Friday I finally made it down to Woodfire Grill. Some friends of mine went there before the Blind Melon concert at the Redstone Room a couple weeks ago, and were unimpressed, so I was slightly worried. Fortunately, I liked it just fine.
The first thing we noticed was that we had to wait! I don't know if I ever went to Centro on a Friday or Saturday night, but I know that I never had to wait for a table. We were told it would be a 20 minute wait, and since we were with friends visited from Ohio, we took a stroll up the Skybridge while we waited. We were seated almost exactly 20 minutes after we checked in. They haven't changed much of the physical setup of the restaurant, so I'm not really sure what they were doing that whole time between Centro closing and Woodfire opening. Training the employees I suppose.
The menu was definitely more diverse than Centro, with more American choices. They had a larger and cheaper selection of sandwiches as well. I would say overall things were a few bucks cheaper than they were at Centro, so that should help their success. I got Chicken Alfredo, which I believe was 11.99, whereas I want to say it was like $13.99 for Fettuccine Alfredo at Centro, with another couple bucks if you wanted to add chicken. My girlfriend got some kind of chicken, bacon and cheese sandwich, and she chose fries as her side. She enjoyed both the sandwich and the fries, and I believe that meal was only like $8.99. There was also bread with cinnamon butter before the meal, which everyone seemed to like.
Overall it was a fine experience, and I was definitely happy to see it so busy. Considering that the prices were comparable to Applebee's or TGI Fridays, but the atmosphere was a whole lot classier, I think Woodfire Grill should do alright. The hostess said she felt their menu would make them popular, but I still think they should learn from Centro's mistake and actually advertise a bit. I'd also like to see them point out the abundance of parking within 50 feet of the restaurant as well. They have a web address, which is www.woodfiregrill.biz, but the website is still under construction. Hopefully they'll at least get the menu online soon.
Other than my little restaurant review, consider this an open thread.
19 comments:
some friends and i are heading down to Woodfire soon for our first trip; should be in a few weeks when an old friend / ex-QCian comes back into town for a visit. i had not yet heard a review, so thanks for the info.
on the open thread tip, i stumbled across something on the quad city hardcore/punk message board. the 2nd annual "Extravajamza" at the skatepark is saturday, april 26th - evidently at noon. spectators enter for free, while contestants have a 12 dollar entry fee. not sure if this is strictly for bicycles, or if it crosses over into skating as well. a couple local bands will be playing. anyone catch this last year? i didn't, but i'm pretty sure i'll be going to check it out. nothing like watching young wunkerkinds making your 32 year old bmx skills look pathetic.
(adding the web site)
skatepark extravajamza
I hope the food is better than Applebees or TGI Fridays.
I had the opportunity to eat there about 3 days after it opened. There was no seating in the main dining area, so I was seated in the bar area. I was very impressed with the atmosphere. It's amazing what a little change of decor can do. I found the restaurant to be very comfortable. The food was outstanding. I had the flat iron steak that was prepared perfectly. I wasn't interested in the sauce that is advertised with the steak, and they happily substituted the garlic butter preparation from another menu item. The fact that the prices on the menu are a downward departure from Centro is a plus, and the menu is more diverse. The selections remind me of Granite City. I hope this restaurant makes it past the 18 month mark and remains successful. I'm sorry to hear that someone didn't like it, I hope that is an isolated experience as I will be going back for sure.
Frank and I have been there twice and it was overall really good. I went for a business lunch the second day it was open as well. There is some carry over from the Centro's staff and they seemed happy to see a couple of "regulars". We had happened to be working in Muscatine the week before and ate at the Buttonfactory for the first time and the menu is similar. Frank tried the meatloaf and substituted the corn bread dressing (it has chorizo in it-he doesn't like pork) and I had the jambalaya pasta (no ochre!) Both good. Next time he tried the Chicken Parmesan-I hope they have improved the preparation-not good. I had the Asian burger with pineapple and a soy glaze-very good. The staff was very concerned about Frank not eating very much of his entre and immediately took it off the bill and offered another choice to go if we wanted. We passed, but appreciated the concern. We travel about 100 days a year for his or my work and eat out a lot-at a lot of different places. We'll definitely go back to Woodfire Grill-nice people, diverse menu, flexibility in ordering, and with the arrival of warmer weather and music outside, a great atmosphere. In talking with staff, they are also trying to buy as much local farmer products as possible-another big plus.
Didn't even know Woodfire was open!
Question: What is going in on the corner of Locust and Brady where the old autoglass place was?
Answer: Walgreens
Another question: Wonder what will become of their location across the street?
It will be closed !
The "old autoglass place" moved to Elmore.
GOOD NEWS for Davenport!
We're getting rid of a Howard family, Jamie Howard's. We can only hope some other of the Howard’s follow their kin out of town. Oh well, it's a start and a good one. Kind of makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.
12:59
Your negativity is what I don't like about this town. Jamie Howard served this city for a long time, and did so in good faith. If you feel that Jamie Howard leaving town is such a great thing, why don't you tell us why? You, and even I may not have seen eye to eye with her, or agreed with some of her stances, but I consider your comment to be downright disrespectful. Jamie Howard is not likely to be on the list of people I wouldn't mind seeing leave town. Additionally, she is not on the list of people I would not want to have as a neighbor. You, however, have migrated onto said lists.
To Pain in the....
Your point is?
More GOOD NEWS
Iowa legislators approve a near-total ban on public smoking. Culver indicated he would sign the bill, which would take effect on July 1.
Listen tomorrow to Jim Fisher having a cow. It should be great fun!
Haven't seen a post about the work that seems to be going on in Bettendorf around the old Joevan area. Looks like they are finally doing something at the strip mall? There is new plywood up and this morning as I drove by a septic truck was out pumping.....and you thought your job "stunk"!!!
I hear that is going to be a Bass Pro Shop in the old Target/Joevan's building.
Somehow I can't imagine that would be enough room, but it would be a catch for the QC if true. Seems like they'd want to be out by 80 though. I'll believe it when I see it.
I've had one phenominal lunch and 1outstanding dinner thus far at the Woodfire. I've tried the Meatloaf, Bacon Cheese Burger, Spinach Dip, Onion Rings, and fried chicken sandwich. All of which were pretty damn tasty, with good service to boot. I should hope they do well.
On to politics! The Bass pro shop would indeed be a big catch for the QC, although its not implausable that they'd be happy enough being so close to I74, even its not 80. As QCI said, we'll see.
And as for Jamie, she's made some good and bad calls like all politicians, but the good outweighed the bad, and its unfortunate she's been vilified as much as she has been.
I ate at the Woodfire about a month ago and it was a horrible experience. The 4 of us have absolutely no intention of ever going back.
We all ordered pizza, and maybe that was the mistake. The square "pizzas" were like chewy cardboard - it was seriously the worst pizza I've ever eaten. The crust had the consistency of stale tortillas and it was hard to bite through. Gross. And alfredo sauce on a white pizza? Awful. Awful. Awful.
Say what you will about Centro, they made good pizza with fresh ingredients.
I'm sure with it's boring faux-upscale Americana menu (gee, a boring steak with some silly sauce, you don't say), it will do just fine with folks who come to town to check out aging classic rockers at the Adler. God forbid, anyone try anything interesting around here.
I thought Woodfire Grill was horrible. The food was tough and expensive. For a salad and sandwich $40.00? I can get a steak or prime rib elsewhere. Had to ask for everything. Then they wrote over our tip for $6.00 more. When talked to manager he was going to make it right but haven't heard from him since. NEVER EVER AGAIN!
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