Supper Club Review: Fifth Avenue Syndicate
It isn’t often seen today in our world of dull, stupid combover fake-SUVs, crappy food and idiot motorists that a new supper club appears. But when it is, it is worth celebrating. And one recently appeared here in the greater Quad City area. And we all say hooray.
It was probably about a year ago my brother told me he and my sister-in-law went with friends of theirs to Fifth Avenue Syndicate, a nice fine-dining restaurant inside the brand new and totally revamped Fifth Avenue Building in downtown Moline, IL. I was intrigued. There are a few places relatively close that I love—you all know The Cellar in downtown Geneseo is my favorite place within 50 miles of Casa de Klockau—there is also The Machine Shed in Davenport and Lunardi’s—best lasagna in the metro area. So when this came up on my radar, I wanted to try it.
At the time I had maybe 3-4 places on my “I need to try this place!” list—still need to get to Monarch in Bettendorf. And it kept not happening for the Syndicate. Finally, early this year, my brother said, hey Tom, why don’t we just take you there for your birthday! And I thought that was a fantastic idea. And so we went. And it was good!
It is immediately adjacent to the Axis Hotel’s art deco lobby, and gave off major supper club vibes. And the food was excellent.
As you may have guessed, I got a steak. In this case a NY Strip, called “steak and frites” on the menu. It was excellent. And so was the Old Fashioned—served with a large, crystal clear round ice cube, so as to not melt to fast and spoil the bourbon. It too, was excellent.
It wasn’t perhaps QUITE as marvelous as The Cellar—the menu was not quite as extensive—and the pricing was perhaps a bit higher. But the quality of the food and drink was commensurate with the cost—in your author’s humble opinion.
The restored lobby was quite cool too. Originally this 8-story building was filled with professional offices, doctors, lawyers and accountants, with retail outlets on the ground floor. But the whole building was completely redone just a few years ago with no expense spared. The Axis Hotel is affiliated with Hilton, and the quality is apparent from the service and the food. Quite nice. I have no need to stay in a hotel 8 miles from home base, but am curious about what the rooms may look like. It is a nice operation, and a big, pretty addition to downtown Moline’s list of businesses.
It was so good I took my parents there a few weeks later for Mother’s Day and it was just as good. I got the exact same thing, and it was just as excellent and delicious.
Klockau says check it out if you’re ever in the area.
And frankly, this isn't strictly a supper club. It's more supper clubbish. Typical supper club features include plush seating, low lighting, a bar that typically opens an hour or so before the dining room, wood paneling, and the aforementioned relish trays and Old Fashioneds. Most have a trapped in time, 50s to 70s vibe. This restaurant is probably automatically disqualified by its bright lighting, lol.
See my ACF posts on the Hob Nob in Racine or Benedettis in Beloit for true, 100% supper club characteristics.
Good heavens though, but do you like your steaks one step away from mooing, or was that some sort of marinade?
Medium-rare to medium-well is just about perfect! New York strips or Delmonicos are my favorites—I can’t deal with having to cut around bones! Mind you, if I can get a couple filets at a time, such the better! Quality AND quantity!
I would hope to have an absolutely decadent Caesar salad as an appetizer, along with some sort of endless bread thing, and with some sort of potato alongside the steak—maybe a twice-baked AND something else; if I’m at a noice steakhouse, French fries ain’t gonna cut it! If I have to miss dessert, I’m not going to cry about it!
But I would hope that someone else would be in charge of my transportation, because I’d be ingesting Manhattans on the rocks—HUGE SINGLE ICE CUBE—throughout the meal! With Luxardo cherries, of course! 🥃🥃🥴🥴