Another place in downtown Davenport that opened up last fall is a unique pub called Ruby's. It's a combination beer pub/bike sales/repair/rental shop concept that the owners modeled after similar places in Colorado, South Carolina and Texas. Early on, the place only served what they called gourmet brats. Initially, we weren't too whippy on going there just to have a beer and a brat. But a friend of ours had told us recently that they had expanded their menu to include appetizers, burgers, sandwiches and wraps - including vegetarian items. On a very nice Saturday afternoon, we made our way down there to have lunch.
Ruben Garcia is a native of Southern California who has worked as an artisan woodworker/cabinet maker most of his adult life. His vocation took him all over the United States working on everything from high-end homes to hospitals to hotels. When a chance to settle down in the Quad Cities to work at Elliott Aviation at the Quad City International Airport refurbishing private jets, he took the job in 2012.
On his trips to different places around the United States before he landed in the Quad Cities, Garcia ran across combination pubs and bike shops that also rented bikes such as Denver Bicycle Cafe in Denver, CO, Piney Mountain Bike Lounge in Greenville, SC, and The Wheel in Austin, TX. Wanting to do something similar in the Quad Cities became a significant dream for Garcia.
Garcia eventually met Sidney Rognoni, a Davenport restaurateur who owned RAW, an upscale cocktail lounge with esoteric appetizers in downtown Davenport; and who is also a co-owner in Bowls Urban Eats, a noodle/pasta place with Asian and Italian specialties in downtown Davenport. Garcia sold Rognoni on the concept and the two looked for a place to house their restaurant.
Pictured right - Ruben Garcia and Sidney Rognoni. Photo courtesy Quad City Times.
There was a building along E. 3rd Street in downtown Davenport that used to house Jaguar Alley, a used foreign car sales and repair shop. The group who owned the building bought the property planning to tear down the building and use the space as parking for a loft building they were constructing a block to the north. But when it turned out that the owners didn't need the property for parking, they sought out people to lease the building. It turned out to be a perfect place for the pub/bike rental and sales shop as it was near the main bike path along the Mississippi River in Davenport. After a full restoration of the building, Garcia and Rognoni opened Ruby's - which is Ruben Garcia's nickname - on September 1st of last year.
The building also houses Panini and Friends, a panini/sandwich shop that is located on the north side of the building. But much of the building at the corner of E. 3rd St. and LeClaire Ave. is occupied by Ruby's. (see map) Parking is available in a lot off 3rd St., but there's also on street parking by the restaurant on both sides of LeClaire Ave.
Ruby's is housed in a long narrow space with an exposed ceiling and ductwork. High-top tables line the barn board wall opposite the bar.
The bar featured a long metal top with barn board front. The lighting above the bar featured a hanging row of spoked bicycle wheels with Edison lamps coming through the axle. It was a nifty lighting fixture, to say the least.
And Ruby's is also a working bicycle shop with sales, service and rentals. They had a number of road and trail bikes on display.
When we were in there, Ruben Garcia was working with a guy who was looking at purchasing a trail bike. He allowed the guy to take the bike for a spin around the outside area where there will eventually be a volleyball court and a dog area. My wife has been on me to buy a new road bike for her for awhile now, so coming into Ruby's probably wasn't a smart thing on my part.
There is also a large outdoor patio area with picnic tables and metal tables and chairs for people to enjoy during the warmer months. There's a garage door that opens to allow people to walk freely from the patio into the bar area with a side door access when the garage door is closed.
We took a seat toward the back corner of the restaurant and took a look at a menu that was on our table. The place was about half full with a large party at a table toward the center of space. We thought we saw a waitress working the table, but it turned out it was someone from the party being helpful in removing empty beer glasses and putting them on the bar. It turned out that there was only one person working as a bartender and server when we were there. And it took her a long time to get over to greet us. We thought that was kind of ridiculous for a place to only have one person trying to take care of bar patrons and wait tables at the same time.
When she finally got over to us, she said her name was Renee and she apologized for not getting over sooner. She said that she recognized us from her previous job as a barista at a little drive-thru coffee shop that we frequent on weekends. My wife immediately said, "Oh, yeah! Sure! I remember you!" She asked us what we wanted to drink and I ordered an Avalanche amber ale from the Breckinridge Brewing Company in Colorado along with a Bloody Mary. My wife ordered something we both weren't familiar with - a Wolf Pup Session IPA from the Golden Road Brewing Company out in Los Angeles. She let me have a taste of it after Renee brought our drinks to our table and it had a nice hoppy flavor with a bit of a citrus taste on the back end. When I ordered a second beer, I got the Wolf Pup instead of the Avalanche amber. But I passed on a second bloody Mary - I wasn't too enamored with the mix they used. It was sort of sweet in taste and not as spicy as I would have liked.
Ruby's new and expanded menu features a number of appetizers, wraps, chicken sandwiches, burgers and brats to choose from. They also had tacos made with either chicken or seasoned sausage, and they had a number of vegetarian options for the more health conscious bikers they hope to pull in, as well.
My wife was looking for a more healthy option for lunch that day and she ended up going with a vegetarian wrap called the Sante Fe Black Bean wrap. It featured black beans and chopped red peppers with chopped fresh romaine lettuce, pico de gallo, sliced avocado with a chipotle cream sauce all wrapped in a spinach tortilla shell. She got a side of their regular slaw to go with the wrap. (I was hoping she would get a side of Ruby's blueberry slaw so I could see what that tasted like.) My wife really enjoyed the overstuffed black bean wrap and ended up opening the second wrap to concentrate on the veggies inside.
I was up for a burger and they had one that was topped with a peppercorn sauce, blue cheese crumbles, chopped green onions and crispy fried red onions on a pretzel bun. For my side, I got the salt and pepper seasoned fries.
I always have a bit of trepidation when I get a burger with blue cheese on it. Sometimes the blue cheese overpowers the other flavors on the burger that you can't really enjoy the overall taste of the burger. But the blue cheese they used on this burger was mild enough that I was able to pick up the flavor of the beef even with the peppercorn sauce, chopped fresh green onions, and the fried red onion straws. It was a multi-napkin affair where the bun held together very well with the messy nature of the burger.
The seasoned fries were also surprisingly good. Each French fry was coated with a mixture of salt and pepper and the outer shell was crispy with a nice pillowy potato texture inside.
While we were eating, we noticed that another server had shown up to help Renee out and Ruben Garcia was going around bussing tables after he finished with his bike customer. Renee came out to check on us and to give us our bill. "How was everything," she asked.
My wife said, "It was great. How are you holding up?"
Renee said that she was overwhelmed for awhile, but things had settled down for her since more help came in. We told her we really liked Ruby's and we would definitely be back again when the weather got warmer, if not sooner. She said, "This is really a great place. We're going to continue to improve on the menu and change some things around. Do come back and see what we're doing."
So, really other than the lack of a wait staff on our first visit, we couldn't really come up with anything that we thought was that bad at Ruby's. I really enjoyed my peppercorn/blue cheese burger and my wife was more than happy with her vegetarian black bean and pepper wrap. While they had an interesting array of craft beers to choose from, my only quibble would be with the bloody Mary where I felt their mixture was a little too sweet for my tastes. Still, we would have no problem recommending a trip down to Ruby's for a nice casual meal and some good beer. And if you can do it on your bicycle, it makes the trip even better.
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