Rock Island Ale House Featuring Bennigans On The Fly — Restaurant in Rock Island

We stopped in for dinner since we were staying at the hotel. When we walked in, a lady was at the computer, acknowledged us and then walked away. She yelled to another person, " two for a booth". We waited a few moments and another lady motioned for us to follow her from across the bar. She took us to a booth. She brought us menus and utensils and walked away. She came back shortly and asked what we would.lije to drink. She explained that they do not have a beverage manager currently and do not have certain things. We ordered drinks from what was available. We then ordered an appetizer sampler, we had a coupon for 50% off an appetizer. in the faded small print it says it excludes wings and the sampler. Small faded print on the coupon, but fair enough. We got the sampler anyway. She brought it out piping hit as expected. Some small.plates for the appetizers would have been nice, but we made due. the appetizers were good. Then we ordered our entrees. My wife ordered a chicken Quesadilla and I ordered a club without mayo. Both meals came with fries, my wife said no fries. Time went by, I was thinking that it seemd like our food was taking longer than expected. A short time later our food arrived. Both meals had fries, no biggie at that point. I went to eat a French fry and it was Luke warm amd limp at best. the Toast on the club had sat a while before being brought out as it had hardened up. My wife's Quesadilla was as expected amd hot We moved all the fries to the platter for the appetizer as both servings of fries were luke warm and limp, not fresh and hot. Another server came over and we let her know. She went and got our server and she offered replacements for the fries or alternatives. We declined, she instead gave us a discount on the bill. Symone was our server and she was very pleasant and professional. She tried to make everything right. The food ultimately was average at best. We were hungry and it was getting late and we wanted to head back...

It was still late morning when I was in Rock Island, looking for somewhere that does a good breakfast. A nearby location looked promising, but the wait for a table was closer to an hour. I left my name and phone number with them and started walking around the downtown. I got cold enough to want to find somewhere warm to wait for my breakfast call. I fortunately came up on Rock Island Ale House not long after.

The space looks new, both inside and out. The facade features new looking brick work accented by red neon lights. The interior looks spotless - new wood laminate flooring runs through the majority of the space. A drop ceiling consisting of white 2 foot tiles runs through most of the ceiling with lighting supplied by a combination of recessed fixtures and a mix of different suspended fixtures over the high tops and tables. The bar features prominently in the center of the establishment with icicle lights around the exterior and a set of 10 beer taps on one end. As is almost mandatory with all bars in Illinois, there are also a set of video slots in the far back of the main dining room with stanchions roping off the small section. For Rock Island, it's a really nice looking space.

After briefly conversing with the bartender, I settled on a bowl of chili and some fries, both of which were out to me within 10 minutes. The chili was a nice wholesome bowl - not really spicy, but had plenty of depth of flavor. The fries were thin crinkle cut and very crispy, which I very much simultaneously enjoyed and appreciated. For a cold January day, I'd definitely get this meal again!

If I were back in Rock Island for something again, I might stop by for another meal here. I probably wouldn't drive all the way across the river from Bettendorf just to come here though. It's a solid addition to the Rock Island downtown, and I hope they stick around for a while....

Rock Island Ale house is primarily meant for the guests of the attached Holiday Inn. That being said, they still welcome people outside the establishment. The servers were very friendly, and were very prompt and helpful. I ordered their popular monte cristo, and I was satistfied with the quality. The breading was very thick and crunchy, but despite the messiness, the flavor was still on point. Fries are often very hit-or-miss, but this place did very well. Very cripsy, hot, and not soggy or bad-tasting. The only food that I thought was a bit lacking was the coleslaw. Its often very different from region to region, but this coleslaw was probably half composed of raw, red onions. Because of this the slaw was very harsh on the palate, and left an undesirable aftertaste. This could just be personal preference, but no one in my party enjoyed it. The portion sizes are very large for what you pay for. No one in my party was able to finish their plate, and we all took...