Late last year, we had read about a new place over in the Illinois Quad Cities that was going to focus on gourmet burgers, pizza and craft beers. We're always up for checking out places like this and on a warm Saturday afternoon we decided to make the trek over to Tap 22 in Silvis, IL.
26-year-old Mitch Kadriu grew up working in his family's restaurant business, first in Anchorage, Alaska, then at the Welcome Inn in Milan, IL that his father, Denny, bought in 2009. Mitch Kadriu was the general manager and bartender at the Welcome Inn for a number of years.
When the former Red Bull restaurant went out of business a couple of years ago, Mitch Kadriu saw an opportunity to turn the restaurant - which had also housed PK Dugan's and the Olympic Flame over the previous years - into something that featured high quality food, a number of craft beers, and a laid-back atmosphere that families could enjoy. After months of renovating the building, Kadriu opened Tap 22 in February of this year.
It was a little less than our standard "3-month-break in" period that we give new restaurants to work the kinks out of their system when we pulled up to Tap 22 in Silvis. (see map) We found a parking lot that was full and we were lucky when a car happened to be pulling out of a spot near the building. Upon entering Tap 22, we were greeted by a hostess who took us into a dining area off to the side. I had been to this place when it was called PK Dugan's and this room was always shut off. But this room was lively with flat panel televisions, some exquisite custom artwork done for Tap 22, and a number of people having lunch. Our server for our visit, Chrissy, came over with menus and asked what we'd like to start out to drink.
The first thing I needed to have was on of Tap 22's delicious looking Bloody Mary's. I'd had a bit of a rough night of partying the evening before, so a Bloody Mary with a beer was calling my name. The Bloody Mary mix was a house mix that Tap 22 had - zesty and a bit spicy, but it seemed a little sweet for me, as well. I got a Bell's Two Hearted India pale ale to go along with my Bloody Mary. My wife got a Revolution Anti-Hero IPA for her beer choice.
As I said, Tap 22 features a number of gourmet burgers, pizza and nightly food specials including prime rib on the weekend, along with fried chicken, fish and chips and other nightly chef specials through the week. Tap 22 also had a number of appetizers to choose from on the menu.
We were there for the burgers and we both ended up getting something different. I went with the gruyere cheese burger with grilled ham. For a side, I got fries. The burger was presented on a wooden cutting board that looked like it had some miles on it. The top of the bun was branded with a "Tap 22" logo. The toppings - including lettuce, sliced onions, pickles and tomato - were off to the side. The fries were served in a stainless steel container. It was a nice presentation.
My wife got the 22 burger - a basic burger featuring American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. She cut it in half so I could get a picture of the perfectly cooked medium burgers that we both had.
My burger was juicy and delicious. The gruyere cheese wasn't too forward in taste masking the taste of the burger, and the grilled ham gave it a bit of a salty taste. My wife was equally impressed with her 22 burger. We both felt the bun - which is the key to any good burger - was light and spongy, and held together very well with the juiciness of our burgers.
The fries were good - crispy on the outside with a warm, flaky inner core. But my wife got the cole slaw that she wasn't too happy with. She felt the cole slaw was too dry and not very flavorful. But, overall, we certainly enjoyed the burgers at Tap 22.
After we finished up in the dining room, my wife wanted to look around the place. The bar area was somewhat similar to what I remembered from the PK Dugan's days. It featured a long bar that curved and meandered the length of the room. There was a turnout on one end with a large liquor island. Large flat panel televisions were on the wall behind the bar.
Off to the side of the bar was another dining area. The chairs were a little more comfortable than the ones in the other dining area. It was a well-lit room with a wooden slat floor.
For some reason, my wife was in the mood to continue to party like we did the previous evening and she said she wanted to have another beer at the bar. There were two seats open on the corner and we sat down. One of the bartenders came over and we both ordered a pint of the Pseudo Sue IPA from the Toppling Goliath brewery in Decorah, IA.
As we were watching a baseball game on one of the many flat panel televisions behind the bar, the couple next to us had a pizza brought to them. It looked very good with a thick outer crust, but a thin crust underneath the toppings. As the couple was eating, they remarked how good the pizza was. My wife said, "It certainly does look good!" And it wasn't too much later when a SECOND pizza was brought out and sat down between the man and my wife. I asked if I could take a picture of the pizza and he had no problem with me doing that.
We would have to say that Tap 22 is a nice place for a casual meal of burgers or pizza with an ever-changing menu of craft beers. My wife and I were both impressed with our burger selections, while the couple seated next to us at the bar seemed to really like their pizza. The service we received in both the dining room and in the bar area was friendly and efficient, and the atmosphere was lively, yet laid-back. We'd probably frequent Tap 22 more if it were closer to our house, but we've found it to be a worthy stop on a road trip to the southeast side of the Quad Cities.
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