When you’re somewhere to eat and you’re waiting for your food, most times there’s not much to stare at and appreciate inside the place, save for a television. If TV isn’t your thing, there are places with unique sights to admire outdoors, or through a window.

The bright colors of a sunset capture the eye. The combination of orange and pink is mood evoking in some way, and it depends on the person. The sky, which is either blue or cloudy, takes an hour or so of the day and creates a color-changing scene. Each day has a different look to it, as long as its at least partly cloudy.

If a sunset is eye-appealing to you, it can be even more appealing when there’s nothing else to look at. Most of the time, looking through a window will give on a sight of some combination of sky, flora and man-made structure. Eliminate those other “things” and there’s a wider scope to admire and appreciate.

You have to be at the right spots to see almost nothing but sky in sight. For evening sunsets, this involves a clear view looking west. For morning sunrises, it’s a clear view looking east.

How do you find the clearest views? Somewhere where even the horizon line doesn’t stand out? Large bodies of water are the key. Whether it’s a lake – big or small – or the straight path of a river, there’s little to distract your eye when admiring the sky and making the wait for the meal – or even the meal itself – worth it.

On this road trip, I visited The River Room at the Hyatt Place in East Moline, Illinois. This hotel opened in December 2018, and has nine stories. It overlooks the Mississippi River. The building is part of a redevelopment project undertaken at the former Case-IH property in town. The River Room is on the 9th floor at a corner of the building that overlooks the Mississippi at its most east-west-flowing form – as opposed to the river’s usual north-south alignment. [HERE ARE SOME MORE PHOTOS]

Finding it upon entering the hotel means you have to scope out where the elevators are while you’re in the lobby. When you go up the elevator and reach the 9th floor, signs will direct you to the place. The River Room has seating along windows, in the middle, and there is a bar area. A lounge area is at one of the corners, with a pair of couches.

The River Room’s menu is designed for sharing and relaxed dining, pairing elevated small plates with handcrafted cocktails. Guests can choose from appetizers such as shrimp cocktail, charcuterie boards, smoked pork nachos, steak crostini and warm Bavarian pretzels, along with a selection of gourmet flatbreads ranging from classic meat lovers to caprese-inspired creations or build-your-own options. Desserts include New York cheesecake and seasonal bread pudding, while the bar specializes in craft cocktails, martinis, sangrias and nonalcoholic mocktails. 

The menu is a simple one, and the simple the better in this instance. Flatbread pizzas are a feature item, and I bought the one with all of the meats. Dessert was a piece of caramel covered cheesecake. I was greeted by the bar manager (whose name I unfortunately have forgotten since I visited), and he was kind enough to let me know about how this was the “best view of the Quad Cities.”

Having taken several pictures with my cell phone for this trip, I’m sure that attracted him to come by. If it didn’t, surely my attempt at food photography (see below) had to. [Side note: Sometimes if people carefully take pictures of food during a stop at a restaurant, you’re likely to be confused for a health inspector.]

A few windows look directly north toward the river, while several more look to the west where the Mississippi vanishes into the distance. The north view looks toward the Arconic Works aluminum plant in Bettendorf (which was called Alcoa in years’ past); but you still get to see the river and the Great River Trail bike path which goes from Rock Island to Savanna.

It’s really the west view that is the attraction. As daylight begins to fade, the Mississippi becomes a ribbon of reflected light stretching toward the horizon. Below, headlights move along River Drive in Moline, and lights for both the Interstate 74 and Centennial (U.S. 67) bridges. The I-74 bridge will turn colors on occasion. Of course, as it gets darker and the sky becomes more pink, the views become more magnificent.

The transformation is gradual: A broad daytime panorama slowly becomes a nighttime scene of shimmering water, bridge lights and a sky painted with shades of pink and orange. It is the kind of view that encourages diners to linger a little longer over a drink or dessert.

There’s not a place in the Quad Cities that provides such a view, and the closest place that comes to it is looking from the aforementioned bike path in the same direction. The bike path is accessible via the nearby Ben Butterworth Park in Moline (the hotel straddles the East Moline–Moline city line).

A couple of things to take note of during the visit: It’s on the 9th floor, and sometimes the window washers might not make it that far up. Also, some of the interior lights – particularly the fluorescent light decor along a wall – will reflect on the windows, making any pictures of the interior and view outward difficult unless they are turned off.

