Went to the patio for lunch yesterday and it was horrible. Â Very disappointed with everything. Â Waited 30 minutes once seated and finally got up and went inside to ask hostess about whether we had a waitress. Â The waitress passed our table numerous times without once acknowledging us. Â We ordered drinks from the hostess and the n had to get up again 20 minutes later to find someone, anyone, to take our food order.
A waitress finally came over and after about an hour our food arrived, stoned cold. Â We got the street tacos and nachos. Â Nachos must have sat for awhile, cheese was hard. Worst eating out experience in years..
I don't know why we keep trying this place. My husband and I came for lunch and waited 15 min after being seated just to receive the menu. Then we waited another 15 min to place our order. The food itself is decent which is why it gets any stars at all. We came again the other night for drinks but my 36 year old husband got id'd and he didn't have his license with him. So we left and drank somewhere else with no problem.
Review Source:3 Stars for the beer and 1 star for the food.
Did they get new management? Â Things have changed. Â The menu is more limited than before and prices seemed higher. Â Overall, our food was average, nothing special.
We ordered an order of onion rings - really skimpy!  Someone ordered a burger and got more onion rings on her plate than came with the side order.  I ordered the fish and chips - the waiter said if you are  hungry to order the fish and chips because you get 2 huge pieces of fish - NOT.  Someone else ordered the steak tips - he said they were tender, but not many of them.
We really came for the beer and expected pub food - we have been many times in the past, but were disappointed this time.
The beer - only one of their new beers was anything to write home about. Â The smoky pilsner was a disappointment - you could hardly taste the flavoring. Â In fact we sipped a different beer to compare to be sure we were drinking the smoked beer.
Someone had the Home Run Pale Ale and they thought it was flat.
Of the new beers, only the Snowbound was worth tasting. Â It was very good and malty. Â Fortunately they had their old stand by - The Whittier White. Â It was as good as always. Â The Dunkel and the Alt were pretty ordinary.
Something has changed - white table cloths on the tables now - smaller menu.
Not as good as it used to be - I hope they bring it up a notch to where it used to be.
The 3 stars was for the atmosphere, waitress and the fact that it wasn't crowded....on a Saturday night.
I ordered the steak tips w/ mashed potatoes. Â Now...I'm irish, so any type of potato? Â I'm there. Â Well, their was VERY dry, disappointing. Â The steak tips were SO salty that I couldn't finish them. Â eh, we went in on a recommendation on the food and I just thought it could have been better. Â Our bill wasn't cheap either.
Four stars for the Beer!
One star for the food.
Despite a few revamps of the kitchen over the past couple years, the Tap Brew Pub/Brewing Company has failed to impress me with their food. I was very disappointed by their Nachos and Chicken and Waffles the last time I was in. They have officially joined the ranks of the Grog in Newburyport as locations relegated to "Well, if everyone else wants to I suppose I'll go..."
I have never had very good service here either. The ever changing crew rotates faster than a fast food joint and the bartenders are weak. I don't frequent a lot of bars but when a place is empty and it's still hard to get a beer I figure you don't need to be an expert to know they are slacking.
The saving grace is, of course, the beer which is consistently good. Not all the beers are my personal choices but the Josh Norton, Commuter Ale and a few others are excellent.
pass (beer) FAIL (food)
I went here with my boyfriend for drinks and a light dinner. Â The hostess sat us in the dining area instead of the bar area, which I would have rather sat. Â But at the time I was impatient so we sat in the white table cloth dining area so we didn't have to wait. (bar seats were full) Â Food was good! We got the calamari which comes with a mayo based sauce that I wasn't too-too crazy about (I prefer a marinara with calamari thats all) Â chicken caesar wrap, and my boyfriend had the mac and cheese.
I would recommend going downstairs because there are a few pool tables and a juke box. Â This was a nice surprise and we played a few rounds of pool to break up the night.
Overall unique beer selection! fun! and decent food!
