My wife and I had been interested in trying a place over in Rock Island since it opened in late 2022. We wondered if it could be one of our rotational joints where we would go out for bloody Marys and burgers on Sunday. We just hadn't made it over on a Sunday to try it out. One recent evening, we didn't feel like cooking at home, so we drove over to The Dirty Shirley to check the place out.
Steve and Jen Thomas had grown up in Rock Island, but both had been living in Colorado since 2014 working in the hospitality industry. They had always wanted to run their own restaurant and had come up with a concept of serving "dirty" food - recipes infused with alcohol or beer. The original "dirty Shirley" is a vodka-added variation to the kiddie cocktail that has lemon-lime soda (7Up or Sprite) with grenadine and with a big red cherry to finish it off.
Steve and Jen moved back to Rock Island in 2022 and leased a small building that had housed a number of restaurants and/or bars over the years. They started working on some of the food and drinks they were going to feature in the fall of that year and just before Christmas they opened the doors to the Dirty Shirley.
It's been a tough year for the Thomas family. They realized that maybe running their own restaurant wasn't the best thing for them. In December of 2023, a post on Facebook announced that the Thomas' were looking to sell their restaurant, even helping with the financing if the new owner would put down 50% of the asking price. The Thomas' still own the Dirty Shirley, but recent social media posts have been dire in trying to keep the place open.
The Dirty Shirley is located on 16th Avenue at the corner of 41st St. in Rock Island at 41st St. (see map) When I pulled up in front of the place, I immediately recognized the building as it had been a couple other restaurants where I'd had meals at in the past. I had a memorable burger there when it was called The Cave a number of years ago. And later on when it was a breakfast place after that - The 14th Avenue Waffle House - I remember the food being pretty good.
The restaurant is a very small place with a small bar along the west wall with tables and chairs along the east wall. Our server that evening was a young lady by the name of Nicole. She was pretty indifferent to us, at first. We figured it was because she had to be bartender and waitress at the same time. But later on in the evening, she came out to serve us our food and she was wearing an arm sling. She told us that she had torn the labrum in her shoulder and was hoping rest could help mend the tissue rather than getting an operation. We figured that she had to be in some discomfort adding to her un-sunny disposition.
And compounded on all that for Nicole and her physical problems, a big infrastructure problem developed later on. After we finished our meal, my wife had gone in to use the restroom before we left. She used the facilities and washed up in the sink before coming out. As we were getting ready to leave, we heard a crash coming from the bathroom areas toward the back of the building. A lady came out and exclaimed, "The sink just fell off the wall!" She had turned on the faucets and the porcelain sink promptly fell off the wall. As if Nicole wasn't having a tough enough night...
We started off with getting a couple drinks. Since I wanted to find out if The Dirty Shirley could be in our rotation of burgers, beers and bloody Marys on Sundays, I got myself a bloody Mary with a pint of the Kona Big Wave they had on tap. The mix was house-made and was a little thin on both texture and flavor. It was just OK. My wife got her usual Tito's and cranberry.
The menu at The Dirty Shirley wasn't all that long, but had some interesting items. Appetizers included their signature dirty balls - whiskey-infused ground beef and sausage meat balls; as well as stuffed mushrooms and stuffed jalapeños. Sandwiches included their pickle wrap grilled cheese - The Dirty Shirley's dill pickle wrap mixture with dill pickles on a grilled cheese sandwich. The Dirty Pig consisted of beer-braised pulled pork with a choice of a house-made barbecue sauce or a house-made Southern Comfort-infused apricot sauce. And they had a black bean burger option for vegetarians.
I was there for the burger and I got their signature Dirty Burger that featured a 1/2 pound patty topped with smoked cheddar cheese and bacon, and topped with whiskey-sauteéd onions. I had a choice between baked beans and house-made chips on the side and I went with the chips. I could sort of tell they were on a shoestring budget at The Dirty Shirley as they only provided a basket of ketchup and mustard packs rather than condiment dispensaries.
My wife got the patty melt. For her side, she asked Nicole if she could substitute the chicken curry soup they had that night. Nicole said that there would be an up-charge for the soup as a side, and my wife said that was fine.
My burger was very good. Juicy, full of flavor and somewhat messy, the burger was top notch. The chips were very salty, but I concentrated on the burger and sort of forgot about the chips. My wife tried a couple and even she said they were too salty.
My wife said her patty melt was also very good. "For a patty melt, this is above average," she said to me. We were both impressed with the burgers we got.
We're hoping that The Dirty Shirley hangs on or finds a suitable party for new ownership. It's a nice little place that has a good burger and some interesting items on their menu. We knew Nicole was having a tough night coupled with her torn labrum, so we definitely cut her a large amount of slack when she was a little late on getting drinks out or getting more napkins for us. The Dirty Shirley is a cozy little place that has a nice little vibe going for it and we hope it continues.
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