Head to the Olde Towne center (560 17th Ave) in Moline for a unique restaurant in the old Belgian neighborhood. For a full history of the Belgian Village Inn and the surrounding area, check out this article by Bill Wundram. The inside of the building is very small and cozy, with dark wood booths, and flemish decor.
The original owners, the Ceurvorsts bought the current location in 1977 and began to serve soup to the Belgian immigrants. The workers demanded bread, so they started baking HUGE loaves to go with the soup. Naturally it progressed to sandwiches served on this HUGE bread, which they still bake daily. The most famous sandwich is the VandeRueben- rye bread with thousand island dressing, corned beef, ham, sauerkraut, and swiss cheese. you can also get it on their delicious raisin bread. This thing is massive and not meant for one person. Not even one obese person could polish this off in one sitting.
It doesn't come with sides, but of course you can order fries, potato salad, soup, etc. if you like.
I ordered a Sweet Turkey Melt- mild rye with honey mustard, turkey, provolone, and grilled onions. It was about half the size of the VandeRueben, but still more than enough for me.
The menu also includes typical pub fare such as tenderloins, burgers, and brats. I definitely recommend getting something on their delicious bread.
Soooo while I was dissecting my sandwich, I found an odd little plastic thing in my onions. I thought maybe I won a prize? It was a little plastic lid they use on mayonaisse. I told my waitress and the owner Shawn Manning (son-in-law of the original owners) came over to apologize and comp the sandwich. I told him I was going to eat it anyways because it's just plastic and I'm sure I've eaten some plastic before. So despite that little find, I enjoyed the Melt and took half home in a doggy bag.
A carry out only Belgian Village is located on 19th Ave. Supposedly both locations sell over 200 Vandereubens daily- on a slow day !
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