I have nothing but good things to say about eating at The Tap. I was hungry after seeing a movie and my friend and I decided to find something in downtown Haverhill for a change, and really this was the first sign that caught our eye. The decor is pretty cool. I loved the lights and the paintings on the wall. The tables are nice. You don't feel like you're too close to people but you're close enough so the general atmosphere rubs off. They have a great beer selection, and reasonably priced. The menu is small but that's not a bad things (the more items the less likely for quality or so I've learned from reality television shows about restaurants over the years). My friend got the most unique dish that I think I've ever seen: chicken on waffles with rosemary maple syrup. Wow! Kudos to whoever came up with that! He loved it, and thought it was the best meal that he's had in ages. I tried a bite, and I just didn't care for the rosemary maple syrup. Luckily, I ordered fish and chips and it was delicious. I don't know what the coating on the fries was, but wow, it was tasty. The tartar sauce also had a unique taste, and I think it was hands down the best tartar sauce that I have ever tasted. The fish was fresh and filling; in fact, with my meal you got a ton of food for the price and Mr. Chicken Waffle fan had to help me finish it. Our waiter was very nice, the food was awesome, and the bill was more than reasonable for the quality of food we got. We are most definitely going to return, and soon!
Review Source:The manager at this place is a joke, he clearly does not like regular business. went in  with 6 friends for beers and food like we all do often, the bartenders were really friendly and personable. I tried there new brewers choice option it tasted like a old warhead candy it was so gross like 90% of there beer. Then we got dinner it was ok, but the manager  was very very rude to me puffed his chest out thinking he's tough i would not go back to this place for beers ever again just for the way i and my friends were treated. GET PERSONAL RELATION HELP TAP and Fire that tough guy manager
Go across the street to the chit chat if you want to drink without getting harassed by the staff!
The tap is more than decent for a brewpub as far as food goes.
I also like (SOME) of their beers. Â I have been to brewpubs all over the country, and it's nice living really close to a decent one. Â
However, their tap lines need to be cleaned more, and they use too much sanitizer or something. Â It destroys the head of the beer, and creates this soapy taste in the beer. Â There are impurities in the beer that gives a hangover. Â Everyone I talk to loves the place (most of my friends live in haverhill, and I lived there for 4 years) and they say it gives them a hangover. Â But that's probably because they get hammered and don't drink enough water. Â
They have decent bands up in the Limelight Lounge, and another bar. Â
I like their Ascension IPA, which isn't around all the time. Â Commuter ale is good...Whittier wheat was good. Â Their leatherlips IPA is pretty good.
They have decent beer and good food. Â Also friends work there so I'm down with that. Â They always have tools go there though and security is actually pretty good with them! Â
I love when people try to order a bud light there...bartenders just laugh at them in their face. Â
The  bartenders are fast and attentive no matter how busy, they make everyone feel special. haha
Don't order crappy beer here. Â They make their own versions of that stuff.
Starving, my husband & I came in... Not looking for this place, but too hungry to keep looking for the place we were trying to find, we stopped in here.
Derek, the guy behind the bar was SO HELPFUL! We wanted to taste different beers & he happily obliged us.... Not offended at all by all the glasses we were dirtying! Finally, jay (my husband) decided on the pumpkin ale... And loved it, while I decided to go lighter & got the CIGAR BOX MALBEC. A very good choice.
We couldn't decide on an appitizer, so we asked Derek's opinion & he suggested the calamari. Excellent choice! Very tasty....
Then for lunch, jay got the brew house burger, with bacon & a strong blue cheese, with onion rings. Probably the best burger we've both had in a LONG TIME! Derek  suggested the BBQ pulled pork. So juicy! And the fries were fantastic.
Leaving full & happy.... A wonderful experience! Will return!
Went there for my birthday dinner with my dad wife and nephew. Wanted to try the place since I have had the beer at a couple of beer tastings recently and thought it was very good.
Overall very disappointed. The two stars that i am giving this place are for the beer and the bartender i had. Â I had a sampler of the beers and thought they were average overall. Â Nothing knocked my socks off but I will say that the gestalt is one of the best local versions of this style that I have had. I had this sampler at the bar before dinner. I should note that the bartender I had was very informed in beer styles and was great.
Once we moved into the dining room to eat is where this place fails. Dining rooms is dirty and there were several flies in the dining room. Very annoying. The waitress was not very good service wise. Messed a couple of things up on our food order. Quickly fixed them though. Several other waitstaff just hanging around the dining room shooting the breeze. Of course it was early - about 5-530. But still hang out in the back. The quality of the food was just meh. Fried pickles are way too thick as opposed to thin fried pickle chips- very disappointing. Fried calamari was below average. Fries were soggy and not fresh. Flatbread  pizzas were good but did not appear grilled as advertised. The BBQ sauce served with the chicken was the best part of the whole experience. Very tasty!  Would buy it if I could.
