I can always count on pizza!

 Been awhile hasn't it? Life got pretty busy since our last blog update from Spoonie's in London Mills last fall.

The holidays rolled in with family visiting. Then my better half had knee replacement surgery mid December and then Christmas came along.

So the wife is back up to speed and it's been way too long since we have had a weekend kid free. Not that we don't include the chicken strip whisperer on our visits,but she's a high school junior now and well girls.

A little pick me up song. 

On with the show.

There has been a newer pizza place in downtown Davenport that has been open for over a year now. They hyped up their pizza and for some reason we had not taken the time to check them out. 

https://www.lopiezpizza.com/

Lopiez Pizza. 

They are located in downtown Davenport that has really come to life in the last few years. Craft breweries.Some nice restaurants. Live music venues. And the best reason for me to visit down there? Ragged Records no doubt about it.

The are no Skyways downtown either.But.

So lets get to it! Lopiez's Pizza is on east 3rd St right across from the Quad City Times. It is attached to another place called Ruby's. Beer Bikes and Brats. We will be checking that place out sometime too.

Yours truly with a pre trip 7n7 cocktail. I'm not sure who this old man is. I don't recognize him anymore,I digress.

Some inside pics. We got there around 5ish and it was pretty quiet. When we left it was starting to fill up. I'm pretty sure our daughter Moll would have played some pinball. Full disclosure we used the restrooms but I forgot to take any pics. The bathrooms were shared with Ruby's in a common hallway.

My better half enjoying a Modelo. Lopiez's bar area looked like mostly Tequilla drinks and beer. Otherwise I would have had some rum. We both had a beer.

Working our way there now. The menu. Pretty much just pizza and calzones. I think they have some sort of garlic knot appetizer.

So here it is. We ordered a 20" double sausage,pepperoni and onion pizza. The pictures do not do this pizza justice.

This zza was huge. Let me be honest here. My wheelhouse is more Quad City style pizza. This bad boy was a New York style through and through. Had to fold this sucker in half to eat a piece.

I only had one piece. 

This is why we love doing this. Dripping down my hand.

I have to ask myself why we haven't been to Lopiez's before now. As I said. This is a New York style pizza. The toppings were the star of this show. The sausage being A plus. Could have used a little more sauce for my taste. The cheese and the crust were on point. 

I'm going to say we will be back. I give Lopiez a solid 8.5. If nothing else the whole vibe  of the place was cool.

The cardboard pizza boxes are frickin huge!

There are so many pizza joints in the entire QC area. They all have reasons to visit. Lopiez Pizza is a totally different type of pizza and to be honest a type of pizza I'm not real familiar with.

That said? Go and get some pizza at Lopiez's. It is legit awesome pizza.

Would I lie to you all?

Scotty

We did indeed,drive south

 Why hello again. It's been what? I believe last April was our last post. Anyways and yada yada. Our life got busy with new jobs and vacations. And more than likely our postings will be scattershotted here and there too.

I've had this bucket list destination floating around my head for a few years now. My fall road tripping leads us usually north. This trip we headed about 80 miles south.

That said let's go!

The new I-74 Bridge over the Mississippi River going to be great when it's done.

As I said. I've had this bucket list Tenderloin in my head for awhile now. This beautiful fall day it was time to check it out.

Out west of Peoria Illinois is the Spoon River area.

A neat bar n grill out in nowhere.

Okay let's get to the meat of this post.

We went to Spoonies Bar and Grill in London Mills Illinois for a breaded tenderloin. Now Spoonies is a quite unassuming bar from the outside but the inside was pretty nice.

We did a little sight seeing too.

Shall we step inside? Spoonies has a real nice vibe and obviously we were outsiders,but our waitress was really friendly and efficient. It was pretty quiet when we got there around noonish but soon started filling up.

I did not take pics of the mens room and that's a good thing. The mens rooms was trashed,but the wife said the womens room was really nice. Go figure.

The menu.

Moll wanted some fried cheese curds. They were great.

Having fun with the food.

Sher got a small side salad.

A musical intermission while I gather my thoughts. You should have guessed I would play this song.

Let's get down to why we drove a bit for todays blog post. Hopefully I don't come off as a Debby Downer.

As usual the kid ordered her standard chicken strips and fries.We started this blog six years ago? Moll has been a consistent chicken strip kinda girl from day one. She found her thing. 

The wife and I ordered Spoonies legendary breaded tenderloin. Sher got pickles. I got onions. We all got fries.

The part of this post I have been struggling with is at hand. While this tenderloin looks awesome and it is impressive in person. 

The taste. It had a nice cornmeal breading and it looked great. From my first bite, I knew. There was no taste. Sure I could taste the onions and bun. I really couldn't taste the meat or the breading.Eye contact with Sheri was all it took for her to agree with me.

I so wanted for this tenderloin to live up to the hype I have read about on various blogs and Facebook postings. Alas. Today was one of our days where we were let down. Don't get me wrong. Spoonies tenderloin wasn't bad or nasty. It just had no flavor to it. I could have ate till I was stuffed,but there really was no point to that.

We weren't even really sure how we would give this a 1 to 10 rating. 

Was our day wasted? Hell no. The drive down to Spoonies from the Quad Cities was nice as we had never been to that area. The kid was in an agreeable mood. That's something coming from a sixteen year old girl.

I will say. The hamburgers coming out of Spoonies kitchen looked tasty too so they might have that down , I don't know.

Sometimes although very rarely do we visit a place that doesn't live up to our expectations. I hadn't pumped up Spoonies, but I read enough about them to want to check it out. You can go there and judge for yourself. The wife and I might just be spoiled with some awesome tenderloin joints closer to home. And I do love to get in the car and see what's over the horizon.

As an aside. We stopped in Milan Illinois at the new Meatheads and wasted a twenty dollar bill.

We will be back. Probably be a pizza in our future.

As always dear readers.

Scotty.

Big Head Todd

 Said it best. But Yes said it better.

So what does Big Head Todd and Yes have in common? Well themes in songs and life. Circles and Rounds and coming and goings and back around. 

So today we are revisiting a place we went to around three years ago. It's no surprise to you readers we have kind of split this blog into two halves. There's pizza and then there is all the rest of food we venture forth to try out.

The wife and I had been jonesing for a breaded tenderloin and well around here there is only option.

http://www.stoutsirishpub.com/

Faithful readers of this blog know we had been there  a few years ago. Is Stout's in Clinton worth the drive for a breaded tenderloin? Heck yeah it is!

The pictures do not do this tenderloin justice. The wife and I both ordered a tenderloin when we could have split one and still had leftovers.

Let's go. I know it's been awhile and yours truly has actually lost a few pounds,but let's have a whiskey.

The short trip to Clinton from our house is about a 30 minute drive.

The menu. All apologies for my crappy camera skills.

Now. The reason for the trip. Stout's breaded tenderloin. Your's truly has had quite a few bpt's over the years. Stout's is one of Iowa's best and I'm not lying. 

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/dining/2019/04/23/iowa-breaded-fried-pork-tenderloin-sandwich-trail-eat-your-way-through-iowa-foodie-tour-near-me/3540725002/

 

The tenderloin. The wife and I both got a bpt when one between us would have been sufficient.

Half way thru. and already thinking leftovers.

If you are needing that Iowa goodness that is a BPT go to Clinton Iowa for the in my opinion the best tenderloin ever.

Would yours truly bullshit you? Why would I.

Scott.