Ross' Restaurant has served homestyle food at its location in Bettendorf for fifty years. Thanks to an extension from the Iowa Department of Transportation, it will continue its tradition there for another year. The DOT plans to build a new I-74 bridge in 2017, requiring Ross' to move, but the department has given the restaurant permission to stay until next August.
General Manager, Melissa Freidhof Rodgers, says it will help the restaurant continue its legacy.
"We're very involved in the community in using local products, and we're serving five generations of customers. We've also had support from our local senators and congressmen."
Many neighboring businesses have already moved or been demolished.
Freidhof Rodgers says, "We thought we had five years and and five years turned into a couple of years. Really, it's been a monumental task to relocate a business that's been around for 75 years to a new location out of its successful existing one, so we're happy we were able to get an additional year--well, really a year and a half--added on to our timeline."
Freidhof Rodgers is the granddaughter of the restaurant's founder, Harold Ross. She says the family is considering locations in Davenport, Moline, and Rock Island. They plan to announce their new location at the end of the summer.