have you eaten at sneaky pete's in leclaire? the food is simple but quite decent, and the views of the river are fantastic from inside. i can't remember if they have patio seating in better weather or not. there is a river bar down towards muscatine that is connected to a marina, which is supposed to have pretty decent food (nothing special). i haven't been - need to ask my friend the name of it. if you don't mind being on the rock river instead of the mississippi, the outdoor patio at Martinis on the Rock is really nice, right on the water, and they have good pizza.

thanks for the tip, vitus! i've never disagreed with your assessments yet, and i miss good pupusas! did not know there were any to be had near here.

just to update, i had a grilled cinnamon roll at Riefe's and it was fantastic. even better than ross's (but then, they don't grill theirs, so it's not comparing apples to apples).

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Riefes Restaurant
1417 W Locust St, Davenport, IA 52804

that's ok! i don't get that way too often anyway - i live a bit east. have you ever been to the aledo rhubarb festival, if you live in this area? http://aledomainstreet.com/index.php?... it's on my radar for this spring.

Which restaurant for the rhubarb pie? I agree most of what they have there is ok but not great.

Just wanted to put a quick note up about Cindy Jean's Restaurant in Prophetstown, Illinois. It's about 25 miles from the Iowa line in Illinois, and about 6 miles off of the highway. I stopped there for a very late lunch today while helping a friend who got stranded along the road. The food is all made from scratch, portions are good, and the food seems pretty inventive for a small town - the Cajun fried potato salad was really excellent, and everything we had was good. I had a chicken pot pie which was made to order with puff pastry and was really good. Others in my party ate pretty simply (grilled cheese and a veggie burger), but everything was well-done. It's definitely a good place to stop over en route - worth the extra miles from the highway! Lots of specials, too.

http://www.cindyjeansptownrestaurant....

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Cindy Jean's Restaurant
324 Washington St, Prophetstown, IL 61277

Food Tourist, it looks like you posted on the Great Plains boards too. I am just realizing that now that the Midwest is broken up, the Quad Cities are half on Great Lakes and half on Great Plains!

I like Ganson's for breakfast - http://www.gansonscafe.com/home.php
They have good egg dishes and good coffee if you stay away from the special coffees.

Ross's Family Restaurant in Bettendorf (first exit off of the I-74 bridge in Iowa, about two blocks up the road if you go straight) uses only local, Amish eggs, and other fresh ingredients when possible, and is famous for their "Magic Mountain" - a pile of texas toast, fries, cheese, chili, etc. I think their cinnamon rolls are where it's at. I also like Cafe Fresh in Moline but they no longer serve breakfast. Jim's Ribs, if you eat meat, are really good but you should go to the East Moline location. The hours are not as good as the Rock Island location, but the food is much better. The tapas and desserts at Star Bar, which is part of Le Figaro French restaurant in downtown Rock Island, are good - and if you call ahead the chef will prepare his native Moroccan cuisine for you.

Other good places in the area include Trattoria Tiramisu in Bettendorf, La Flama and Primavera (mexican places in Moline), Cafe Indigo in Davenport.

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Cafe Fresh
1231 5th Ave, Moline, IL 61265

La Flama
1514 5th Ave, Moline, IL 61265

Le Figaro
1708 2nd Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201

by the way, i'd say my favorite breakfast in town right now is at Ganson's in Rock Island, on 38th Street. I don't know the address off-hand but they have a website. Frieda retired, and I miss her but wish her well!

I think Ross's are better than Miss Mamie's. Miss Mamie's has changed their cinnamon rolls recently. Ross's are huge, though - one is good for three or four people. Granite City is a chain but they have good cinnamon rolls too.

Sorry to be late in replying.... Trattoria Tiramisu has a room - it's in Bettendorf. I seem to recall that Le Figaro doesn't do any special dinners. You could rent out SereniTea in Davenport - they do a lot of private parties, for a daytime event on a Saturday. Other places worth checking are Cafe Indigo in Davenport, Red Crowe Grille in Bettendorf, Ganson's in Rock Island, and Cafe' Fresh in Moline.

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Trattoria Tiramisu
1804 State St, Bettendorf, IA 52722

Cafe Indigo
4925 Utica Ridge Rd, Davenport, IA 52807

Frieda's closed in July, unfortunately. I'm sorry!

I grew up in Virginia with my grandmother making them for me. She grew up in Michigan and lived in New York and Pennsylvania before coming to Virginia in the 60's. Yum! Had forgotten about them.

