A new business is about to open its doors in Davenport and it will be the first of its kind in the Quad Cities: Bootleg Hill Honey Meads. 

The meadery’s official opening is Thursday at noon at 321 E. 2nd St. 

Mead, according to owner Rick Harris, is best thought of as wine, but instead of being made with grapes it’s made with honey.

Harris said the opening over his storefront is five years in the making. His mead business started in the basement of his East Moline home — one where a bootlegger once lived. Although the location inspired the name of his brand, Harris said Davenport was where they wanted to open up.

“Davenport provided us a better business climate and we’ve always wanted to be close to Great River Brewery,” Harris said. 

Now Bootleg Hill is right across the street from Great River Brewery. Harris said it’s the perfect neighbor because they make something Bootleg Hill doesn’t and that’s craft beer.

“We’ve always had the idea that we would be a destination and one of the things to be a destination we have to offer people a lot of variety,” he said.

That’s something Downtown Davenport Partnership director Kyle Carter calls critical mass, which has taken them years to develop.

“Other businesses want to be by other businesses. People follow people,” Carter said. “You need that capacity for it to really take off.”

Bootleg Hill is one of eight new restaurants, bars and cafes coming to Davenport in the next six months and Carter said a new restaurant called Half Nelson is about to open up next door.  

Harris said that will add the food component to his meadery. 

All the new businesses make each other successful, Carter said, and all the money spent there stays local. 

“All of them are locally owned — even a couple of franchises have local ownership,” he said.

There are many different types of mead on tap at Bootleg Hill, but Harris said they are also planning on serving cider, wine and mead cocktails.  

Bootleg Hill Honey Meads is open Sunday to Thursday from noon to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from noon to 11 p.m. 
 

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