Why did it take so long?

 To visit where we did tonite. I don't have an answer to that,but I personally will rectify that going forward.

And where we went last night definitely will be put into regular rotation too. Cause we felt right at home.

A little back story. There is a small strip mall right in the Northpark Mall parking lot. It has a few stores but in particular a restaurant I have driven past thousands of times over the years

Yes it's Lunardi's

http://lunardis-qc.com/

I really can't say why we have never once given a thought to dining there. And that is a darn shame too. Lunardi's has pizza on the menu although(gasp) we did not get. We looked the menu over and they had some interesting looking dishes.

Like I said Lunardi's is located in a small strip mall.

Inside has a nice bar area. Seating is rather limited and I can see having to wait for a table. But they did have a dedicated waiting area in a vestibule,so there is that.

As usual I had a few cocktails and well. By now pics of the bathroom come standard in my posts. Lunardi's bathroom is pretty small and only a one person at a timer. The men's bathroom already was suffering after only two hours of opening. I've got to think that every restaurant we visit nowdays is short staffed and they try and do their best.

Shall we peruse the menu? It had some tasty offerings. And a decent wine selection too.

How was the food you ask? I'm kicking my rear for never having visited before. It was great. And next time we will be getting some pizza.

We all started off with a house salad. It was fresh and  pretty big bowls too. Only nit was a lack of croutons.

Now onto the stars of the show. The entrees.

Sher ordered the Italian Mixed Grill.

The Chicken Strip Whisperer ordered Sausage and Sun Dried Tomatos.

A Steak Marsala caught my eye on the menu and that is what I got. My only grouse is I could have ate two steaks it was that good.

Sher and Moll got some dessert to go that I did not get any pics of.

I cannot believe this is my first time at Lunardi;s and it will not be the last. The food was outstanding and goes right up to my top ten of places to eat in the greater Quad City area.

Scotty.

Act now,supplies are running out

 Hey now. Two weeks in a row for us. That's some old timey posting.

The title of this post is apropo. And I'll explain farther down the page.

A new pizza joint popped up a few short months ago over in Bettendorf. It had some well earned hype as a food truck. 

Smash Pizza is on Devils Glen just south of The Tangledwood which we have also reviewd.

https://www.facebook.com/SmashPizzaQC

I've have read some reviews and have seen positive thumbs up all over Facebook. Is the hype real? Lets find out.

Smash Pizza is located in a strip mall with very limited parking and that filled up while we were there.

First thing we noticed was how loud and small the interior was. Is that a good thing? Hmm.There wasn't much room to wait and people were just kind of standing around right next to tables and the bar area.

The wine wall was neat.

The bar and table area. I must be getting to that old man get off my lawn stage of my life. I am not a fan of loud industrial type places to eat at. I've had my fill of noise over my almost forty year working career.

As I said. Seating was limited and almost nowhere to wait.

And as usual I had a few whiskeys to get in the mood. And well let's check out the men's room. Now this is a first. The were two bathrooms and they were unisex and diaper friendly. That didn't bother me as much as the general uncleanliness.

I've been in a few places worse,but Smash Pizza needs to up it's bathroom game as we were there around 5pm.

All that said. The smell coming out of the kitchen was delish. Gawking around the pizza looked great.

Here is where I got bummed. Smash Pizza has a real small menu which is fine by me. They had two kinds of crusts. New York and Sicilian style. The Sicilian was what we were going to get,but were informed they were out of by 5pm on a Saturday.

How does one run out of crust by 5pm on a weekend? Hence my supplies are running out jibe. That is a ding to me.

So. So. Anyways how was the New York style we did end up getting? Outstanding. Seriously probably vaulted right up into my top five fave places in the greater QC area.

I'm getting thirsty too. Got me one of those real sugar Coke's. Sher stuck with water.

The menu. Although I don't think it is readable.

So yakety yak. How was the pizza you ask? We ordered a double sausage and cup pepperoni New York style. If you like greasy pizza you are in for a treat. The crust was probably the best in the QC area. The sausage as good as Lopiez's Pizza. The sauce tasty. Sher and I agreed more cheese on top would have been great.

The grease!

We heard Smash Mouth. Now let's hear some Pumpkins. I'm always geeked for pizza.

Final thoughts. Smash Pizza has truly great pizza. Although I am disappointed they were out of the Sicilian crust so early in the day. A few dings to me was the actual physical space to eat in. Small, cramped, crowded and loud.

The bathroom was not clean either.

Will we go back? Not sure. Smash Pizza was doing a brisk carry out. So in all honesty we will probably just order and pick up a pizza. But still the buzz is warranted and don't let this grumpy old man deter you from visiting Smash Pizza.

Scotty

We did indeed,do it again

 Happy New Years!

We have indeed been reeling in the years with this blog and we have enjoyed it too. This will be our eighth year of doing this. Obviously faithful readers will note a certain drop off in postings.

There are a variety of reasons for that and I've gone over that in previous postings. Mostly money to be honest. I'm sure you all are feeling a little pain in your pocketbook when it comes to dividing your dollars every paycheck.

So where did we go? I was really jonesing for a steak. One of our favorite steakhouse has undergone a serious facelift late last summer and fall.

Mo Brady's on north Brady completly redid the exterior and interior. And it was needed. The last time we were there it was obvious it was getting long in the tooth looks wise.

https://mobradyssteakhouse.com/

Let's go!

The new exterior really looks nice.

The interior got a much need facelift also. The bar and waiting area looks totally different and it pops.

As is my usual. I frontloaded and had to use the restroom. I'm not sure what has happened to Mo Brady's,but the men's room was spotless.

I had to get an Old Fashion. It was quite tasty too.

So.How was the food you ask? Outstanding. I ordered a New York strip. Sher ordered the chicken alfredo. The Chicken Strip Whisperer ordered what else? Lol. Chicken Strips of course.

A salad first.

The alfredo and strips. Moll said the strips were awesome!. Hand breaded in a Chicken George style. I had a bite and the were legit. Sher didn't have anything bad to say about the alfredo.

My steak was on point and cooked perfectly. 

All said. We were impressed with the new and much improved Mo Brady's. The staff was great. They also seemed to have shed it's early bird senior citizen  vibe. Nothing wrong with the early birders but the crowd seemed more lively than our last few visits.

I can't say enough good things about Mo Brady's. It's still much more lower key than a certain roadhouse and that's okay. We didn't have to yell at each other to have a conversation either.

Will we go back? Absolutely.

Scotty