I'm really late in replying, as it's July. Little Rangoon is run by an american guy and his wife, who is Bumese, and who he met working in one of the qc casino's. Little Rangoon II is run by someone that he sold the franchise to, down by Southpark Mall. When I was last in there, his wife was doing some burmese translating work so he was doing all the cooking, which i gather he does usually anyway. I enjoyed the food, having had a burmese friend who cooked very similarly. Burma is a poor country so their food isn't really "fancy," but a burmese restaurant is a hugely rare thing in the US. ask him for what he calls his "crack sauce." the owner is really personable and nice -- grew up in the qc and loves to give you his advice about dining in the area! wish i could still lay my hands on the recommendations he gave me!

probably too late to reply, but you should go to Frieda's in East Moline! 561 17th Ave
East Moline, IL 61244 Frieda is the awesomest everrrrrr!

tragically, the very best, most super awesome, were at Froehlich Bakery, but they closed. their number used to be (309) 757-0407, and if the chef is still around, he'd probably do a special order.

so is India House the new name of Great Indian Restaurant, or vice versa? they are at the same location.

Oh great, Aloha! Let me know how you like Frieda's!! I'm excited you're going. My s.o. and I talk up Frieda all the time and I'm shocked how many people in our circles do not know her. We're slowly converting the masses on that one... Stumbled upon her after seeing her card in the QC Visitors Center in Moline. I need to check out Trattoria Tiramisu. Several people have suggested that one, and I love great Italian. Have been to BVI but didn't get the Reuben yet. Maybe on my next visit!

Bill, is Jinx still operating? I loved his food too, but he never seems to be there, even when I try to call ahead.

Hi all! I'm moving to the Quad Cities from Charlottesville, Virginia in August (my s.o. moved there last August). Cville is a town that encourages being completely spoiled when it comes to food. I've been reading up on the Chowhound about food in the QC, but truth be told, except for Frieda's in East Moline, the best food I've had in the area is in, you guessed it, Iowa City. (So far, I've just eaten at Devotay and Saloon, and blown a couple hundred dollars at New Pi.)

Anyway, I love your 244 replies to this thread! Does my heart good. Does anyone eat out in the QC and have favorites there? There are some threads on Chowhound about the QC, so I don't need encyclopedic responses, but if you have any place you love, I'd totally love to hear about it! (And I promise I'll keep driving to IC when I need a great meal!)

Heard good things about Huckleberry, ddfry! But I haven't been there yet. I see them listed in conjunction with Daytrotter shows, too.

Okay people, have you not been to Frieda's in East Moline? Frieda ROCKS MY WORLD! Authentic German cooking, breakfast/lunch at least Tues-Sat, can't remember if it's open Monday, definitely closed Sunday. Dinner once a month. Frieda is the bomb and I will be so sad when she retires for real (she had a buyer but the buyer backed out). Her french toast for breakfast is amazing, all her desserts are great (loved the German Chocolate Cake especially), and I really liked her sauerbraten last time I was there. I don't live in the QC yet but will be moving there in August, but I go to Frieda's once or twice when I'm visiting.

Also, have you been by Froehlich Bakery in downtown Moline? Great stuff there too. Jeff was featured in Alton Brown's Good Eats.

I've been told regularly good stuff about the 5th Ave Cafe in Rock Island (now moved to Moline), but my one experience there wasn't to die for - small menu, but well done! But worth going back.

And, I love that the QC have some of the only Burmese food in the country! Burmese restaurants are SUPER rare (like, around 10 in the whole USA), and there are two in the QC, one in Moline and one in Southpark Mall. Rangoon Cafe is the one in Moline, don't know if the mall location has the same name. The food was really interesting!

Also, try Cafe Fresh in downtown Moline! They moved further towards East Moline, and 5th Ave Cafe took their old location.

I went to the Brown Bottle in Moline (new location) and was not super impressed. The food didn't do the ambiance justice. Salad was so bad I told them (after I got the bill and it was safe!) that it would have been much better not to serve any salad at all than to put what they did on my plate. But the fish I and my companion had were both good, and not skimpy on fish portions. The dessert was gimmicky (malted milk ball pie), but I did go for the gimmick.

La Rancherita is good for Mexican in Rock Island.

That's all I got. I'll be on the lookout once I relocate, though!

Kyoto in the Rio Hill Shopping Center is great for Dim Sum, Teppanyaki, and Chinese/Japanese (no sushi though). Their special hot teas are awesome, too.

Also a couple of coffee shops have recently started serving great sandwiches: Calvino Cafe (over beside Feast in the Main Street Market; it's owned by Orzo) and Greenberry's in Barracks Road. Greenberry's has some breakfast specials (egg/muffin stuff) that looks really good too, now that they've added a kitchen.

OXO closed, though, right? http://cvillain.com/2008/06/16/goodby...