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Bass Street Chop House closing while owner looks to the future

First came the I-74 bridge construction. Then came the coronavirus pandemic.

MOLINE, Ill. — Fans of Bass Street Chop House only have a few days left to get their favorite dishes. The restaurant is closing at the end of the day Saturday, April 18.

"I don't think there's a single business in downtown Moline that's gonna tell you they're not hurting," managing partner Jeff Harrop says.

The Chop House announced Friday on Facebook that they'd be closing after 14 years on River Drive.

"The hardest part of the decision were the employees," Harrop says. "We've worked here together a long time and the employees here made the restaurant."

But the years have taken their toll on the restaurant. Harrop says construction in downtown Moline, then work on the new I-74 bridge kept traffic and people away.

Bass Street was hit again in the past few months having to close the dining room because of the coronavirus. They're still completing carry-out orders until Saturday.

"The coronavirus is not helping anyone," Harrop says. "We're all in the same boat and we certainly had the opportunity to do the PPP loans, but again at the end of that, we still don't have the market we had a few years back."

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Looking forward, Harrop says he and his partners will focus on their new restaurant in East Moline: the Combine by the Bend Hotel. That restaurant has been shut down because of the virus but will soon reopen for carry-out in the coming weeks.

Harrop hopes all 31 employees of Bass Stree can move to work at the Combine.

"It's been rewarding for making such a hard decision and having such a positive response from the people in Quad Cities," he says. "It was very nice. They've been very, very positive of the experiences they've had with us and disappointed we'll be leaving."

Harrop says someday he'd reopen a restaurant like the Chop House if the opportunity and market presented itself.

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