La Ragazza Tuscan: New restaurant nears ‘finish line’

LECLAIRE – A new Italian restaurant – located in an iconic downtown site – is about to open in this community. The new La Ragazza Tuscan Kitchen & Bar has a target opening date of Wednesday, Sept. 27, said Chandra Bock, who with her sister, Alicia Rolfes, are the owners of the new business. La […]

LECLAIRE – A new Italian restaurant – located in an iconic downtown site – is about to open in this community. The new La Ragazza Tuscan Kitchen & Bar has a target opening date of Wednesday, Sept. 27, said Chandra Bock, who with her sister, Alicia Rolfes, are the owners of the new business. La Ragazza is getting set to open at 117 Cody Road in the building that was home to the former Faithful Pilot restaurant. (The Faithful Pilot was a mainstay business in LeClaire for about 30 years until it closed Dec. 14.)

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“Everything we’ve heard from the community has been positive. People are glad something is going in here,” Ms. Bock told the QCBJ on Wednesday, Sept 13, as work on the new La Ragazza continued. These days, the two sisters – who are also owners of the Stardust reception venue in downtown Davenport at 218 Iowa St. – have been busy with the many big and little jobs required in getting their startup restaurant ready for business. Those jobs have included remodeling the building’s interior, cleaning up the building, ordering supplies, setting up the menu and getting to know the community. Some of that work continued Wednesday afternoon as Ms. Bock and a couple of her employees kept on task with various jobs inside the new restaurant. Much of the interior work is now done, including the creation of a big, colorful mural that depicts an Italian countryside scene and covers much of one wall. Area artist Atlanta Dawn created that artwork. Ms. Bock added that one of the factors that attracted her to open the business is the location. “Like the Stardust, it’s in another downtown area and it’s in a supportive community,” she said. The sisters also have been busy hiring restaurant staff and they expect to hire nearly 20 employees. Some of the positions include cooks, bartenders and hosts, according to La Ragazza’s Facebook page. The hiring process has been going well. In fact, Ms. Bock said on Wednesday they already have a “solid staff.” But the sisters have faced a few unexpected challenges in the opening process over the past several weeks. For instance, they had the added expense of replacing the cooler in the kitchen. Also, the clean-up work in the vacant building has been extensive. “But we’ve been extremely blessed. Everything has fallen into pace, strangely enough,” she added. The restaurant’s Facebook page had this to say about the progress Wednesday:  “We are thrilled to be almost across the finish line to welcome you to our new business La Ragazza Tuscan Kitchen & Bar. Our hope is that you come and fill this space with laughter and leave feeling more full (pun intended) of life.” The community is looking forward to the opening of the new restaurant. "We are excited to have a new restaurant in downtown LeClaire! Many of our visitors park downtown and enjoy browsing, shopping, having a drink and a meal. The more restaurant offerings we have, the more people will stay in town. We look forward to sharing La Ragazza with our guests,” Cindy Bruhn, LeClaire tourism manager, said in an email to the QCBJ. As the sisters near that “finish line” in opening the new restaurant, Ms. Bock had this advice for other people considering a similar challenge and opening a new business: “Stop being afraid and do it.” She added that opening the restaurant has been a challenge, but it has been worth it. The hard work of opening the business has shown the sisters that they can accomplish many things. “We have learned so much about ourselves. Even though this is hard … we are still sisters,” she added. The new restaurant’s expected hours of operation will be: Wednesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Sundays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be closed Mondays, Tuesdays and most of Sunday afternoons.