A couple new breakfast/lunch places have opened in the Quad Cities over the past year or so and they've been on our radar to try. The one we decided to try first was a little place on Utica Ridge Road on the far northeast side of Davenport simply called Links. One recent Sunday morning, we decided to give the place a try.
The owner of Links is Kevin Takacs who happens to also own the R Bar, a little wine/cocktail place that my wife and I like to go to from time to time. Links and R Bar are side projects for Takacs who is the founder and CEO of MedForce, a medical air transport company that services Western Illinois and Eastern Iowa. Takacs founded the company in 2000 with the company's base of operations in the Quad Cities suburb of Colona, IL, and in 2005 they opened a second operation in Burlington, IA.
Takacs tabbed James Allen to run the kitchen and to come up with a concept for the breakfast/lunch restaurant. A Quad City native, Allen started out cutting his teeth in restaurant kitchens at an early age. He eventually became a pastry chef ending up at the Crow Valley Golf Club in Davenport as their head baker. While at Crow Valley, Allen became intrigued by artisan butchery which involves whole-animal butchering of local organically-raised farm animals for unique cuts of meat and charcuterie plates. Allen eventually took courses both at Iowa State University and through the University of Wisconsin to learn the art of artisan butchery.
We got to first know Allen when he would sell artisan cuts of meat at the Freight House Farmers Market in Davenport. For awhile, Allen would show up with cuts of meat he cut himself, usually sourced from local farmers such as La Pryor Farms in Ottawa, IL. We bought a beef tri-tip from him one time and it was one of the best tri-tips I had ever made on the grill.
When Allen got together with Takacs, he wanted to continue the relationships he had built with local farmers and come up with a restaurant that used locally-sourced ingredients for the foods he would make. The food served at the new restaurant would be traditional breakfast and lunch fare, only made with a refined twist of better ingredients. Artisan coffee and a full bar with beers and wine would also be part of the mix.
Links had their soft opening in February of last year, but like every restaurant everywhere they were forced to shut down on March 16 of last year. Then when restrictions were lifted to allow for restaurants to open at reduced capacity, Links re-opened in June of last year.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning when my wife and I decided to head over to Links, located on the south end of a new strip mall at the corner of Utica Ridge and E. 56th Ave. that also houses a beauty salon, a financial planner, and a chiropractor. (see map) Quite actually, we had gone by the place a couple times in the past on a Sunday where the parking lot was packed and we knew we'd have a wait. This time, we got there early enough - around 8:30 a.m. - to get in with no problem.
The dining area was an open room, not all that big, but still comfortable enough. A line of tables with banquette seating stretched along one wall. Opposite to the other side was the bar area that also had a barista station. There was a breakfast bar toward the back of the restaurant that looked into a large window into the kitchen. The breakfast bar wasn't being used for anything other than to stack items on top when we were there. The decor and atmosphere was rather drab and somewhat utilitarian. There is also an outdoor patio on the south side of the restaurant. Even though it was a nice spring morning, it was still a little too chilly to be seated outside.
We were greeted when we came in by a lady who turned out to be our server that day - Stacy. Stacy was friendly and outgoing asking if we had dined at Links previously. When we told her that it was our first time, she said, "Well, welcome. We're glad you could make it!" She showed us to a table in the center of the dining area and dropped off a couple menus.
Stacy asked us if we wanted anything to drink. With a full bar and craft beer selections, as well as a barista making coffee drinks, I hit the breakfast trifecta with a bloody mary, an Easy Eddy hazy IPA from the Big Grove Brewery in Iowa City and Solon, IA, and a double espresso. The bloody mary was loaded with bacon, a celery stalk, sweet pickles and green olives. It was delicious and a great start for what was going to be a lazy Sunday for us.
While we were there, Kevin Takacs came in the back door and started to converse with the employees. Then he sort of took charge on the floor - seating people when they came in, helping bus and clean tables, directing his employees in helpful manner. When he wasn't doing any of that, he would go around to individual tables and check on the customers. He seemed like a pretty even-keel, hands-on boss who was probably good to work for.
The breakfast menu at Links is pretty limited. I don't know if that's way because of the pandemic, or if they just want to focus on specific items. They had made-from-scratch sourdough pancakes and waffles, a breakfast sandwich with a choice of bread with two eggs, sausage and cheese, and a basic two eggs, choice of bacon or sausage, and toast breakfast. Sides included hash browns or fries, bacon, link or patty sausage, and pork belly.
When I saw the menu, I knew exactly what my wife was going to get. The root vegetable hash featured roasted root vegetables, with asparagus spears, sautéed kale, and a choice of eggs. She got scrambled egg whites on top of the hash. A smoked paprika hollandaise sauce was drizzled on top of the food. For an upcharge, she could have added sausage, fried chicken or pork belly to the dish. She wasn't interested in any of those. She also got a cappuccino to go along with her breakfast.
My wife was also intrigued enough to get a single sourdough pancake. It was thin, just like she prefers to make her pancakes at home. (And my wife makes outstanding pancakes.) More on the pancakes in a little bit.
I ended up getting the eggs Benedict - or "Classic Benne" as it was on the menu. It was pretty straight forward - poached eggs topped with the smoked paprika hollandaise sauce, on top of slices of Canadian bacon and a toasted English muffin.
I also ordered a side of Links thick-cut bacon figuring that James Allen probably does his own butchering for his cuts of meat at the restaurant. However, when Stacy brought our breakfasts out to us, she also gave me a single pancake. I said, "I didn't order a pancake. I got the bacon."
Somewhat flustered and embarrassed, Stacy said, "Oh! I'm sure you probably said bacon and I heard 'cake'. I'll get you your bacon right away." And she took the single pancake away.
Moments later, she brought it back. "It looks like you're going to get a free pancake, today," Stacy said as she set it back down on the table. "No use letting it go to waste." I wasn't going to argue.
The eggs Benedict were good - the eggs were cooked perfectly and they were big. And the smoked paprika hollandaise sauce was very rich. Actually, it was a pretty decent breakfast and somewhat filling.
But what was filling was the sourdough pancake that I got as a mistake. Oh, man! It was one of the most delicious pancakes I had ever tasted! And I think my wife's pancakes are world class! But whatever they do to the pancakes at Links, there's no comparison to anything I've ever had in a restaurant before. What started out as just a couple bites to give it a try, it quickly turned into a "can't-stop-eating-this-even-though-I'm-full" moment. The eggs Benedict were filling enough, but the sour dough pancake completely stuffed me. And my wife thought they were excellent, as well.
The only bad part of the breakfast was, well, the bacon. For what I thought would be flavorful, thick-cut bacon turned out to be thin-cut and pretty basic in taste. It was just two slices and they charged $4.25 for two normal strips of bacon. That was a big disappointment. I just sort of felt somewhat ripped-off for what I thought I was getting for a side of bacon and what actually showed up.
Other than the bacon, I have to say that our breakfast at Links was very good. My wife thoroughly enjoyed her root vegetable hash dish, and I was happy enough with the eggs Benedict that featured two very large poached eggs with a rich and flavorful hollandaise sauce. But the sourdough pancakes were the hit of the meal and even the over-advertised bacon couldn't dampen the overall meal. Well, and it certainly didn't hurt to have a bloody mary, a good craft beer and a double espresso to help get the day going. My wife and I were so stuffed from the breakfast at Links that we didn't eat a thing the rest of the day. It was a very good and very filling meal.
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