The restaurant offers a menu featuring contemporary American cuisine, plus an extensive selection of bourbons and wines.
Tap & Barrel, he said, isn’t a pub but more of a tavern and kitchen, according to Saliba, who said he has more than 10 years of experience in the restaurant industry including working, managing and owning restaurants.
“It’s not a sports bar,” Saliba said. “It’s a relaxing atmosphere where people can enjoy the company of one another … and enjoy having a nice dinner of tavern food.”
The laid-back, sit-down environment is meant to appeal to the 35-and-older crowd and allows for monthly wine and bourbon tastings. The patio is scheduled to open in March.
Already wildly popular on Tap & Barrel’s menu are its fish wraps, hamburgers, sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and wings, he said.
But the “biggest hit” so far, Saliba said, are the restaurant’s Scotch Eggs, two hard-boiled eggs wrapped in a seasoned pork sausage, then breaded and fried to a golden brown and drizzled with a Sriracha ranch sauce.
Saliba said he’s seen “a tremendous amount of growth” in his 20 years in the area, especially at Liberty Center, but felt there was “nothing in the Wetherington area” other than O’Charley’s.
“I just felt that by being right in the middle of everything, between Cox Road and Liberty Way, there wasn’t really anything in the heart of Wetherington,” he said. “I just felt that this would be a great location because (of) where it sits.”
Hours are 4 p.m. to midnight Sundays through Thursdays and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Tap & Barrel employs 20 full and part-time employees and is looking to hire more, Saliba said.
“By March, we want to be open for lunch,” he said.
For more information, visit www.tapandbarreltavern.com or call 513-847-6507.
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