So overall very disappointing. Will go back at some point with friends or whatever to taste seasonal beers as these guys do have some brewing talent. Â Maybe after a couple I would try the food, but definitely would not go back for the dining experience.
The tap is a great chill place to hang out with friends and have a good beer. Despite the three stars it's one of my favorite places to have a drink.
The problem with the tap is their food is mediocre to awful. I think over time the food has gotten worse. The last couple of times I really wanted to give chef Ramsey a call.
Great place to drink. Bad place to eat.
I went here with a group of friends recently and had dinner out on the deck. Â The view was really nice! Â It's deceptively small looking from the outside, but if you make it to the back it's very charming. Â The back deck is definitely one of the best features. Â The waitress was quick and attentive as well, so we didn't have a long wait despite it being busy. Â However, we were disappointed when we discovered that all the other tables had popcorn... it wasn't even offered to us!
I don't drink, so I can't comment on the alcohol. Â The food was decent but nothing outstanding. Â I got the caprese sandwich with onion rings. Â The sandwich was on simple toasted white bread (it felt like I was eating a bulky grilled cheese sandwich!) although the tomato and mozzarella was really tasty and fresh. Â The onion rings were subpar--I normally love onion rings, but they were so salty that I didn't even finish them. Â It felt like I was eating fried salty batter, not onion. For the amount of food you get, the prices felt a smidge high as well; I really don't think that sandwich was worth almost $10 of food.
However, I imagine the drinks are the real draw for this place, and I imagine they must be pretty good considering how crowded it was!
We stopped in on our way up to Vermont, and this was a solid lunch place. The beers are fantastic. Our waitress was really helpful and recommended two beers, both of which we loved. My boyfriend's burger was good, if a little overcooked, and it came with delicious fries. I had a salad which was tasty but nothing special. They have nice outdoor seating.
Review Source:A couple complaints: it had rained earlier but sunny by the time we arrived. We took the chance to sit out on the deck, hostess leads us to our table and mentions she will wipe off our seats for us as they were a bit wet. So I stand waiting. And waiting and waiting until I finally feel so stupid I take my own (linen) napkin and use it to wipe my seat off.
Second: the chips in the chips and guac app were stale.
However we had an awesome waitress and our food was DELISH!!! My hubby had a burger and I had a caprese sandwich. I tried to be healthy-ish but my sandwich was fabulously doused in butter...healthy FAIL. But incredible nonetheless. The haverale was perfect!
We both really liked it overall but deduct a star for not wiping our seats down and stale chips in the app.
Haven't been there for years and decided to give it a try. Nothing like we remembered. My husband ordered a sirloin steak and then was told after they didn't have any left! How does that happen at 5 pm on a Thursday? So he ordered
the steak medallions which turned out to be 3 steak tips with fries, they were just okay. I ordered the fish and chips that tasted funny, maybe old. The appetizer was okay, hummus, pita and olives. I had the sangria which tasted like grape juice. The waitress was very nice and personable. The place was not very clean. Won't be going back. :(
Been here several times and never had a bad experience. Â Food is consistent, Â service is decent, beer and drink lists are great. Can't go wrong with a burger here.
They have a really nice outdoor deck. Â I went recently on an absurdly hot April Sunday, and unfortunately there were only about 7 or 8 tables set up. The full deck is not set up until later in the season. Â They let you take drinks out, but there is limited food service. Â Decided to sit inside due to the crazy wait for a coveted outdoor seat (more than 1.5 hrs on a sunday). Â I'm not sure if they felt bad that people had to sit inside, but service was fantastic. Amazing fantastic. Â
Nachos arrived within  minutes of ordering them- not quite sure how they were cooked so quickly. From a nachos snob- they were actually pretty decent- many layers of cheese and fixins'.  Fish Tacos were tasty as well- although I would have preferred the tuna be cooked less. The unsuspecting white rice had some sort of amazing seasoning and I ended up eating more of the rice than the tacos. YUM!
Note: Â like a few other bar restaurants in Haverhill, they do not serve food on Monday nights.
