When a new place in Spring opens up, the news spreads quickly, especially if that place serves lots of beer. Tapped Drafthouse & Kitchen, located near the intersection of Gosling and Kuykendahl, has been a welcome addition to the area. Locally owned by Andrew and Kelsey Neidert, Tapped is a family-friendly craft beer lover’s paradise.
Upon entering, you will notice how much bigger it looks inside than you expected. The décor is modern, yet comfortable. There are tables, booths, a long community table and an L-shaped bar. Flat screen TV’s adorn the exposed brick walls allowing sports fanatics to stay connected, but the volume is such that others can still converse without shouting.
At the center of Tapped lies the pièce de résistance, a glorious 50-tap wall equipped with an impressive assortment of ales, ambers, IPA’s, ciders and stouts. Neidert, a home brewer himself, does the beer selection and tries to only buy one keg at a time to make sure the brews are constantly rotating. I felt a little like a kid in a candy shop staring at the list of potential pours. Lucky for me they offer a flight of five beers for $10.99.
I started with a crisp and refreshing Watermelon Wheat from Galveston Bay Brewing and then moved on to Platypus Brewing Ranga red ale. Local breweries are well represented at Tapped, but one thing that caught my eye was the number of dark beers on tap. As a personal fan of drinking stouts and porters year round, I was elated to find so many options. B-52 Bourbonator, Founders Brewing Scotch Ale and Clown Shoes Undead Party Crasher were my top picks for the night.
The food menu at Tapped is still evolving. It’s currently healthy, but comforting bar food. Baked wings, pizza, and salads are the main items. For starters, the pretzel is a must, because pretzels go with beer like peanut butter and jelly. The pretzel has just the right amount of crunch on the outside, yet still remains soft on the inside. Another shareable starter worth noshing on is the Buffalo macaroni and cheese— large corkscrew shaped pasta topped with a spicy Buffalo sauce, chunks of bacon, and chives.
The pizza starts with a five ingredient non-GMO crust and comes in two sizes and four flavor combinations. You can also choose to build your own pizza with a choice of four sauces and fifteen different toppings, including gluten free options. If you’ve saved room for dessert a luscious stout float is definitely the way to go.
Even though Tapped has only been open less than three months, the event schedule has been full. Bingo is held every Tuesday night and tap takeovers happen at least once a week. The outdoor patio is pet-friendly and a recent Pints for Paws event donated 15 percent of all sales to The Puppy Up Foundation.
Tapped sells stainless steel double-wall insulated growlers in a 32-ounce and 64-ounce size as well as a 64-ounce amber glass growler. Guests are allowed to bring in their own growler, but Tapped offers a 10 percent discount on the growler and beer purchase if you buy one from them. The hard part will be deciding which of the 50 beers to choose.
Tapped Drafthouse & Kitchen
20444 Kuykendahl, tappedus.com, 281-719-0360
Hours: Sunday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Happy Hour: Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This article appears in Aug 3-9, 2017.
