Taphouse Craft Beer + Kitchen — Restaurant in Orangeville

The Wyck Recommendation: Taphouse Craft Beer + Kitchen, Orangeville Rating: 3.2/5 I Couldn't Figure Out the Hype... Then the Bill Came.

Intro Scene It was one of those Orangeville evenings where everything feels suspiciously wholesome. Couples licking ice cream on Broadway. Teenagers pretending they’re edgy for walking near a mural. I turned a corner onto Mill Street and stepped into what looked like a taproom built inside a former rec center or possibly a reformed auto garage. It had string lights, board games, and the energy of a place that once hosted a failed comedy night. I was already nervous.

What Was Ordered I stared at the menu like it had personally betrayed me. Everything was fried. Not “pub comfort” fried—more like “frozen and dropped into oil by a guy named Kyle” fried. No winter menu. No clarity. I gave up and ordered a flight of beer: four mini glasses on a wooden board like a kindergarten art project. One was red. One was lemony. One tasted like regret. It was fine. Just… fine.

Service Commentary Service hovered between disinterested and just-there. My server wasn’t rude, but he had the vibe of a guy halfway through a breakup text. No one explained the menu or specials. No one made eye contact. It wasn’t bad enough to complain, just uninspired enough to feel like background noise.

Vibe Check Outside? Massive gravel patio strung with lights and promises. Inside? Dimly lit bar, wall of dusty board games, and that eerie silence you only find in places trying to be fun. There’s also a random second patio in the back, but by that point it felt like I was in a dive bar escape room. I kept asking myself: who is this place for? Local dads? Lost stoners? People avoiding their kids?

The Space Itself You enter through a black door like it’s a speakeasy, then realize the secret is there’s no real theme. Brick walls, a chalkboard of beers, crooked bar stools, and a laminated drink menu so faded it looked like a 90s diner placemat. Add a scattered display of Settlers of Catan and Drinkopoly, and you start to understand why nothing here quite matches but somehow it doesn’t care.

About the Neighborhood A stone’s throw from charming, walkable Broadway, aka Orangeville’s photogenic zone, Taphouse sits around the corner on a less romantic patch of Mill Street. It's close to the action but feels entirely outside it. Like it chose exile. Or maybe exile chose it.

Hits & Misses

✓ $13.40 flight of beer is absurdly reasonable ✓ Giant patio with potential for live music and unhinged nights ✓ Great beer variety if you know what you’re doing ✗ Fried food domination, zero menu flexibility ✗ Interior feels like a confused youth group hangout ✗ Vibe doesn’t match the hype or the online praise ✗ Staff barely present, definitely not proud

Final Verdict Taphouse isn’t a restaurant. It isn’t really a bar either. It’s a dive that accidentally went semi-viral on Google Maps. And once I saw the price on my beer flight, it all clicked. Of course people love this place. Cheap drinks, late-night specials, music bingo. It’s not about the food or service—it’s about the illusion of fun at a price point no one questions. Go in expecting comfort or quality and you’ll leave confused. Go in expecting a cheap buzz in a parking lot and it’s a five-star experience. Choose your delusion.

Perfect For Paying $13.40 to understand Orangeville Staring into a beer flight wondering what...

Came to celebrate my graduation, left wondering if I accidentally walked into a reboot of Bad Girls Club: Orangeville Edition.

Came to celebrate my university graduation with my girlfriends at Taps House in Orangeville. A group of men walked in before us and were greeted warmly, seated immediately, and treated like kings. We walked in right after and the vibe shifted fast cold attitude, no smiles, and a whole speech about how there’d be a long wait for a patio table.

Cool, we say we’ll wait we grab some shots at the bar, tip like angels, and chill. 20 minutes later, we’re “finally” seated outside… only to see the patio is basically a ghost town. three tables max. So why the fake delay? Were they hoping we’d leave?

Anyway, I ask the brunette bartender to send another round to our table. We wait. And wait. And wait. Meanwhile, the staff is over at the bar acting like it’s a sleepover phones out, giggling, not a care in the world.

Eventually, my friend waves someone down and the blonde bartender comes over not with our drinks, but to tell us it’s Last call. I politely ask about the drinks we never got and she hits me with, “Well you didn’t order with me.” Not her problem. Apparently customer service isn’t either.

Trying to salvage the night, I ask to place a new order shooters and cocktails. But nope, liquor laws won’t allow both. I get it, I’m Smart Serve certified too, babe. But maybe if you served us when we ordered 20 minutes ago, we wouldn’t be racing the clock.

We settle for just shooters. Takes another 10 minutes with a completely empty bar. She walks over, drops them silently on the table doesn’t say a word and slams down the debit machine like we were about to dine and dash 😂

THEN plot twist I watch the same guys from earlier stroll up to the bar and get served again. Instantly. No issues. Apparently “last call” has different meanings depending who you are .

So I go up, super calm, and say, “It’s not even about the drinks anymore it’s about how differently we’re being treated.” Instead of, you know , apologizing or pretending to care, she calls in the Avengers blonde, brunette, and now green-haired Fiona covered in tattoos with a passion for chaos.

Green Hair storms in like she’s auditioning for a WWE promo. Gets in my sister’s face, clapping and yelling like we stole her shift. Mind you, this didn’t even involve her until she jumped in for drama like it was open mic night.

She tells us we’re “not welcome” and looks like she’s ready to square up in the middle of the restaurant. At that point, I gather my girls maturely and leave , f I am and say, “Let’s go.”

And as we walk out, she slams the door behind us and shouts, “NEVER COME BACK!”

Don’t worry,...

We were a group of 12 there to celebrate a birthday with family. Our server was rude from the time we arrived and was borderline hostile the entire evening. When we were ready to order we asked how she would like to handle the cheque because it would be three separate bills and we wanted to try to avoid confusion. She replied that she has been doing this for years and that we would sort it at the end. She frequently forgot drink orders and had a lot of unfriendly attitude throughout our dinner. She brought me my beer and realized that she had given me the wrong one. I told her I had already taken a sip from the glass. She then proceeded to give it to the person who had ordered it at our table without mentioning that someone had already drank from the glass. When we were ready for the bills and tried to explain who belonged to what cheque she was dismissive and therefore our bills were wrong. She did try to fix them but paid little attention to our explanation of dividing the bill. She once again told us she’s good at what she does and she’s got it. My bill was still way off at this point so I took it to the bar and asked her if we could go over it together. I was polite and calm about it but she kept talking over me, telling me I was wrong. I know what I ate and drank. I asked her to please let me finish what I was saying and she began to yell at me to stop freaking out at her. She was the only one freaking out at this point. I decided I needed to walk away for a moment as I was shocked at her behaviour. She began to swear and yell at my whole family and caused a scene disrupting every patron in the restaurant. Even the kitchen staff came out to see what was going on. Luckily Nick took over and helped me with my bill. He was calm and professional even when our server came back and was trying to push her way into sorting out my bill again. She was completely irate and had zero self control. I have never not tipped at a restaurant before but when obscenities and insults are hurled at you and your family I don’t think a tip should be expected. I did make sure to tip the kitchen staff as they did a great job. It was a really unfortunate incident and I’m not even mad about it. I chose not to engage with her and she was clearly in a very bad place. I was embarrassed for her. She is a definite liability to an otherwise great place with good food ...