The best thing I ate this year: Top 10 best foods I've had in the Quad-Cities
When you're a kid, people always ask you what you want to be when you grow up. I remember, back then, making up titles that sounded too good to be true.
Video game tester. Transformers action figure critic. Bull-riding tattoo artist. Shark scientist. Four-sport athlete and touring musician, at the same time.
In the last year of writing the "Best thing I ate this week" column in the Times/Dispatch-Argus, I've realized that "food writer" is just as improbable of a title. Sometimes when I catch up with old friends it's hard to explain.
"No, seriously!" I'll say, "I go to restaurants and try food and write about it!"
But as I move away from the Quad-Cities, I'll be leaving that kiddish dream job behind.
So before I go, I want to bask in the dream of being a guy who writes about food. Just one more day.
I've written about just over 50 different restaurants, bars or cafes in the Quad-Cities. All of them were great enough to earn the title of "Best thing I ate this week." But one question I get fairly frequently is: What's been the best of the "best thing I ate this week" meals?
So as my last bow to the cities that have treated me with such sweet kindness, I'm going to answer that question with a list of the best ten.
Though before I get to the big ranking, I need to spout off a few honorable mentions, because it's been incredibly difficult to pick between them all.
Here are the meals that just barely missed the cut:
And now, we're on to the top ten. The best things I ate this year.
In terms of quantity, this is pretty comfortably my most-ordered meal in the Quad-Cities. I got one about once a week. The Davenport coffee shop is too close to the newsroom for my own good. But in my defense, it just always hits the spot. The eggs are salt-and-peppered. The sausage is a little bit sweet. The bread is always just a little bit crisp.
Pair this one with an iced vanilla latte and you'll get a pretty accurate picture of me on an average weekday in the newsroom.
Some of the best meals are amplified by their environment. Rozz-Tox is one of those places.
The bar-café-entertainment space-restaurant quadruple threat is one of the Quad-Cities' sleekest establishments. It's cozy, counter-cultural and pretty cost-efficient, too. You can get a beer for just a few bucks and sometimes catch free gigs. Through thousands of dollars in GoFundMe donations, Rozz-Tox ownership recently hit their goal to buy the building and stick around long-term, too.
If you go, I recommend the Midnight Noodles. Throw an order of dumplings and a boiled egg on top, and you've got picturesque, savory gold.
I dined at Le Mekong for the first time last winter, thanks to a reader recommendation. That first trip (and the many subsequent visits) has become one of my most cherished memories in the Quad-Cities. I remember looking out the frosty windows and loving the silence. If you're looking for a peaceful breakfast, Le Mekong is the gold standard. The food is unbelievably tasty, too.
Get the Hawaiian Roast Beef crepe if you're looking for something filling. With bacon, roast beef, tomatoes and a tangy pineapple glaze, this is a perfect sweet-savory combo. If you just want sweets, try out the classic lemon crepe. With just enough sugar and a healthy dose of real lemon juice, it's delightfully subtle. Just like the restaurant it comes from.
I've spent many weekend afternoons at Coffee House Cafe and Goods in the East Village of Davenport. The coffee is always great. The service and ambience are even better. I recommend cozying up in a corner chair and reading for a while.
While you do so, order the Coffee House latte flight. It's a little pricey for a coffee order, but if you're going to be sitting around for a while, it's perfect. It's also a dream come true for an indecisive person like me. The flights rotate seasonally, so you never have to get the same one twice. I'm pretty sure I didn't.
As a transplant from the southwest, I was worried I wouldn't find great Mexican food in the Quad-Cities. I've been decisively proven wrong at just about every corner. Coya's Cafe, Abarrotes Carrillo, Rio Grande Grill, Cocina Verde — there are just so many delicious options.
The best dine-in Mexican meal I've eaten in the Quad-Cities, though, was at La Rancherita in Rock Island. I tried one each of the pork, chicken and steak tacos. They were all delicious. The best thing about eating at La Rancherita is the pico de gallo. It comes with the table chips and has the perfect amount of kick. As far as bang-for-your-buck meals in the Q-C, you can't do much better than La Rancherita.
Sometimes it's hard to overcome your first love. For me, that's the crab & smoked corn quesadilla at Edison's in Bettendorf. It's the first meal that blew me away in the Quad-Cities, and it never got old. Food is half-priced at Edison's after 10 p.m., which makes it taste even better late at night.
My advice? Order it with an Old Fashioned, a side of slaw and an appetizer of chips and kamaboko dip. You'll fall in love with Edison's, too.
Every time I go to Me & Billy, the beloved comfort food spot in downtown Davenport, I want to try something new. The whole menu calls my name. The burgers, the appetizers, everything. But then my eyes scan to the bottom left corner and I know exactly what I'm going to do: order the soup-salad combo for the umpteenth time.
The chicken & dumpling soup at Me & Billy is the best soup in the Quad-Cities. There's no doubt in my mind. Some soups don't fill you up, but this one will. Order it with a salad and a side of grilled bread for dipping. That's the perfect winter meal.
I still think about the quesatacos at Tacos al Vapor, a food truck you can find in Moline and East Moline. These tacos come with corn tortillas dipped in red enchilada sauce and coated in melted cheese. Then, they're stuffed with a juicy barbacoa, cilantro, onion and consomme.
Get this with green salsa and a side cup of Tacos al Vapor's elote. That's my favorite food truck meal in town.
I put off trying Smash Pizza for so long. My girlfriend was dying to eat there, but I was weary. I thought, for whatever reason, that it might be one of those fancy pizzerias that charges like wild for a dainty little pie. Boy was I wrong.
I've now been to Smash Pizza several times, each time ordering the Pizza Alla Vodka, served with a red vodka sauce base, chunks of house sausage, garlic spinach, oregano and — the signature topping — a heap of fried kale.
I recommend getting it Sicilian Square style. It takes about 45 minutes to prepare, because the dough is five-days fermented and always in high demand. But it's worth the wait. Plus, while you get ready for the pizza, you can always snack on Smash's delicious burrata and bread appetizer.
There's a lot of great pizza in town. Bad Boyz has my favorite Quad-Cities style. Alfano's has my favorite late night order. Lopiez is the best by the slice. But Smash is my personal champion in terms of pan-style pizza.
I've gone back and forth about which meal I'd put in the number one spot. I've been hesitant about ranking this list at all. Honestly, on any given day, the entire top ten could earn this title. All of these meals blew me away.
But in terms of longevity, I just have to give it up for the elote chicken sandwich at Ruby's in Davenport. The best meal I ate this year in the Quad-Cities.
This sandwich comes with juicy, crispy chicken on a brioche bun, topped with roasted sweet corn, chihuahua and cotija cheeses, garlic aioli, Mexi dust, lime, lettuce and tomato. It'll make a huge mess on the tray in front of you, but you'll want to lap up what falls with the tasty Ruby's salt-and-pepper fries.
This has been a go-to lunch order for the last year I've spent in the Quad-City Times newsroom. It was one of the first meals I ordered after getting to town, and it was the last one I ordered before leaving.
You should try it, too.
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