TV Restaurants

What Happened to Goombazz Big City Eatzz? (Rock Island, IL)

Closed verified

As of September 2026, Goombazz Big City Eatzz has closed — confirmed via qctimes.com, February 2014.

Primary source
qctimes.com ·
Secondary source
Yelp ·

Last verified

What the source shows: The Quad-City Times reported in a story headlined "Goombazz locks its door" that the restaurant ended operations around February 2014; current Yelp and Foursquare listings show the location closed.

  • Season / episode Season 7, Episode 9
  • Original air date
  • Address 2704 18th Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201

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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) traveled to Rock Island, Illinois, for "Goombazz Gone Wild," season 7 episode 9, which aired December 18, 2013, focused on Goombazz Big City Eatzz at 2704 18th Avenue. The restaurant was owned by Brenda Brewer and Sal Cracco, who the episode's own framing described as carrying substantial business debt and losing money each month at the time chef Robert Irvine arrived to rework the menu, kitchen operations, and pricing over the standard two-day format. The pizza-and-Italian-leaning menu and dining room were both overhauled as part of the renovation, and the show also addressed staffing levels and portion-control issues that the owners said were contributing to the restaurant's ongoing losses at that time.

The Quad-City Times, the regional newspaper covering the Rock Island area, reported in a story headlined "Goombazz locks its door" that the restaurant ended operations around February 2014, about two months after the episode aired. That newspaper account is the most credible dated source located for this record and is broadly consistent with the closure timeline described by the blog Food Network Gossip, which separately noted that a temporary increase in customers following the television appearance did not resolve the underlying financial pressure on the business, since the restaurant's debt load predated the renovation by several years.

Yelp's current listing for "Goombazz Big City Eatzz" at 2704 18th Ave, Rock Island, Illinois shows the location as closed, and Foursquare's listing likewise marks the business "now closed." No current website or active social media account for Goombazz was found during this research pass, and no successor restaurant at the same 18th Avenue address was identified in the listings consulted. The Restaurant: Impossible episode remains available in Food Network's archive and continues to be referenced in retrospective coverage of restaurants featured on the series that did not stay open for the long term.

Featured on Restaurant: Impossible

Season / episode
Season 7, Episode 9
Original air date
Episode title
Goombazz Gone Wild
What was featured
menu, kitchen, and debt-focused business overhaul of Goombazz Big City Eatzz
Role
Featured restaurant
Name on the broadcast
Goombazz Big City Eatzz

Frequently asked questions

Is Goombazz Big City Eatzz still open in 2026?

As of September 2026, Goombazz Big City Eatzz has closed — confirmed via qctimes.com, February 2014.

What happened to Goombazz Big City Eatzz after Restaurant: Impossible?

Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network) traveled to Rock Island, Illinois, for "Goombazz Gone Wild," season 7 episode 9, which aired December 18, 2013, focused on Goombazz Big City Eatzz at 2704 18th Avenue. As of September 2026, Goombazz Big City Eatzz has closed — confirmed via qctimes.com, February 2014.

Is Goombazz Big City Eatzz permanently closed?

As of September 2026, Goombazz Big City Eatzz has closed — confirmed via qctimes.com, February 2014. We publish a closure only with a dated source behind it, and we say plainly when it has not been independently confirmed.

Where is Goombazz Big City Eatzz located?

2704 18th Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.

What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured Goombazz Big City Eatzz?

Season 7, Episode 9 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired December 18, 2013. The episode is titled “Goombazz Gone Wild”.

Did the makeover last at Goombazz Big City Eatzz?

The episode first aired December 18, 2013. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 13 years later —: As of September 2026, Goombazz Big City Eatzz has closed — confirmed via qctimes.com, February 2014.

Is Goombazz Big City Eatzz still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?

The restaurant was owned by Brenda Brewer and Sal Cracco, who the episode's own framing described as carrying substantial business debt and losing money each month at the time chef Robert Irvine arrived to rework the menu, kitchen operations, and pricing over the standard two-day format. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.

Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.

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Visit info

Address
2704 18th Ave, Rock Island, IL 61201
Venue type
pizzeria
Official website
None found

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Sources

  • qctimes.com — https://qctimes.com/news/local/article_45c7d291-f95b-5c59-af78-8b4860ce9ac7.html
  • foodnetworkgossip.com — https://www.foodnetworkgossip.com/2014/02/goombazz-from-restaurant-impossible-has.html
  • Yelp — https://www.yelp.com/biz/goombazz-big-city-eatzz-rock-island

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