The Tap House — Restaurant in Chattanooga

A quick edit: Chris, from the Tap House wrote one of the best responses to my review I have ever seen. He was not defensive. I added a star.

Cold and a bit depressing inside with a server who is not knowledgeable about the beers.

Why three stars?

I’m sure this place is packed and lively in the evening, but I came in on Friday around 1 PM, and it was really empty and cold. I know that this is an older building with high ceilings and glass windows, but it was freezing. I probably should’ve just left, but I thought once I had a beer and some food in me, I would warm up. I did not. It was really chilly the entire time.

I will say my server was initially attentive. She was very nice. But it was only me and two other tables…the entire time. And she just didn’t appear again except to bring the food. The place had only three seated tables out of several, and two people working, thus, the server should’ve been much more present. (See the photo I took of no one behind the bar). Later, I saw the two servers way off to the side, talking to each other, behind the bar. But if you’re looking to catch a server’s eye to refill water or anything else, it’s really awkward when you have to go up and start looking around for her. At a minimum, I should not have to be flagging her down, very, very minimum she should at least be visible somewhere in the restaurant so that if I do have to walk around, I can find her. She asked me what I wanted to drink, and then disappeared, did not offer much advice on the beer at all, even though I told her I was from Asheville (a big beer town) and I asked if she had any High gravity, and she said,“just scan the QR code.” I told her what type of beer I liked, and I asked for suggestions, and again she said, “Scan it and you’ll see a list.” She wasn’t offering any advice on any beers and I found it really unusual in a bar that is so beer focused…And so empty. It’s not as if she had to rush off to a bunch of other tables. I really expect my bartenders/servers (at a place known for beers) to say “this has some undertones of this” or “this one’s a little grassy“ or “this is a nice hoppy IPA, but it’s a bit cloudy.“ But she wanted me to do my own research and just told me to scan the QR code. Again, with no one here, she could’ve walked me through some of the beers. Since I did not have any recommendations, I thought I would have a flight, and even then, when I was saying, “what about this one?” she told me to write down the numbers. Maybe I’m spoiled from living in Asheville, but I am really accustomed to the bartenders telling me the details about the beers when I ask a question. And this is a place that… does… Beers. I just really expected to have a conversation about it, and that’s one of the reasons I came in. The server seem to know absolutely nothing about the offerings.

Terrible Wi-Fi. It is free Wi-Fi, but the entire time I had less than one bar. It made it tricky, because I needed to contact a couple of people and get a few things done, but it was really really bad Wi-Fi. I know this is not a business or a café or people that come to get the work done, but hopefully with the Wi-Fi you should have at least two bars.

Food. Here is the real reason for three stars. I really did not enjoy the food. I would never give a three star review to a place just because the Wi-Fi was spotty and it was cold. Or even if the server was not knowledgeable. But the food was really disappointing. I ordered the boneless wings, and the barbecue sauce that covered them seemed rather generic, and they felt a bit soggy and they were cold! The blue cheese was runny and not chunky and they were $20! For a pound basket. I ordered a pound so I could have some to take home. And I really wish I had only ordered a half a pound. They just weren’t good. I’ve had boneless wings all over the place, and these tasted like something that you would get that were frozen and then thawed out and just slathered in some sauce. The sauce was too heavy, the wings were not crispy and good. The sauce...

I can count on 1 hand the amount of reviews I’ve left over the last couple of years so typically I don’t leave one unless something was really good or really bad. Was really disappointed here yesterday. Stopped in for a few beers and ordered some food- a burger for the kids to share and I got the chipotle ranch chicken sandwich and my hubby got a burger wrap of some sort. Anyway, the place was clean and the beer was good, and we’d read up on the place prior and thought it was cool that a veteran owned it etc. What wasn’t good was the hamburger - my kids were very put off by the taste so I tasted it myself and it was terrible. Didn’t even taste like beef it almost tasted like a sausage patty and the look and consistency was of a pre-made patty - perfectly shaped, thin and an overly smooth consistency to it - almost slimey. Husband picked off the meat (same stuff) off of his meal and so did my son. My daughter did eat her portion of the burger cuz she was starving but said it “tasted like a hot dog.” Very very weird experience with the meat not sure if they’d run out of burger and ran to the nearest store and bought some random Patties or what, but the menu made the burgers look and sound delicious and they definitely were not. Waiter picked up our dishes and the meat was clearly picked off and uneaten which typically would flag an employee to ask (at least I would have?!). Mentioned it to the waiter at checkout and he mumbled something about a “new recipe” they were trying in the kitchen and offered no solution. Terrible experience, don’t order a burger there...

So much potential to be so much more. This place has the potential to be a great local dining/bar option for people visiting the area. All it needs is a few tweaks. Right now I feel like they greatly benefit from overflow from 1885 Grill when people don’t feel like waiting for a table there.

The look inside is great. It really hits the nail on the head for what you would expect to see at a little tap house hang out. The first real issue I see is the signs on the outside. They just say “The Tap House”. It would lead you to believe that all they serve is alcohol and not a place to take the family. Simply changing the sign to say at the very bottom “Bar & Grill” could help immensely.

The chairs inside are far too narrow. They need to be a little wider. The backs of the chairs are also not very convenient for a lady to hang her purse on. Seems like the design was very male focused without consideration for female clientele. Even something as simple as adding little hooks to the side of the wooden tables for a purse to hang from could make it more female friendly.

The food is good but could be better. A lot of things that could be kicked up a notch by making them in-house are obviously from a can or jar. Just a few made-in-house tweaks would take this food from “ok…” to “ohh damn!”

I really hope they can make a few little tweaks to this place because it really does have so much potential to be amazing. We are not from the area but will check back in if we come...