Tap and Handle — Restaurant in Fort Collins

I don't know that I've ever written a bad review but I feel like I must. We went to Tap and Handle after work to decompress with some coworkers. The entire group is very chill happy folk. My boyfriend and I are gross overtippers... generally 30-40% and tolerate pretty poor service no issue. We've both been in the downtown service industry for 10+ years and get there are rough days... thats okay! However today's service was just abysmal and we had to leave 10% for the first time I think ever.

When we sat down, we notified the server that we will be on separate checks so she could easily settle at the end of the night and neither her or us would be stuck there for hours. She told us no, that isn't easy for her, and we should either venmo each other or sort it at the end of the night. Okay, I've literally NEVER heard of this ever in my life but you do you. We assumed she had some system in place to keep things in order. Throughout the night she acted completely put out or annoyed with EVERY drink or food order we made, told us "no we have to wait for her to come back" several times when we tried to order, and just looked miserable. Fine, bad days happen, we order our food. EVERY burger we got was raw inside. The medium burgers were rare, the well done medium rare, the medium rare essentially blue. (Pictured is my medium burger that I had to take home so I can reheat) We didnt complain and just ate the burgers. At the end of the night when we went to settle we were given a huge list of items and told to number each item that was ours. It took us over 30 minutes to do this and EVERY check was still incorrect when she brought it back. When we gently tried to correct it we were told "Why don't you guys have venmo or something." We left 3.5 hours after starting our check and were done after 2.We won't ever be coming back... which is sad because its a beautiful place with a gorgeous patio and...

Thursday 5/15/25 was our 1st time at Tap and Handle. We went for a "tap takeover" by Von Trapp brewery. We had vacationed where the brewery/bierhall is located in Stowe, VT but didn't get a chance to visit. ...So here it was that chance.

It wasn't much of a "tap takeover". There were just 3 Von Trapp beers on tap. We were told by a rep from the distributor those were almost always available at Tap and Handle. Oh well ...

We tried tried the 3 they had; a zwickelbier, a kölsch style bier, and a helles style bier. All were rock solid and delicious and represented the styles well. Better than most for sure. They also have wine, cocktails on tap, mixed drinks and a large, really awesome selection of tap beers. They also have some NA beers that I noticed but I'm not sure if they have NA wines or mixed drinks.

We also had food. The pretzel is good with a nice accompanying cheese sauce and a top notch "sinus clearing" stone ground style mustard. We had the Old Bay dry rubbed wings which were very good. They were nice and crispy, not overcooked, and not slimy like some places make 'em. We also had the chicken and goat cheese sandwich with fries. It was delicious! The "Texas toast" wasn't overly thick. It was just right with a crunchy toasted exterior and a soft, chewy interior. The chicken was cooked until tender but still juicy. And the goat cheese added a nice contrast and "wang" to the sandwich. And the fries were also very good - crispy outside with a tender, creamy center.

Service...that can make/break a place. If our visit was any representation of their usual service then I wouldn't hesitate to go back. It was top notch! It was very busy but all the staff really hustled and did a great job.

I would definitely recommend this place and will...

We have been coming here for 8 years, literally this is the bar where we met. We even know the bartender, Chris, pretty well (only from coming in). The service here.. well it is awful. It has only gotten worse over the years, way worse in the last 2-3 years, which is why we’ve chosen to go elsewhere (highly recommend going to the Forge, Mayor, and virtually any other place in Old Town). While here most recently, we watched tables who were sat after us get served first, literally made eye contact with the server five times who just kept on walking. We watched Chris take shots with the table next to us, all still while we were just waiting for someone to serve us.. since we didn’t receive any sort of service for 20+ minutes we finally walked inside to the bar and ordered. The bartender, who actually did in fact FINALLY serve us some beers, said she’d send a server out to our table. It took another 15 minutes for her to make her way over, but no worries she served another table who sat down 30 minutes after us before she came to our table. Honestly, sure, they have a good beer selection but that is only if you can actually get served a beer. Just go somewhere else and don’t waste your time here where they are clearly more interested in drinking with their buddies than...