Riverside Grille opens in new home

The updated and expanded Riverside Grille is open for business just in time for March Madness. 

Riverside reopened Wednesday, March 16, in its new home at 1710 Grant St., Bettendorf.

The business announced its opening day on its Facebook page with this message: “The wait is over! Come join us for the games!”

The Riverside Grille has reopened in its new home in Bettendorf. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON

On Friday, Riverside representatives issued this statement to the QCBJ about the opening: “We have been thrilled with the response to the new location. Of course, there will be a ‘honeymoon period’ as with all shiny new bar restaurants. But with our loyal regulars and the more visible location right on Grant Street, we hope to continue the momentum and look forward to attracting many new customers.  Another new feature for Riverside is the covered patio seating. We know this will be very attractive to patrons as the warmer months approach.”

Located at 1733 State St. for nearly a decade, Riverside Grille relocated into a much larger space in a former credit union building about a block away. 

Riverside closed its previous location after Super Bowl Sunday events and reopens in its new digs just in time for NCAA basketball tournament games.

“Retrofitting a former bank into a restaurant is not a simple task,” Dave Mohr, Riverside owner, said told the QCBJ last month. “We needed to remove walls to open up the space, convert the vault into a walk-in cooler, transform the drive-thru into a two-story outdoor space, and make extensive aesthetic improvements to the exterior. It definitely doesn’t look like a bank anymore.”

The Grant Street building was home to Ascentra Credit Union until 2019 when it built a new headquarters and branch nearby between Grant and State streets. 

Mr. Mohr bought the building in 2020 with the hopes of transforming the former office space into a restaurant in fairly quick order. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, along with supply chain issues and a labor shortage. 

Suddenly, nothing was moving fast and Mr. Mohr’s project faced a series of delays.

“Just when progress was being made, we would be faced with another challenge,” he recalled. “We waited nine months to receive our new hood system for the kitchen when it was supposed to only take a couple of months. Then we had a difficult time finding tables for the dining room. So, we are building them ourselves – thanks to my talented friends and family.”

The new Riverside Grille will be able to boast some new features because it will have a lot more room – spanning about 10,700 square feet compared with 3,444 square feet in the former location. The new features will include outdoor seating, seasonal live music and a second-floor reception space that can be used as a rental space for private events.

But Riverside will maintain most of its current menu in its new home including Daytona wings, grilled tenderloins and thin crust pizza. The business plans to add some new signature items, including a “Bottoms Up” draft beer tapper system.  

Mr. Mohr did all the design work and was the general contractor for the Riverside project. Subcontractors for the project include: Streamline Architects, Townsend Engineering, Tri-City Fire Protection, Van Pelt Drywall, Ewert Plumbing, FOPS Heating & AC, Ace Property Maintenance.

Go to riversidegrillebett.com for more information on the business.

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