1 week Ago By GANNON HANEVOLD [email protected]
Like everyone else, my election season fatigue was at an all-time high on Tuesday. My phone was ringing off the hook. By then, I had about 20 missed calls from political marketers in the last few days.
My text messages were blowing up, too. Twice, a kind man called and offered me a ride to the polls in Nevada. He was bummed to learn I live thousands of miles away.
It was a long day that felt like a week. The week since has felt like a month. I needed a break from the hoopla.
So I visited a restaurant that's been on my to-do list for a long time: GruBeez in the West End of Davenport. The walk-up restaurant is a local staple that I've heard terrific things about through word-of-mouth. A quick browse of their menu online piqued my interest even further, with a full menu that included a burger topped with cheese curds.
All the positive news was confirmed upon my visit. GruBeez made election stress go away for a little while. Of course, I had to go with the most ambitious burger I could find.
So my eyes darted to the Muff Burger, advertised on a sign outside the restaurant. The Muff Burger is served on a brioche bun, topped with an over-hard egg, bacon and hashbrowns. That's right.
Breakfast on a burger. It tasted as good as it sounded. Imagine a tasty breakfast sandwich, with a well-seasoned burger patty instead of sausage.
The Muff Burger was expectedly filling, but unexpectedly didn't give me a pit in my gut. I was pleasantly surprised by how great I felt after the meal. On their sign out front, GruBeez calls itself "The Buzz of the Town.
" Now I see why. The Muff Burger goes for $10.75, a very reasonable price.
Especially when you consider that I haven't even told you the best part yet: it comes with not one, but two sides. That kind of bang for your buck is unmatched at a local restaurant, let alone at one that tastes great. The chicken and fish meals and wraps come with two sides, too.
On my Tuesday visit, the special was $1 beef tacos. For my burger sides, I went with the crinkle cut fries and slaw. The slaw added a nice, cool refreshing accent to the meal as a whole, and the fries were crispy and tasty.
If that's not your thing, you can also pick mac and cheese, cottage cheese, baked beans, chips or spicy slaw for your side. Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus Managing Editor Connor Wood, who went with me on the Election Day GruBeez trip, endorses the spicy slaw and the bacon cheeseburger ($9.75).
GruBeez is located at 226 N Pine St. in Davenport's West End. It's a quick jaunt from downtown if you're looking to grab a meal before an event, whether that's a concert or a show at the Adler.
They're open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.
m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, noon to 8 p.m.
on Saturday and Sunday and closed on Monday and Wednesday. Ordering at GruBeez happens through a walk-up window off Pine Street. There's ample amounts of street parking.
Even on a Tuesday late-lunch hour, there was a steady flow of folks coming through. Clearly, GruBeez is a popular institution in both the West End and the Quad-Cities as a whole. It's mostly great for grab-and-go orders, but if you're looking to dine in, there is an outdoor patio area that would be perfect for a spring or summer day.
There's a fake turf lawn, metal tables, inviting decor and a shed in the corner. The whole thing feels like a cozy backyard barbecue. And that makes sense — GruBeez is family-owned by married couple Antonio and Nina Perkins, according to a story we ran about the restaurant in 2017.
When I tried to stop by a few weeks back, GruBeez was closed for the couple's anniversary. “It’s comfort food — the only things that are missing is a TV and a couch,” Antonio told the Times in 2017. “When you’re messing with GruBeez, you don’t want to be going back to work.
” And he's exactly right. Even on a stressful day like Election Day, I felt more comfortable after that burger and fries. And after taking the morning shift talking to voters, I didn't go back to work when I was done.
Whoops. I also felt great about picking GruBeez for sentimental reasons. As Executive Editor Tom Martin mentioned in his column over the weekend, this will be my last week at the Times/Dispatch-Argus.
That makes this column my final food feature. It's bittersweet news that I'll reflect on a little more in my music column, Sounds Good, later this week. But I feel like GruBeez is an appropriate high note to end on for the "Best thing I ate this week" series.
It's a beloved local establishment with a quirky menu. That's the kind of thing I live for. I deeply appreciate those of you who have read along over the last year.
A few folks have even stopped me out and about to mention that they recognize me from the column. Every time, it catches me off guard. But it means a lot to me that you care about local restaurants as much as I do.
Thank you. I'll miss that feeling quite a bit. I'll save the tears for tomorrow and the fries for later.
But keep supporting your local restaurants at any opportunity you get. Hopefully, through this column, you've found a few new ones to add to your dining rotation. Put GruBeez on that list, too.
Quad-City Times Reporter Gannon Hanevold With our weekly newsletter packed with the latest in everything food. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items..
