A new contemporary Mexican restaurant had opened in a new development in downtown Bettendorf back in May and my wife and I had been wanting to give the place a try. As we usually do, we wait about 90 days for a restaurant to work out its kinks and it was well past 90 days from when it opened when we finally made the trek to Verde to check the place out.
Verde is the brainchild of Sid Rognoni who first came on to the culinary scene in Davenport about 10 years ago as a co-owner of the now-closed Bowls Urban Eats. He also is involved with RAW, an upscale cocktail lounge with esoteric appetizers located in downtown Davenport. In 2017, Rognoni - along with partner Ruben Garcia - opened Ruby's, a bike shop, craft beer, and brat house in downtown Davenport. (To read the Road Tips entry on Ruby's, click here.)
As part of a large revitalization of downtown Bettendorf near where the new I-74 bridges were being built, a multi-function property by the name of The Bridges was proposed for upscale lofts, retail and restaurant space. Rognoni teamed with local chef Connor Larson - whose previous gig was at Bass Street Chop House - to come up with the eclectic cuisine for Verde. Innovative seasonal selections with "out-of-box" thinking beyond traditional Mexican food was something Larson was wanting to focus on along with craft cocktails and craft beers. In early May of this year, Verde opened to the public.
You can see Verde when you cross over the Mississippi River on the I-74 bridges, but getting there can be a bit confusing. Well, at least it was for us on our first time. Verde has a State Street address, but as State Street - the one-way that heads east - curves up under the new approach west of the I-74 Bridge, it becomes Grant Street - which is the one-way that heads west in downtown Bettendorf. After the approach, the road curves back at 16th Street and becomes State Street again. (Got that? We're going to have a test on this tomorrow morning.) From either direction - west on Grant or east on State - take 16th Street south across State (or is it Grant? - I'm so confused!) and turn right on State street - which is a two-way street in The Bridges complex. Verde is on the northwest side of one of the buildings at The Bridges with parking in lots west of the building. (see map)
We were greeted by a young lady upon entering Verde who asked if we had been in before. When we told her this was our first visit, she said in a sort of surprised tone, "Oh! OK, well, welcome!" The restaurant featured artisan hardwood flooring, color-tinted pinewood paneling, along with contemporary industrial lighting and ornamental balls hanging from the ceiling. A unique portrait of a Mexican sugar skull woman was prominent on the back wall of the space.
The bar was part of the dining room area and featured a small variety of tequilas, draft beers and other liquors. High-backed chairs lined the wood-topped bar and some flat screen televisions hung high on the wall on the back wall of the bar.
The hostess ended up seating us in a booth near the back wall. A young lady by the name of Veronica came over to greet us and we looked through the menus that were dropped off for us. Veronica wanted to know if we wanted to start off with a drink. Absolutely!
My wife was in the mood for a good margarita and they had some interesting drinks on their menu. The watermelon paloma caught her eye, but she ended up she ended up getting the classic margarita. I ended up getting the same thing.
She thought Verde's classic margarita could have been a little more sweet, but I was fine with mine. She likes the margaritas I make at home - 1 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice, 1 oz. Herradura silver, 1 oz. Cointreau (or Grand Marnier), a squeeze of organic blue agave syrup, then shaken with ice vigorously for about 15 to 20 seconds. All that is then pour through the shaker strainer into a glass on ice. It's good stuff.
The menu at Verde that evening was a little sparse. We were told by Veronica that they would be expanding the menu as time went on with more seasonal offerings. Small plates such as rice and beans, elote-style grilled cauliflower, and a strawberry and beet salad were on the menu that day. Large plates included a grilled pork shoulder 'al pastor', achiote-glazed chicken with a molé sauce, and a traditional carne de res grilled beef dish topped with a black molé.
They also had some of their signature house-made masa (corn) tacos on the menu and that's the direction we went. We decided to go with the fish tacos and the barbacoa tacos that they had on the menu that evening.
The fish tacos were basically single thick strips of seared ahi topped with pickled veggies and shaved radish slices. The tacos were finished with a slightly spicy macha salsa. The ahi tacos were very good - the house-made corn tortilla shells had a very good flavor and texture. These were very good tacos.
The lamb barbacoa tacos were equally as good. They featured thin strips of barbecue lamb, topped with a thick borracha salsa, a thin slice of onion and an avocado slice. I had two of the lamb tacos and an ahi taco, while my wife had two fish and one lamb taco. For a nice light meal, we were very happy with what we had.
We haven't been back to Verde since our initial visit, but now that the weather is cooling down we're planning on getting back there to try their fall menu. But the tacos we had on our first visit - the lamb barbacoa and the ahi tacos - were very good. While my wife thought the margaritas could have been a bit more sweet in taste, I thought they were fine. It's not necessarily inexpensive at Verde, but then again they bill themselves as a unique Mexican restaurant with a contemporary twist. If you're looking for a basket of chips and salsa and fishbowl-sized margaritas as the start of your Mexican meal, then Verde isn't your place. But if you're looking for something different in terms of the preparation and quality of the menu items, then I'd get to Verde as soon as you can.
Nice write-up on a place that we've wanted to go to. But I have to correct you - RAW is still open. Unless it closed sometime since when my friend and I were there last weekend.
Posted by: Jennifer J. | October 15, 2021 at 02:58 PM
Wow! OK - I don't know where I thought RAW was closed. I guess because I hadn't been there for quite sometime. I corrected it in the post. Thanks for the heads-up!
Posted by: Road Tips | October 15, 2021 at 04:00 PM