02/16/2012 - QC Foodie - Our QC Staycation

Ricardo and I spend most of our free time with my daughters at home during the weeknights and he spends each Sunday with his daughters so sometimes we just want to get away to spend time together. We have gone on weekend getaways to Galena or Chicago but that involves travel time, no matter how short, so we opted to enjoy a “vacation” in the Quad Cities, more specifically in downtown Davenport. We met some friends at Woodfire Grill. The restaurant was bustling with guests including many youngsters dressed in their finest for school dance dates. We both ordered sangrias, Ricardo ordered drunken ribeye and I ordered the Whiskey Sriracha Salmon.

A bit about the Woodfire Grill from the website:

“Enjoy Midwestern fare with a large variety of original items flavored by a hickory and oak-fueled grill. Dig into the wood-fired brick oven pizzas in a variety of palate-pleasing combinations. Indulge in steaks, chicken, chops and seafood flavored by the woodfired-grill. Open for lunch and dinner.

The eclectic menu, commonly described as Americana, features exciting menu selections flavored by hickory and oak wood-fired grills. This cooking technique enhances the natural flavors of our hand-cut aged steaks, fresh seafood, chicken and chops. From our chef signature selections to the comfort food classics, we use only the finest and freshest ingredients in all our made-from-scratch recipes. “

The atmosphere of the Woodfire is contemporary and vibrant, with beautiful dark wood, classy décor in rich warm tones, a busy bar and brick ovens firing away in the kitchen. The restaurant was well-lit and the noise level was low enough for the six of us to converse easily despite the full restaurant. Ricardo's steak was cooked well done as opposed to medium rare and my salmon was a tad overcooked as well. The fire-roasted vegetables were good and the horseradish redskin smashed potatoes were kind of bland. Our friends had mixed reviews, one really enjoyed the same salmon I had, her husband thought the lobster ravioli was good, one had the beef stew and thought it wasn't as good as the previous time he had it and his wife had chicken alfredo and she enjoyed it.

Next, we went to Front Street Brewery for some drinks and conversation. Front Street is a friendly and lively place on River Drive. This is from the website:

“Nestled in downtown Davenport in what was originally called the Bucktown area in the 1920’s, Front Street Brewery radiates the charm that only history can impart. Front Street’s warm interior is highlighted by burnished wood and exposed brick walls. The main brewery and restaurant, both more than 100 years old are separated by a quaint brick beer garden.

Front Street Brewery, founded in 1992, was once home to a vegetable warehouse, car repair garage, printing company and beer warehouse. It’s where Davenport and thousands of visitors from other cities come for great times, great food and fabulous brews made right on the premises in Front Street’s Brewery.”

The beer drinkers in our party sampled the hand-craft beers while the rest of us enjoyed various mixed drinks. Ricardo and I ordered Slow Roasted Pulled Pork Nachos. Here's the description from the menu: Pork rubbed with salt, sugar, Ancho chili powder and garlic and slow roast them for 24 hours and shred. Fresh fried tortilla chips are covered with melted Chihuahua cheese, roasted corn-onion and Mexican Style Crema. Served with fresh made guacamole and fire-roasted tomato salsa. I don't like ground meats since they're so full of fat so I have often wished someone would make nachos with shredded meat and here it was! I have never had nachos quite like this, they were terrific. The roasted corn added a new and tasty dimension. We didn't get any guacamole and I didn't notice that we were supposed to until reading the description more carefully while writing this so unfortunately I can't critique it. One couple we were with ordered Chocolate Stout Cupcake for dessert. It was made with bittersweet chocolate and Front Street's stout beer. It was topped with a buttercream icing and served with chocolate espresso ice cream. It looked divine and they thought it was delicious.

We parted with our friends for the evening and went back to our hotel room at the Radisson. Being from the Quad Cities, I'd never stayed at the local Radisson. I was impressed by the room, the hospitality and the sleep number bed.

In the morning, we ate brunch at the Radisson. The brunch is more affordable than all of the others in the Quad Cities that I'm aware of. The staples of a brunch are available, omelettes cooked to order, large and Belgian waffles, a couple of lunch offerings, fruit, soup, salad, danish, muffins and some cheesecake options. The hotel is beautiful as you can see by the photos.