The Grinders & Spaghetti House - Bettendorf — Restaurant in Pleasant Valley Township

Bought a gondola from this place. When I walked in, I asked the lady what came on it; she responded, "Lettuce, cheese, ham and salami." When I got the sandwich, it was 16" long and looked really thick!!! I paid $7.50 for the sandwich, so I was thoroughly satisfied...until I unwrapped the thing. Apparently these people use Carl Budding meat products, because the meat slices (one layer on the sandwich, mind you) was maybe 1/64" thick, and I may be being generous. They don't give you a full slice of cheese, or maybe they did, it was just cut into fifths and lined down the middle of the sandwich. You DID get a generous amount of their in-house baked bread-- maybe they thought I wasn't all that concerned with the other ingredients she told me was in the sandwich because I sure didn't get very much of them; not even the lettuce!!! If you want a bread and condiment sandwich (you add the condiments, by the way) hurry on over to this place; otherwise, run from it...

Everyone in my large group enjoyed their food. I have unusual allergies, and the poor manager(?) did his best to find something I could eat. I ended up with a very plain gyro salad, but it was delicious. This speaks both to the quality of their ingredients and the helpfulness of the staff.

Everyone raved about the bread, which looked and smelled amazing.

[edit]You know what? I've been thinking about this. I can't think of any reason this place should have less than 5 stars, other than the bread and pasta looked and smelled amazing, and I couldn't eat it. The staff went above and beyond what anyone could have expected for some weirdo with unusual allergies, and managed to assemble a delicious meal. So after much thought, I've changed...

This place is frankly amazing. Their sandwiches are out of this world. Got a beefsteak sandwich with cheese and it was like a cheese tsunami with wonderfully cooked juicy steak on Grinders' trademark bread, which is unlike any other bread - they sure do make it special. My wife ordered a Hot Sicilian sandwich and likewise enjoyed it greatly. Absolutely love this place.

One thing I need to mention is that this place looks very old school. Like a 50's New York Italian diner. Absolutely nothing wrong with it though. They wrap their sandwiches in foil and use unbranded paper bags. The staff is friendly and helpful. We ordered food here many times and plan to come back again....