RJ Boar's will close Rock Island restaurant

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By Doug Schorpp | Monday, February 11, 2008 | 3 comment(s)

RJ Boar’s restaurant, which opened in 1993 on State Street in Bettendorf, became a popular spot for ribs and pulled meat sandwiches.

It was so popular that the owners first expanded to Rock Island, then in 2003 built a new restaurant on Utica Ridge Road in Davenport. Two years later, the Utica Ridge restaurant closed. That left only the Rock Island restaurant, which also housed the company’s catering business.

But all that is ending. The restaurant at 4110 Blackhawk Road will close Feb. 23, a representative said Wednesday.

“That’s a Saturday and that will be the last day,” said Karen Bluhm, a part-time manager at the Rock Island site since it opened in 1995.

She said the closing includes RJ Boar’s catering business. Bluhm said she was not told the reason why the restaurant was shutting down.

Owners Jim and Ross Murty could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

When the Utica Ridge location closed in October 2005, Ross Murty did not elaborate on the deciding factor.

“Our sales did not warrant the continued operation of that location,” he said at the time. He said then that all employees at the Davenport location, between 30 to 35, were offered jobs in Rock Island.

Doug Schorpp can be contacted at (563) 383-2292 or dschorpp@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.