So I haven't eaten here in quite some time and I want to update my review by saying my food was pretty good!
I ordered the portobello mushroom sandwich served on Fantini roll. It was realllllllllly good. My husband got a burger which he also thought was delicious.
The prices are slightly higher than I prefer to pay (about $10 a sandwich) and they charge an extra dollar for cheese on your burger, kinda not cool.
The onion rings and fries I could have done without though. They were just ok.
The beer is good, but seems to lack the extra kick that makes it unique. They have some great new seasonals, but their flagships are just OK.
The waitress did take quite a long time to cash us out but I understand because it was kinda busy.
Overall, A-OK.
I guess no tour of Haverhill can be complete without a stop at this place for some libation with their home brews. Â Well, we did not opt for beer and got an Orange Cremesicle instead. Â Oh yeah, that was good. Â But buyer beware - that one drink is really strong (or maybe it was just that Frannie - designated driver - put half of her drink in mine). Â We sat at the bar, which I personally like to do in a town like Haverhill, and the our server could not have been more cute - I think I have gray hair older than this dude! Â The menu looks like typically pub fair, which if we had not just eaten I might have split something with my companion. Â I would love to visit again and kick back and watch the "river flow on the back deck".
Review Source:I do not go to the Tap for the food. Although they do serve a somewhat lovely bread/oil that will absorb some of the alcohol nicely. I will leave the food reviews to others.
Our bartender was adorable (although I believe my jacket was older that him) and he mixed a strong drink. The Orange Creamsicle is a lovely little diversion while chatting at the bar, people watching at a sidewalk table or just watching the river flow on the back deck. Today we sat inside since it was a bit nippy to be out.
Thankfully the gentleman sitting at the bar next to us did not mind when Barbara and I began ogling his meat. He was even kind enough to allow us a closer examination although he did warn us not to touch. All in all his burger (what'd you think I was talking about?) looked pretty good but the bun was maybe a bit too big for the meat it held.
They do have a nice sized dining area for those who come to enjoy the food. I personally can't wait for the nice weather so I can drink at the outdoor tables yet again.
Not too impressed with this place. Â
Service was okay, atmosphere was alright I guess. Food was not good.
I ordered the pork tacos which consisted of three tacos with barbeque pulled pork topped with what I thought was maybe salsa but was actually just cut up tomatoes. Â No sides, nothing else to put on the tacos, nothing. Â Not good and not worth $15 for sure. Â
My dinning companion got a portabella burger which looked standard along with a salad instead of fries. Â We actually ended up getting charged for a side salad, so that put the mushroom burger at close to fifteen dollars as well. Â We are on the Merrimac river in Haverhill, why do sandwiches cost $15?
The beers were kind of tasty I got to admit, but nothing really that out of the ordinary. And, I will admit the patio looked nice however we did not sit out there. Â Even with that said, I doubt I will ever come back.
Nothing like a brewery in your backyard. I enjoy their darker brews. But the food is pretty darn good for a brewery. And we are not just talking burger and fries. They really try to make dishes that compliment their ales, stouts, you name it. The place has old German brewery atmosphere - and it doesn't try to be too fancy.
Always get their special, cause whatever it is, its usually excellent (like Yellow fin Tuna in a slight mango sauce)... just to give you an idea. And it's inexpensive.
I adore beer. I've adored it since the microbrew revolution took hold in the late 80's / early 90s. I've drank my way across Belgium, Germany and the UK. I have been brewing for over 15 years. My beer resume now presented, I will say this: Â Haverhill Brewery makes good beer.
I started with their 5 glass sampler: Helles Belles, Haverale, Whittier White, Gestalt, and a cask conditioned black ale.
My favorite out of this line up was the Helles Belles. One of the palest beers I have seen at a craft brewer, it is true to its Helles style (crafted by German brewers in the 19th century to compete with the pale Bohemian pilsners that were all the rage). In fact, it tastes quite a lot like what I drank over in Germany which brough back some good memories. The other beers were true to their styles, well crafted, and had layers of complexity you hope to find in a good brew.
Beyond the beer:
I had a fried calamari appetizer that lacked something. Â There was a solitary banana pepper ring thrown into the mix, and perhaps a few more of those would have added the extra flavor I was looking for. The calamari itself was good quality and not overly fried.
