Cool Beanz Coffeehouse in Rock Island, a charming spot for students and people of all age in College Hill, is closing their indoor dining and hangout area due to covid-19’s spread and ensuing restrictions on businesses. The spot left the following note on their social media Monday: Dear Cool Beanz Coffeehouse community, With Covid case numbers continuing to climb in our area, we have made the difficult decision to suspend indoor dining beginning Monday November 2nd. We will continue to allow customers to come inside and place to go orders at our register (masked). Customers can also... Read More

Mango, peach, beer… and mint? Ewww, right? Bear with me folks, bear with me. If there’s one of several bars in the Quad-Cities that I really enjoy going to, it’s Radicle Effect, at 1340 31st Street, Rock Island. The bartenders can vouch for this. So can many of the regulars. So can Freddy Rumsen. Radicle is a pretty radical joint. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s got a lot of the veteran bartenders from one of my other faves, Blue Cat, now behind the post, as well as several other excellent mixologists. It’s a great place to get a perfect Old Fashioned... Read More

Do you have big shopping plans this weekend? Why not shop local and help out your community? College Hill District in Rock Island is hosting a Small Business Shopping Event this Saturday Nov 25 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Each participating business will have specials offered throughout the day’s event. Shoppers will even have a chance to win prizes at each participating store! To qualify for multiple prizes, shoppers will obtain a passport at any of the participating businesses. Have each store stamp your passport and then submit your fully stamped passport for a chance to win! Another way to earn... Read More

Are you ready for an all-day party with live music and motorcycles? Wieblers Harley-Davidson is sponsoring Top Rock 2017, an all-day music fest, at Kavanaugh’s Hilltop (1228 30th Street Rock Island) on Saturday Aug 26. Music starts at noon and will play until 11 p.m. General tickets are only $10 and VIP Tickets (with perks) are $20. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time at Wieblers Harley-Davidson, located at 5320 Corporate Park Drive Davenport. Top Rock 2017 will be hosted by Chuck Murphy. Musical acts include Lexi Parr & The Rubyblonde Band, 3 Years Hollow, Seven SHY, StillChyld, and more! Grab... Read More

Wine and chocolate? On a Saturday night? Sounds magnificently scrumptious! Cool Beanz Coffeehouse (1325 30th Street Rock Island) is hosting a Wine and Chocolate Tasting night on Saturday July 29 from 6-9 p.m. All participants must be 21 and over to attend. The cost of admission is only $5 and each attendee will get to add a stemless Cool Beanz wine glass to their home collection! Patrons will receive five tasting tickets for four wines; Riff Pinot Grigio, the Adelante Malbec, the Vini Cabernet and the Biagio Moscato D’asti. That means you can choose the wine you like most and try it for a... Read More

The next stop on our Java Journey is a very cool little coffee shop called  Cool Beanz. “Many changes have been made since our opening in August of 2009,” says owner operator Annette of her shop located in the hilltop area of Rock Island on the corner of 14th Avenue and 30th Street. She goes on to tell me Cool Beanz actually got its name from her father. “Back in the seventies the word cool beans was a very popular slang expression not unlike far out groovy,” she said. “That’s a perfect name for a coffee shop. It represents the laid-back atmosphere I wanted to create.” When... Read More

As I mentioned in my last article I headed to the new location of Tim’s Corner to check out the new digs and talk to the owner. First off I’d like to mention that the parking situation in the Hilltop District is just as hectic as it’s always been, somewhat worse given that a section of 14th Street is closed off since the old building is unstable and is being propped up by wooded planks. So, I had to circle around a bit to find a parking spot. In the end I saw that their new location at 1303 30th St Rock Island had parking in the back, but if you plan to venture there in the future don’t... Read More

It’s been a surprising week for the Quad Cities comic community. The explosions at the Vintage Rose antique shop, which blew out the windows of the store and knocked brickwork from the exterior, though luckily there weren’t any serious injuries, have dominated the local news cycle. At on Monday afternoon I received a call from my father, he said “Tim’s Corner blew up.” I was understandably confused by this information. “What”, I questioned. “Tim’s Corner blew up,” he repeated. I was still having a hard time processing the information, but I asked if anyone was hurt. He said... Read More

Hey, when it comes to festivals involving beer and food, it’s hard to mess with the Irish and the Germans. And I say this as someone who is very Irish and part German. And as someone who might be making his way to Kavanaugh’s Hilltop this weekend for their first Oktoberfest celebration Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. at Kavanaugh’s Hilltop, 1228 30th St, Rock Island. That night Kavanaugh’s/Rolling Smoke goes German with its debut Oktoberfest celebration in College Hill. Brats and other German fare and select Oktoberfest beers will be on sale all day/night, and live music will be provided... Read More

Pumpkin spice latte. It’s become a harbinger of fall and a punch line for coffee aficionados, but the fact is, it never would’ve become either if not for one simple fact: Damn, it’s really good. Anyone who knows me well knows I’m pretty much addicted to caffeine. And I have two regular haunts I hit here in my Rock Island hometown to get that fix – Theo’s in downtown and Cool Beanz in College Hill (1328 30th St., Rock Island.) And so it was, on a sunny Thursday afternoon that I was pitched my first PSL of the season at Cool Beanz and decided to check it out. Now, to start, let me say... Read More