Poor Boys Pizza – Rock Island, IL

I got into the Quad Cities pretty late, so my options were limited for food. I had arranged to meet my friend Huffy for drinks (which is never a problem around midnight or so, even in the Quad Cities), but when I picked her up, we had to figure out where I could get some food. Poor Boys is kind of a bar with a pizza place attached to it and I’ve always liked their pizza (though I haven’t had it since I lived down the street from it years ago). Poor Boys it is!

We got inside and grabbed a booth. It was crowded, but not packed, so we actually had our choice of two tables. We checked out the menu and it appeared they served pizza until midnight (might have been one, but the subsequent jack and cokes blurred my memory a bit). We ordered a medium meat lovers pizza and a couple of drinks.

The place is a little loud with all kinds of TVs and people watching sports and yelling (even at the highlight shows) at the screens. But we managed to get all caught up over a couple drinks while waiting. We waited a really long time (but were distracted with the aforementioned conversation and drinks). The waitress looked over at our pizza-less table and apologized and ran back to the kitchen to check on our food. It came out shortly after that. And it wasn’t a painfully long time to wait – but if we were sitting there quietly, it might have seemed like a long time. (sorry about the photo – it’s dark inside)

Poor Boys pizza is a bit like Harris Pizza (what some consider the best of the Quad City “Harris Style” pizza places). Long skinny pieces with thin crust and tons of toppings. Probably even more since we got the meat lovers – which was every kind of meat they had in back. The pizza is delicious. The crust is pretty thin (not cardboard thin or anything), but is still enough that you get the flavor without feeling like you’re eating a slice of toast under some mozzarella. The meat was fantastic and nothing needed to be picked off nor appeared weird.

We grabbed a couple more drinks after we finished this thing off and sat around talking until 2am. The place got much quieter then and it was easier to discuss the random topics we pulled out of our hind ends. Seriously, this pizza is good, especially if it’s the only thing open at midnight. Heck, I’d eat here, even if it wasn’t midnight, although it IS rather close to Harris Pizza…

Top 5 things about Poor Boys Pizza
1. Really layer on the toppings
2. Open late
3. Can get drinks while eating pizza and watching various sports
4. Not just pizza, but subs and pastas
5. Waitress made sure we were alright and kept the drinks coming

Bottom 5 things
1. Gerd loved late night pizza (and drinks), but I don’t think we ever went to Poor Boys together. She would have liked it, I’m sure of it
2. It took a wee bit longer than it should have to get our food
3. It’s still not quite Harris Pizza… I’m just sayin’…
4. Parking lot is always full
5. It can get kind of loud in there

Poor Boys Pizza
4121 18th Ave
Rock Island, IL 61201
(309) 786-2400