01/22/2012 - QC Foodie - Cool Beanz

Ricardo and I wandered into Cool Beanz Coffeehouse because he and both of my daughters all bean there before separately and without me.  Sorry, that was uncalled for.  The website, which is nicely done by the way, has the history on the about page.  I love it when restaurants tell their story!  Here's an excerpt, “Annette Zapolis, owner and manager, thought that such a place was needed in the area after living in Rock Island for four years as an Augustana student. Her third year at Augustana, she started to research not only her major, Geology, but also studied coffee, espresso, restaurant management, and the communities needs. After finding the perfect location, applying a year of research, and fixing up the 100 year old building- Cool Beanz opened August 24th 2009- three months after Zapolis’ graduation from Augustana.”

Annette cheerfully greeted us the day we went and took our orders.  I hadn't seen the website before I visited but I quickly surmised the restaurant was either a former Augie student or catered heavily to the Augie crowd when I read the names of drinks including The Dean's List, The Nutty Professor, The Quad, The All Nighter and The Sorority Girl. 

Ricardo ordered an iced mocha and the Gourmet Grilled Cheese and I ordered a Chai.  A good friend of mine is Indian and introduced me to Chai when I was a teen.  She taught me that chai means tea so to say chai tea is redundant.  Chai from India is spiced milk tea according to this site devoted to the delicious beverage http://www.chai-tea.org/whatisit.html

Ricardo gave the iced mocha his approval, which is a rare occurrence for that beverage which is his favorite coffee drink.  The chai came in an awesome filter (also available for sale on the merchendise section) so I could steep the tea to my liking.  I also find it difficult to locate exceptional chai but this was amazing.  The aroma of the spices had me in seventh heaven.  (Thanks to those of you who got that.)  Ricardo thoroughly enjoyed the upgraded version of the old standby, the grilled cheese.  It contained provolone, fresh mozzarella, sharp cheddar, scallions and pesto. 

My salad was also fantastic, with fresh fruit, toasted almonds, feta cheese mango vinaigrette on a bed of romaine lettuce.  The only suggestion I would make would be to grill the chicken because the texture and blandness didn't complement the beautiful, sweet and slightly tangy salad.

The décor was whimsical and comfortable.  I liked the unique ceiling fans (see the photo).  This may sound like an exaggeration but it's true, everyone there seemed to be extremely relaxed and happy.  Friends and families of all ages we hanging out and enjoying the scrumptious food.  I'll take my daughters next time I return since they actually enjoy it, which is a great compliment from my finicky eaters.  Cool Beanz deserves more study so I'll be sure to get back there soon!

QC Foodie