Published in the Quad-City Times on Sep. 24, 2024

Writing a Rozz-Tox column has been a long-time coming. Honestly, it’s overdue. 

As a lover of live music, tasty coffee and good late-night eats, the beloved Rock Island bar and café is perfect. I’ve seen a show there. I’ve had a drink there. I’ve covered events there. But somehow, I had yet to eat there. 

Last weekend, that changed.

I’ve been nudged toward Rozz-Tox before by my girlfriend, who enjoys their bahn mi with tofu. And I was encouraged again this week by a social media post from across-the-river venue Raccoon Motel.

In it, one of the Motel bartenders called the Rozz-Tox Midnight Noodles the dish they’d eat if they could only eat one Quad-Cities meal forever.

Sold. 

The dish: Midnight Noodles with dumplings

The Midnight Noodles are served with dark, buckwheat noodles, Chinkiang vinegar, soy sauce, house-made chili oil, sesame oil and diced spring onion. 

With all those flavors together, it made for a sweet and spicy dish that filled me up easily.

I ordered the Midnight Noodles with two add-ons: a soft boiled egg and three pork dumplings, which added quite a bit of extra oomph to an already flavorful dish. 

The dumplings were dense and added some extra weight to the dish. They tasted best with a noodle-wrapped chopstick around them. The egg was, indeed, soft boiled, and jammy enough to be a change-of-pace texturally to the rest of the bowl. 

But let’s be honest: the noodles were the main event. If you’re wary of of the spiciness, bring a water bottle. But don’t avoid them altogether. You’ll regret it. 

I’m a moderate fan of spicy food, and these were perfectly tangy without being jarring. I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Even the presentation was beautiful, served in a wooden bowl with green chopsticks and Wes Anderson levels of symmetrical detail. For all you Instagram foodies out there, this is one to throw on your feed. A hundred likes. Minimum.

The price: $9.50

The Midnight Noodles are a very affordable $9.50 on their own. Adding three dumplings tacks on $3 and the egg adds $1. You can also put pickled ginger and Thai chili on top for 50 cents each, or barbecue pork for $2.50. 

Considering the high quality of the flavor and presentation, all of those prices are super reasonable. Often, you’ve gotta pay the “Being In A Cool Place” tax at intricate lounges like this one. 

But even the beer is cheap — as low as $2.50 for a Pabst and $3.50 for a Czech pilsner. If you’re looking for something sweeter, you can get a milk tea for $3.75.

The location: Rock Island

Rozz-Tox is located at 2108 Third Ave. in Rock Island. They’re open from 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. They’re closed on Monday and Tuesday. 

The location of Rozz-Tox makes it a great spot to grab dinner after a browse at the neighboring Ragged Records location. I have a hunch that if you like vintage music-sifting, you’ll love Rozz-Tox, too.

In fact, you’re probably already familiar. 

The ambience: A very cool late-night spot

Rozz-Tox is a perfect spot for a late-night meal. And it’s just as great for early morning work and study on the weekends. 

Their event programming is consistently eclectic and tempting. They routinely host concerts, poetry slams and film discussions. Coming up, they’ve got open mic comedy, noise rock, experimental electronica and jazz. 

The interior decor is just about as colorful as the artist lineup. The opening window is lined with stickers. An old TV plays black-and-white films in silence. There’s a globe on the front counter, where you order and pick up dishes. A whole table in the back is dedicated to the frequent DJs that come in and spin a variety of genres. Behind that, there’s a chess table. 

The whole thing hangs under a low, warm lighting and smells of incense burning in the corner. As I ate there on Friday, psychedelic folk artists Ned Collette and Liv Carrow warmed up on the stage. 

Here’s what I’m getting at: this place is cool. Very cool. Rozz-tox is so cool that by writing positively about it in a newspaper, I fear that I’m bad for business.

Seriously, on their website, the restaurant is self-described as “a virus whose ultimate goal is to constantly mutate to avoid becoming part of mainstream culture.” 

I’ll add to that definition, though: “keeper of the Quad-Cities’ most picturesque and tasty midnight noodles.”