August 3, 2009
I visit Blue Cat every couple of weeks when I’m in the Quad Cities, and it’s a nice place that sort of markets itself as a nice restaurant rather than a brewpub, though the upstairs bar can be much more rambunctious. The ambiance is nice, especially in the restaurant. Dim lights, great food, and a generally nice aura. The service is usually fine, but not outstanding, be it in the restaurant or up in the bar. Sometimes when it gets busy upstairs they really need more bartenders. The selection is okay - they usually have 4-6 of their own beers and a very small bottle collection of the macros. The food is very good, much better than your typical bar fare. If you have a chance to go to one of their "beer dinners" with specially crafted meals paired with their beers, you should. The place is pretty expensive for a brewpub, draws usually pulling about $3.75, and the food isn’t cheap either, but it’s hard to gauge because the food is really good. Overall, I like the place, but they need more beers, some of their own beers aren’t super amazing, the prices are a bit high, and the night life isn’t much there - it dies down much after 10 or 11pm when people head out to the bars in the nearby District.

October 20, 2008
Went here with a friend late on a Wednesday night, so it was pretty quiet at the time. Good feel to it though, and a decent location from what I could tell (although as noted before, it is a little dark inside). The beer wasn’t exceptional, but it wasn’t bad either, and the prices were very reasonable. The bartender was friendly enough, and the beer was served in proper glassware. Worth stopping at, in my opinion. I didn’t try any of the food, but my friend tells me that it is good and very reasonably priced also.

June 15, 2007
Ok at best. Not a bad place to go but nothing outstanding. Very average overall.

December 29, 2006
Visited at around 9pm on a Friday night, and the restaurant was packed, so a lot of people were packed in the bar while waiting for their tables. The bar area is really small for a crowd at that time. Beer quality was a little better than average. The imperial stout in a pint glass is $3, no different than any other beer. That rocks. The 10% ABV Belgian ale was pretty gross, though. Those were the only two that I tried, since the other APA/wheat/golden selections looked pretty lame. Easy to find, easy to find parking, and located really close to other clubs, casinos and bars in Rock Island. They have no happy hour or late night food specials, though.

December 3, 2006 [ Updated December 6, 2006 ]
You don’t get the impression that the beer is the most important thing here. The staff and bartenders are fairly beer ignorant. Decent selection, but mediocre brews. Run over to Bent River Brewing for the real stuff.

March 29, 2006
Not the greatest hole in the wall I’ve ever seen, but not the worst. Beer wasn’t a disaster, but it wasn’t a succes, either. The food was decent pub fare, but I think my onion rings were a little overdone, but I’m not complaining too much.

March 22, 2006
A fun staff with a quiet and cool looking atmosphere. A little dark for rating beers. The beer was above average. I only had some hot pretzels, so I will reserve judgement on the food. I definitely like the beers more than any other Quad City area brewpub.

March 15, 2006
Nice brewpub, decent selection of beers. Food was ok. Don’t know if I’d go back with the Bent River and Front Street Brewpubs so close.

November 6, 2005
Cool enough place located in "The District" down by the Mighty Mississippi. Beer was okay. Wish they had a few more on tap. Food was also decent. I will go back again.

November 29, 2004
The food is outstanding! However, their beer was a disappointment. Blue Cat is located in "The District" in downtown Rock Island. Which means there are plenty of twentysomethings out in force Thusday through Sunday. Its a fun place to go and their menu will certainly bring you back.