Riverside Tap Room

I'm pretty sure this is no longer a wine bar and I'm also pretty sure it's now called "Tap Room" or something of the sort.

I spent most of my life in and around Riverside (my grandparents lived in Riverside, I went to high school in Riverside, and so on...) so I know this area like the back of my hand. With that, I can also attest to the fact that Riverside was a verrrrrrrrry dry town for many, many years. So now that little bars are popping up in downtown Riverside, I feel like I've won the lottery.

I came here with a friend around 8-9pm-ish on a Friday night and was surprised at how crowded it was for a small suburban bar. And by small, I mean...imagine the size of a 1-bedroom apartment in the city...New York City. Yeah...THAT kind of small. Tiny. Like, add one or two more people in the bar that night and it would have been bursting at the seams.

All that aside, we were able to score two seats at the end of the bar and enjoyed a beer while we practically shouted to one another, trying to compete with the loud music and the loud patrons that were less than an arm's length away from us. And I know I'm making it sound worse than it is, which isn't my intention because I actually really enjoyed hanging out here, but I think I was too sober to be hanging out there so early on a Friday night.

The great thing about this bar is that it's quaint, cute, cozy-feeling and local. The even better thing about this bar is that the service is spot-on and the bartender was super attentive and responsive.

I would totally come back to this bar again, on a date or even with another friend. It's, however, not the kind of bar you go to to "watch the game" or throw back a beer on a Sunday afternoon. This is definitely either a kick-start your night kinda bar, or an end your night kind of bar. Your call.

Another couple brought us here after a buying some coupon deal for wine flights and cheese/meat platters.  For the most part it was great.  

The wine flights consisted of good sized portions of wines that were all enjoyable.  There are a dizzying array of meats and cheeses to choose from for your platter so we entrusted our waiter to make the choices for us and were very satisfied with what we got.  The price (especially with the coupon deal) was reasonable and they validated our in-building parking which is good for two hours free.

My only issue with the place is not something they can do much about, and other people might not even care about.  We happened to be there right after work and it is located in the Mercantile Exchange building.  While the mood most conducive to wine and cheese (for me at least) is what I would call "semi-subdued", at the time of our visit it was a too loud for normal conversation.

UPDATE: 2012-03-01:  I've been here a few times now, and I'm still massively impressed.  The beer excels as usual, especially tonight with Firestone Walker Double Jack and Lagunitas "Sucks" on tap.  Killer beers if you love IPAs.  The food is killer too - you MUST try the Bacon-Wrapped Dates - stuffed with Gorgonzola and served with an amazing "balsamic cream sauce". Trust me.  They one of the best things I've eaten in my entire life.  If someone said "you can have great lobster or these dates", I might choose the dates.

Not sure if they've "officially" renamed this the Riverside Tap Room, but it seems like it.  I had a couple of beers after work with my "craft beer and foodie" friend from work.  I'm not a wine person, so I can't speak to that aspect, but the beer selection was excellent.  It's a small list of craft beers on tap, but it makes up for that by having the mix of available beers being spot-on excellent.  I tried three that I hadn't tried before (after consulting <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fratebeer.com&s=624294b96534dd9e6b0270792401600510f63ef90ac419f316f36cc1d20e6ce9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://ratebeer.com</a> of course) and they were great - even a Belgian-style that I really enjoyed, and I generally hate Belgian-style beers.  I think I'd call this place a place to go when you want some excellent craft beer without the noise of Brixie's in Brookfield when it gets busy.  Prices were in-line as well.  I'll definitely be back.