Earlier this year, downtown Davenport was ravaged when a flood barrier broke and the Mississippi River - which reached its highest level in history - poured through into the streets of the lower downtown area. A number of businesses were affected and it's taken some time for some to reopen. One of those businesses - a new restaurant by the name of The Half Nelson - was scheduled to open for the first time the evening the HESCO barriers failed. Instead, flood waters rushed in ruining fixtures and food delaying the opening until later in the summer. I had been traveling in early September and I got home on a Sunday afternoon about 2 p.m. and we decided to go get something to eat. My wife suggested going down to The Half Nelson to see if they were open. We pulled up in front of the place and they were, indeed, open. We parked out front and went in to get a late lunch.
You can say Matthew Osborn grew up in the restaurant business. His parents, Mike and Carla Osborn, own two popular Quad City-area restaurants - Miss Mamie's in Moline and Mo Brady's Steakhouse in Davenport. The younger Osborn started working in his parent's restaurants as a youngster and about the only thing he knows about life outside of family is the restaurant business. Both restaurants are toward the outskirts of both cities, but the younger Osborn saw an opportunity in a building in downtown Davenport that was built back in the 1920's.
The N.O. Nelson Manufacturing Company was an Illinois-based manufacturer of plumbing supplies that was founded in St. Louis in 1877 by Nils Olas Nelson who initially wholesaled, then manufactured faucets, commodes, valves and hydrants. The company built a facility in downtown Davenport, the same year that Nelson passed away. Nelson Manufacturing sold the building in 1934 to a local seed store who built a three-story addition on the back to clean grain. After the seed store closed in the 1960's, a number of businesses occupied the space, the last of which was an antique store that had been in business for 22 years before closing in 2016.
A couple of local developers bought the building later that year and renovated the upper floors into apartments, while turning the ground floor space into two separate areas that could be used for restaurant or retail opportunities. It caught the attention of Matthew Osborn who had spent nearly 4 years planning a restaurant which would feature more contemporary American fare found in larger cities. In the fall of 2018, Matthew Osborn took the space on the east side half of the Nelson building - Bootleg Hill Honey Meads took the other side - and he came up with the clever name of The Half Nelson.
Pictured right - Matthew Osborn. Photo courtesy Quad City Times.
The Osborn's had hoped to be open by mid-March, but like many new restaurants there were delays that pushed back the opening date by six weeks. After everything was in place and training the staff was completed, Osborn set April 30 as the opening date.
As he was getting ready for opening night, Osborn was standing toward the back of the building when he noticed the alley filling up with water. The HESCO barriers positioned along River Drive a block to the south had been breached. Instead of serving food and drinks on opening night, Osborn and his staff spent the evening trying to salvage what they could.
The Half Nelson sustained an estimated quarter of a million dollars in damage and the "true" opening night was pushed back nearly two months. The restaurant celebrated their opening night on the first day of summer, June 21.
My wife and I have a rule - actually, more of a guideline - to not visit restaurants that have not been open for at least 3 months. So, we sort of disregarded that ground rule when we pulled up to The Half Nelson on that Sunday afternoon. (see map) The Bootleg Hill meadary next door had a "closed" sign in the window, but there were people in there. The large sign in the front window The Half Nelson indicated it was open, but when we went in there no one else was in there. We were greeted by a young man by the name of Ry and we inquired if they were open. He said that, yes, they were open.
I have to say that the interior of The Half Nelson was pretty nice. It was sort of a mix of contemporary and art deco with a bit of urban industrial mixed in. A long section of banquette seating was along the east wall opposite the bar, as well as along the north wall in front of the large windows that look out onto 2nd Street.
They have a spacious outdoor seating area at The Half Nelson. It was a bit sterile with not a lot of decorations or amenities, but I'm sure they'll figure it out once they have an outdoor eating season under their belt.
Ry took us to the tables along the north wall in front of the windows with the banquette seats. I thoroughly detest banquette seating. But, given that no one else was in the restaurant, I didn't mind us sitting there. Actually, my wife thought the bench seats were rather comfortable. Ry dropped off a couple menus for us to look over. I saw that they had Kona Big Wave available and I immediately signed up for one of those. My wife got a cranberry and vodka for her drink.
Chef Zach Donovan has come up with a pretty interesting menu featuring interpretations of traditional American cuisine featuring steaks, seafood, pork chops, and pasta dishes. The Scallops Fettucelle featured seared scallops served on a bed of fettuccine in a lemon butter sauce. They had a Jim Beam barbecue-glazed pork chop, as well as a prime strip steak with chimichurri. My wife spied the Lobster risotto and was interested in that. The Duck Honsho featured a seared duck breast in a soy-ginger-pineapple glaze served with cilantro-lime rice. The menu wasn't extensive, but what they had was sure interesting.
My wife and I decided to go with burgers that day. She got the basic Bucktown Burger - a blended-beef patty topped with sharp cheddar cheese and served with steak fries. But Ry told me of a special burger they had that day - the pimento bacon cheeseburger. I had to have that. It came with the same steak fries along with lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced red onions and dill pickles.
The burger was very good. The creamy pimento cheese really enhanced the taste of the blended beef. The burger was juicy and very tasty. It was a pretty messy burger, but it was messy in a very good way.
We went pretty basic on our first visit to The Half Nelson, but given the eclectic and interesting items on their menu I know that we'll be back at some point to try some of their dinner items. The burgers we had were both very good, the service from Ry was friendly and professional, and the decor and atmosphere at The Half Nelson was both pleasant and comfortable. The Half Nelson is a welcome addition to a growing number of interesting restaurants in the Quad Cities.
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