Are you someone who wants to watch the sun itself disappear over the horizon, or would you rather enjoy the glow of sunset without staring directly into the evening light? The answer may depend on when you visit.

I visited The River Room just days before the summer solstice, when the sun reaches its northernmost sunset point of the year. From the restaurant’s windows, that meant the sun was dropping toward the horizon near Bettendorf. After the solstice, the sunset slowly shifts southward each evening, eventually reaching its southernmost point around the winter solstice. For those hoping to watch the sun appear to sink directly over the Mississippi River, the best opportunities come around the spring and fall equinoxes, when the sunset lines up closest with due west. Those windows are relatively short, making those times of year especially appealing for sunset seekers.

As you could figure out, from the Mississippi River Flyway (the 200-mile-or-so-wide bird migration route along the River), seeing the sun set in the summer time would necessitate finding a place to view it that looks due west-northwest; and seeing the sun set in the winter time would necessitate finding a place to view it that looks due west-southwest.

Finding places like The River Room typically would involve plugging a prompt in a search engine or AI platform in the manner of “best places to eat and see the sunset.” Or you can look at a map and make your own determination.

Consider a typical round lake stretching mostly east and west. A restaurant located along the middle of the eastern shoreline would have its best sunset views around the spring and fall equinoxes, when the sun sets closest to due west and appears to drop across the water.

Move the restaurant farther north along that eastern shoreline, and the ideal sunset season changes. A location on the northeastern side of the lake would benefit most during the summer months, when the sun sets farther northwest. A restaurant on the southeastern side would have its best opportunities during the winter months, when the sunset shifts toward the southwest.

The larger the lake, the better the view. Even when the sun is not setting directly over the water, a wide horizon can still provide a spectacular backdrop. Using that same idea, I studied maps around northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin to find restaurants positioned near large bodies of water with sunset potential.

So, what is the best sunset view in northern Illinois? While The River Room offers an impressive elevated perspective of the Mississippi River, the sun spends much of the year setting over the communities of Bettendorf or Moline rather than directly over the water. My choice for the best sunset dining view is Fairmont Shores in Fox River Grove, a northwest Chicago suburb overlooking Fox Lake. I have visited once, and the combination of open water and western exposure creates an impressive evening scene.

Travel north into Wisconsin, and The Boat House Bar & Grill in Lake Geneva provides another scenic option. The restaurant sits across the road from the lake, meaning diners may have to tune out passing traffic, but the shoreline setting still provides a memorable sunset atmosphere. Even farther north into Wisconsin sits Lake Koshkonong, a widening of the Rock River southeast of Madison. Near the northern portion of the lake, Island Bar & Grill offers views across the water where winter sunsets can be especially dramatic. Both of the aforementioned Wisconsin restaurants are on my road trip bucket list.

Of course, the challenge with waterfront sunsets is access. The most scenic portions of many lakes are often occupied by private homes or restricted property, leaving only a handful of public restaurants, parks and businesses where everyone can enjoy the view. This is especially the case with the two large lakes, Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, in Madison.

In both of the Wisconsin examples, the restaurants sit nearly at ground level with the water, allowing diners to watch the sunset stretch across the lake’s horizon. High-rise buildings and blufftop restaurants don’t provide that same waterline effect, but they offer broader views of landscapes as they change with the evening light. One for example, in East Dubuque, Timmerman’s Supper Club sits atop a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River Valley. Rather than watching the sun disappear directly into the water, diners are treated to a panoramic view of the river, surrounding hills and communities below as the landscape transitions from daylight into the warm colors of sunset. It’s been open since 1961, and is one of the few “supper clubs” in Illinois – being close to a big “supper club” state in Wisconsin. And, of course, need not look any further than Chicago towers and the eateries which are in them.

While sunsets are on my mind, and given recent news from Capitol Hill: Would permanent daylight saving time change sunset destinations? Not really, at least not astronomically. The sun would still follow the same path across the sky throughout the year. What would change is the clock. Winter sunsets would occur about an hour later by the clock, making sunset-view restaurants more accessible after work, while winter sunrises would also occur about an hour later.

As for sunrises, good luck. Many places aren’t open for dining (the breakfast variety, that is) when the sun rises. I haven’t explored this side of the equation yet, but I’ll let everyone know when I do.

The River Room
Hyatt Place East Moline
111 Bend Blvd, East Moline
Open: 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday
More information or reservations: 309-278-4790
Social media: Facebook