The smoked salmon salad was exactly what I was looking for on a 90+ degree day. A good deal of their homemade smoked salmon over greens with kalamata olives, and a relish made from cucumber, red onion, and capers. It was served with a toasted piece of scali bread and a balsamic vinagrette. Delicious and light, ample enough to satisfy.
I look forward to coming back here more often, especially to further explore their beer offerings.
I went to the Tap on the way to Kate the Great Day and we had lunch. I enjoyed the pulled pork and sampled several of the brews including the Alt, Cream ale and Smoked Pils which was interesting to say the least. The place has popcorn to snack on while you wait which is nice.
I would recommend the place base on the quality of the beer they make alone, but we had some good food and the service was decent  -a quality brewpub.
Paid a return visit the other evening and still enjoyed the place.
Obviously the beer is the star here and the Three Graces selection did not disappoint. It was similar in flavor to some Allagash offerings, but I actually preferred it. I also enjoyed the Gestalt and the Dunkel, but they were not as good as the Three Graces.
I started with the french onion soup which was surprisingly good for a brew pub. For dinner I had the brewers burger which had blue cheese and bacon on it. It was tasty and cooked correctly. They ask you how you want it and cooked it that way. Not like so many places that now cook all burgers medium well or higher no matter what you ask for.
We had some non-locals visiting us and the weather was unseasnably warm so we wanted to grab lunch someplace with outside seating.
When we got there we were told that the wait for the outside dining area was 45-minutes so we decided to eat inside and we were told up-front that they were understaffed.
The beer was delicious and the waiter was very nice - but the service was slow. The french fries were not fresh at all but my panini was pretty good. Two members of our party weren't happy with their food, though.
Overall, this place is definitely worth it for the beer but I'll need to give the food another shot.
I really love the idea of a little local brewery, but I wish their beer was better. Â I've had the sampler a couple times, both light and dark, but I just don't think their beer is very good. Haver-Ale is passable. Â The IPA is not, in my opinion.
I've been here a bunch of times. Â The first two times were very good. Â The food was very decent; service was very good. Â The last time was a disappointment. Â Our waitress abandoned us, and our food sat in the window for way too long. Another server eventually brought it over, but the food was worse for the wear. Â Fries were cool and limp. Â Burger buns got soggy. Â I got tired of waiting for her to bring us the check and had to get up and find her. Â You should never have to do that.
I really like the look of the place. Â Gigantic murals depicting what I recall to be an 1800 bar scene dominate the wall space. Â It's very cool, really.
I would go back, but I'm in no hurry. Â They had good nachos, but their house-made salsa was not great. Â I swear, most restaurants would be better off opening a jar of Ortega.
This is totally going against the grain on most of these reviews, but I've gotta say go for the food, and skip the beer.
I'm a beer snob, and it's a well-known fact. I DO NOT LIKE THE BEER HERE. I've been a regular customer at the tap for years, and their nachos are amazing; their pastas and salads are great; I love the grilled veggie wrap, and the bread board is always a plus.
Love the deck when it's warm, and the service for me has always been great, but the beer is just so overrated.
I think my problem with the beer mostly is I'm not into IPAs and I don't like Belgian style beers either. I like malt, but not lots of hops. When the beer tastes like grapefruit juice or vinegar, it's a turn off for me. The Whittier White is halfway decent, and their honey beer is okay as well, but that's it. I think the other beers are too strong and are lacking complex flavors.
So contrary to the crowds, I'd say go for the food, and make a stop elsewhere for the well.
Went to The Tap for a quick bite to eat and for some drinks. Â Well, our 'quick' bite to eat turned into an hour and a half ordeal. Â It took 20 minutes after we sat down for someone to take our drink order. Â After we put in our food order (which consisted of sliders and a burger) it took another half hour to get our food. Â I will never go to The Tap for food again.
On the bright side, the beer is great!
First off.....I used to live across the street from this place so I was a permanent fixture in this place.
The Tap beer is 5 stars!
This place has had so many beers win awards and they are asked to go all over the US. The old brewer, Steve Bernard, was amazing and his work has passed on to the new brewer ( not enough time in there to meet people like I used to ). What I mean is if you drank the beer 5 years ago and you drink the beer now ( their overall tatse ) it is the same or a little bit better. Â I can talk about the beer all day but back to the review.
