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Plenty of restaurants and bars have photos or gear on the wall.
The Tap House Grill in Plainfield literally has beer taps in display cases upon entry.
But don’t be confused by the expansive beer list, which includes 40 beers on tap to meander through.
They serve food too. And it isn’t just bar food; it’s seriously good eats that aren’t crazy expensive.
One of the intrigues of eating out is trying new things. So as much as I was tempted to order The Farm Burger, a certified Angus beef burger topped with a fried egg, cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon and bacon spread, I decided to be more adventurous.
I also was not adventurous enough to go after the King Kobe Burger (You get a Kobe Tap House Grill T-shirt if you down the entire 1.5-pound triple decker burger topped with 0.5 pounds of cheese and pound of fries), mind you.
So I went after the Sprecher Root Beer-braised Beef & Gouda two-handed sandwich. The menu claims it was honored by another media outlet as being one of the best, so I figured this media outlet should try the sandwich for itself.
Now plenty of places make a roast beef and cheese sandwich sound fancy for no reason. But that wasn’t the case here.
This was a serious sandwich, with tots on the side to hide how serious I was about it.
Claiming to have locally baked breads is easy, Baking a bread that fresh and soft with a crust that doesn’t crunch yet remains firm enough and not soggy with melted cheese is an art form. They’ve got it down.
And the cheese, well, let’s just say it works well with the root beer-braised beef.
Which brings us to the taps that led us into the restaurant to begin with.
It’s easy to have a lot of offerings on tap. It’s hard to have a lot of offerings yet have something for everyone.
Of the 40 beer options, there are a few that most have tried and know such as Coors Light, Miller Light and several versions of Sam Adams.
But I was being adventurous, remember, so I made sure to check out only things that were new. So I didn’t even go after the Boulevard brews I remembered fondly.
I ate my two-handed sandwich with the Saugatuck Blueberry Maple Stout Nitro (which BeerMenus.com says tastes like a glass full of blueberry pancakes smothered in maple syrup). If you recall, I passed on the eggs and burger earlier, so I needed a little breakfast in my life.
Then I closed off the meal with New Holland’s Dragon’s Milk Oak-Barrel Aged.
The best comparison I had tried before was Alltech’s Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, but New Holland’s might just be a better option.
The beers on tap are constantly changing, but an updated list is available on BeerMenus.com, along with some of the bottled options.
So I left satisfied and also with big hopes for the future of taking down the King Kobe Burger. There are plenty of food challenges out there, but this one for some reason just sounded more delicious.
And who doesn’t like a T-shirt thrown in to celebrate a victory over food?
• The Mystery Diner is a newsroom employee at The Herald-News. The diner’s identity is not revealed to restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a review.
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IF YOU GO
WHAT: Tap House Grill
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday
WHERE: 24402 W. Lockport St., Plainfield