to read with these old eyes.
They have 100 taps, and 96 were active that day I visited – it will be interesting
to see how long they’ll be able to support so many beers (the maintenance alone
has got to be labor intensive). Incongruently, 8 or so white picnic tables sit
to the left of this modern bar, which I guess goes with the fact that the food
menu is strictly barbecue (not a huge barbecue fan, but theirs was above
average), served from a cafeteria line to the left of the front doors. There is also a patio in the back with 2 ping
pong tables and an 8’ square chess board / set.
With Raw, the Raccoon Motel,
and Ruby’s, that’s 4 new bars east of Brady in the last year.
Jaded Java / Jackpot Lounge is almost too nice to be in East Moline. It’s more of
a coffee shop than a bar, though they do have 2$ beers and 3$ Bloody Mary. The front section has a nice granite bar and
a section in the window with living room furniture. The mid-section has the “Jackpot Lounge” part
with 3 slots. This has become almost a
necessity to survive in the bar business on the Illinois side of the river, but
it does detract from the class of the lounge.
Food is limited to pre-wrapped wraps, muffins, cookies, and bagels.
Van’s Downtown (Davenport) is my final addition to my list for this
installment, bringing my total to 620.
No change physically, just a name change from The Starting Line. It’s the
same ownership, but a change in which owners are more active in management (I’m
told). I’m curious as to why the
Starting Line name was given up, as there’s a history at that location. Maybe more recent history has detracted from
the brand? I haven’t heard anything to
that effect. On the up side for me, the
Starting line had downsized their menu recently, and had dropped my favorite
sandwich, ‘The Paulie’. With the Van’s
menu in place there is now the ‘Balboa’, which is even better.
These 6 additions bring the
number of Quad Cities bars I’ve been to up to 620.
Other Bar News:
A couple of closings
in Rock Island since the last post: RIDR’s,
the country bar in the district, and Gunchie’s
(they still have their Davenport location).
Van’s
in Moline also closed, not long after changing the name from Brix. I’m kind of at a loss to explain why so many
bars / restaurants have closed at what I feel should be the premier downtown
Moline location. Since I’ve been in town
(1997), this space has been Sydney’s,
Blackthorne, Brubaker’s, Jack’s Place,
Wide Open, Brix, and Van’s.
Harrington’s in Port Byron has pared back their food menu, and I’ve heard
rumors that they will be doing away with food altogether, or closing. I have to say I miss the days of G’s Riverfront Café, which I felt was
one of the top 3 restaurants in the Quad Cities.
Besides the new bars
I’ve made it to, Baked on Tap (just
up Mound St. from Baked in
Davenport), Princeton Ale House, and Union 525 (in Moline, where the Speakeasy and, most recently, Stack’s, were located) have all opened
with in the last week. Also, Junior’s Sports Bar opened in what was
the L’il Cow Bell in East
Moline. Sometime after the first of the
year, Tap 22 is going to open in
Silvis at the P.K. Dugan’s location.
D’s Smokin’ BBQ & Taphouse in LeClaire also opened last week. I technically was in D’s months ago, when they
weren’t officially open (they’ve had a few conflicts with LeClaire city council),
and they didn’t have a bar, or even furniture then. I decided it would require a trip back to be
avle to add them to my list.
Governor’s will become
a Hy-Vee gas station within the next year or so, and it sounds like they’ve
decided on building a new bar / restaurant by Tanglefoot and Devil’s Glen in
Bettendorf. Also said to be moving is
Moe’s Burger and Beers, from its present location to what was Ducky’s Formal
Wear on River Drive in Moline.
Despite hitting 4
bars on my What’s Left list and RIDR’s coming off because I didn’t get to go there
before they closed, the list grew to 17. I better get busy!
Normally, my posts
this time of the year would include some photos of my favorite bars in Key
West. This year we decided to go on a road
trip, covering parts of the Gulf Coast we hadn’t been to before (Gulf Shores,
AL and Apalachicola, FL), as well as hitting the Food & Wine festival at
EPCOT, something we hadn’t done since 2007.
Alhough I can’t get as liquored up as back then, it’s still a lot of fun
drinking at Walt Disney World. 10 days
an 3,156 miles later, here are some photos of the ground we covered:
Lulu's in Golf Shores, AL, before it got busy that day. Owned by Lucy Buffett, sister of Jimmy:
Lulu's
Flora-Bama, Perdido Key, FL
Flora-Bama. This is where Kenny Chesney played in 2014, broadcast later on CMT
My favorite Disney bar, the Rose & Crown Pub
The Biergarten at EPCOT
Cantina de San Angel at EPCOT
Paddy's Raw Bar, St George Island. Tough to see the sign
in this photo, but it says "A sunny spot for shady people"
The Thirsty Goat, Port St Joe, FL
Bars since the 8/31
post ( * = New to my list)
* Mother Hubbard's (Chicago)
|
Boozie's
|
Harley's
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Applebee's (Elmore)
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* Van's Downtown
|
129
|
Moe's Burgers and Brews
|
Zeke's On The Hill
|
Fargo
|
Redstone Room
|
Governor's
|
Funky Desi
|
Johnny's Italian
|
Harrington's PB
|
Duck City Bistro
|
Bass Street Chop Bar
|
Bix Bistro
|
Generations
|
Treehouse
|
* Captain Joe's (Whiymore Lake, MI)
|
Biaggi's
|
* Jaded Java / Jackpot Lounge
|
* Armored Gardens
|
Tuggers
|
Rico's Tropical Cantina
|
Bleyart's
|
Caddy's
|
Barrel House - Davenport
|
* Bear Creek Bar and Grill (Columbia, TN)
|
* Thirsty Goat (Port St. Joe, FL)
|
* Coneheads 8080 (Cape San Blas, FL)
|
* Paddy's Raw Bar (St George Island, FL)
|
* Blue Parrot (St George Island, FL)
|
* Gormley's Pub (Apalachicola, FL)
|
* Haughty Heron (Port St. Joe, FL)
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* Lighthouse Bar & Grill (The Villages, FL)
|
Rose & Crown Pub (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
|
Cantina de San Angel (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
|
* Delta Hotel Bar (Lake Buena Vista, FL)
|
* Village Hideaway (Gulf Shores, AL)
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* Beach Club Tiki Bar (Gulf Shores, AL)
|
* Flora-Bama (Perdido Key, FL)
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* Lulu's (Gulf Shores, AL)
|
Brew In The Village
|
Pint's
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Baked
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* Wide River Winery (Davenport)
|
Parkside
|
Sports Fans
|
Osaka (Dav.)
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Pub 1848
|
Steel Head Tavern
|
Steventon's
|
Red Ginger
|
Bierstube Moline
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TGI Friday's
|
Jimmie Lee's
|
Bad Boy'z Pizza
|
Broken Saddle Saloon
|
Go Fish
|
* Ruby's Bicycles, Beers, & Brats
|
Stray Dog (New Buffalo, MI)
|
G's Pizzeria (Saginaw, MI)
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Cabanas
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* Boots Western Saloon
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Barrel House - Moline
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Rick and Kathy's
|
Rudy's Cantina
|
GiLanella's
|
* Saloon (Iowa City)
|
Soi 2 Thai Street Food
|
Svithiod Club
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