The Tap is not a place to eat. Â I mean if you are drunk off the beer then yeah its pub food, so order away. Â I go there for the beer and thats it. I mean the food should be better but whatever, the beer kicks ass.
The Tap used to be the best place ever when the gang worked there
-Michelle
-Brian
-Kerry Lee 2
-Dizzy D
-Al
-Sean
-Little J
-Jason Carrol
-Steve Bernard
-Laura
-Justine
All gone, I mean this place rocked when they were here and it hasnt been the same since.
I mean the girls that are there now are good, dont get the wrong idea......
I dont sit at tables there, I think i may have once out of 500 times.
The back deck is brilliant, it is the best in the area on a nice day ( besides the coast that is).
The Beer is 5 Stars
The restaurant, 2.5ish...round up to 3 stars
R.I.P. Tap Rats......
I love the Tap. Â Its my favorite Friday night hangout. Â Why?
THE BEER.
The beer is phenomenal. Â Leatherlips IPA may be the best beer brewed in New England. Â Its way better on tap than in the bottle (although its great in the bottle, too). Â Doublelips IPA (the higher alcohol version of Leatherlips) may be the best beer in the universe. Â Unfortunately, they tapped the last keg of Doublelips recently. Â Hopefully they'll brew more soon.
There always have 4 "regular" beers on tap: Â Leatherlips (for hop-heads only), Haverale (their lightest beer), Homerun APA (a hoppier version of Haverale), and Whittier White. Â Then they'll rotate in 4 or 5 other seasonal beers - usually at least one stout or porter, a belgian-style, a fruit beer in the summer, etc. Â And every Thursday, they tap a new cask of "real ale" - a cask-conditioned, often dry-hopped ale served at cellar temp, pulled from a real hand-pumped beer engine. Â For a beer geek like me, it doesn't get any better.
The bar staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Â If you're not sure about a certain style, they will gladly offer you a sample to taste. Â Oh, and it is a full bar, with liquor and wine, but they don't serve any commercial or bottled beers of any kind, only what they brew on the premises. Â Its always funny to see a newbie saunter up to the bar and order a Sam Adams and a Bud Light. Â But the bartenders are always patient and kind with newbies, and will suggest appropriate alternatives.
The food is OK  (but did I mention the beer??).  Nachos are huge and tasty.  Burgers are very good.  I'll often get Reuben and fries, which I quite enjoy although a bit pricy at $10.  Fried haddock was somewhat disappointing - lots of breading, not much fish.  "Pub Fries" - which are strips of portabello mushrooms, breaded and fried, served with a spicy  dipping sauce - sound good on paper but are just plain weird.
The atmosphere is relaxed and funky, but very different in the bar area than in the dining room or on the deck. Â This is definitely more of a BAR than a restaurant. Â If you want friendly, attentive service, stick to the bar area. Â The service in the dining room can be hit-or-miss, and on the deck it can be non-existent. Â Also, if you happen to go when the kettles are being cleaned, the stale hop odor can be annoying (as a home brewer, I don't mind it.)
But the BEER IS GREAT!
OK, I have to state right off, I am friends with the head brewer. Â He's a naturally talented guy and makes really terrific beers. Â That's the only reason I go there. If you go for the food alone, I have to say it's iffy. Â I've had truly great experiences there and really poor ones. It's not that the food is bad, it's not, it's just that the service is hit or miss. The last time I went, I asked to skip the fries and give me the veggie side instead. Welp, I got the fries
anyway and my Ruben was served on the wrong kind of bread.Listen, I know better then to send meals back to the kitchen. Â I guess my point is, Â the only consistent thing here is the beer, and it's always excellent. Â If you love great beer, and don't mind taking a chance with the food, the Tap is an excellent place to spend an evening.
Solid 3.5. Â Go for the beers. Â The Tap brews some of the best local beer around. Â Most noticeably, the Leatherlips IPA, but actually I've yet to find a dud in the bunch and they have 8 or 9 beers going on here. Â You'll find these pop up at the usual places around town, Lower Depths, Sunset, Deep Ellum, Alchemist, Bukowski's recently had their Honey Ale on tap... Â but there's no beating getting the stuff straight from the source.
We came at an awkward time as there was an Italian festival going on in Haverhill centered right behind The Tap. Â We would have taken advantage of the awesome back deck they have going that looks out on the Merrimac River, which cuts right through the center of the city, but it was a weird scene down there and sticking indoors and catching the last of the Red Sox game seemed a wiser plan.
There's a nice pub atmosphere to the place. Â A lot of brew-pubs tend towards the sterilized and bright ambiance like the Cambridge and Portsmouth Brewing Co.s but this one wears it's age (founded 1897) and sticky menus like a badge of honor. Â You'll find more cut off shorts and sleeveless t-shirts here than you might expect, but hey, this is Haverhill, and this is how they rock it.
While the beers are all exceptional, the sandwiches lacked luster. Â They tended to be made with little love and more ambivalence. Â I have a feeling there's certain items they do better than most -- maybe stick to apps? -- we simply failed to find them this time around. Â I don't know if Fortuna's wheel will spin me here again any time soon, but I'd be down for return visits and giving the food another try. Â It's certainly a cool place to catch a game on their projection tv and if I lived in the area it would be the beer destination.
The friend I was visiting suggested the Tap for dinner. There were four of us at about nine oclock on a Friday night. Initially, the place didn't look packed - we had to wait for about 10 minutes for a table, but it took 10 minutes to score a coupla drinks, so we didn't have time to sit, sip, and relax. Ushered out the back door, we found a huge patio awaiting, right by the river. And a band! Your typical forties-aged cover band doing a slowed-down rendition of "Louie, Louie". Hott.
It took a while for our waitress to get around to us. She was a young blonde, more interested in flirting with the group of muscles sitting behind us (More on them later). I got the lobster, my friend ordered the salmon which she heard as "the same" because she brought out 2 of those awesome lobster bibs and claw crackers. Our dinner took even longer because we had to rectify the mistake, getting one of the busboys to fetch her. It was slightly humilitating, if not for a wild group of Canadians who kept us entertained - picture a lively seventy year old, hardly English speaking woman, freaking out over redone classic rock tunes. We cheered her on, to which she threw her hands in the air and replied, "I am from Quebec City, and I love America!"
After a while we were restless. What else to do but harass whomever's nearest? Enter Muscles group. One of the guys looked like a professional body builder. He kept commenting on our waitress' ass. Nice. I asked him if his muscles were insured. Then I felt his pecs. They were rock hard. We got some photos with this guy, who then persuaded us to hit on his friend who he claimed was "pale". So we took some photos with the left-out kid.
I think the Tap is the small-town equivalent to a fraternity party without smelling really bad. For this, I'm grateful. I like some old time jams with a cheap and delicious $21 lobster, right by the river that I can't see because it's so dark. For a deader than dead downtown scene, one thing is for certain. In Haverhill, Mass, people party at the Tap.
I always have a good time when I go out here with my friends.
The summer is the best time to go, they have a HUGE deck out back right on the Merrimack River. Â There a tables with umbrellas that you can sit at. The staff is nice, sometimes a little slow depending on how busy they are.
It's a big place too. Inside there's a large bar with seating, and also a dining room. I've never had a meal here, but I've heard it's good. You have to go down a steep set up stairs to get to the bathroom. But good place overall. A different option when going out in Haverhill.
The Tap is THE hangout for me and my friends. For the cheaper prices, they have some really good food; everything from burgers to bleu salads to steak is served here, and every meal has been fantastic. I've had almost everything off their menu and never has anything been sub-par.
This is also where they brew their own beer (which can now be bought at Kappys), so you get a microbrew right off the tap, which you just can't beat! The season changes the crowd; in the summer, bunches of people crowd outside on the huge deck to hear the band and in the winter, couples sit together inside for candlelight dinners. The inside is a classy, upscale pub, with deep wooden accents, murals & antiques that don't overpower the place. They also have a function room for events. This is definitely one of my favorite restaurants in MA for everything--food, atmosphere, beer, bands & fun.
__________
Update:
I don't know what exactly is going on recently, but the past two times I've gone here, I've had seriously lackluster food and experiences. Their Mediterranean salad can only be described as rather gross, the chicken satay I got was so dry I couldn't even eat it, they ran out of the succulent half-chicken, our bill got messed up, etc. etc. We'll still go there, but I'm hoping their menu improves for us who don't always order burgers every time we go. Blah.
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