Tap Shack

Place is a dive, but great beer! Great Blue cheese hamburger! Love it, will definitely return!!!

Need an expediter
Friendly smiling staff
Truly need a better system because we love it’s location and that it highlights sporting events
They receive a great crowd!
Come on Taps be GREAT!
Settle for GREAT it’s easy to be good!
Thank you!
See you soon!

It was Boba’s Bday and we had to come and check out this place since he’s a TRUE BEER LOVER. They had a decent Happy Hour Menu with prices: $ 2 discounts on vino and beer, $ 4 and $ 5 appetizers.
There were quite a few of us so we ordered and shared a few dishes. Here’s what we ordered… a few rounds of course:
1. Calamari $ 5
2. Wings 8 Pieces $ 5
3. 2 Sliders $ 5
4. Super Nachos $ 5
5. Ceviche $ 5
6. Bacon Mac N Cheese $ 5
All in all the food was decent and cheap. I guess we didn’t order anything $ 4 since we assumed the $ 5 items were the «Star» of the appetizers. Tasted just like we imagined they would taste like. Portions were GRAND especially the Super Nachos. What made this place fun was that we came with a great group of friends. Ambience was laid back for sure. Waitress and Waiters were really nice and attentive. Okay amount of beer on tap but not a whole lot. While we were there, there seemed to be frequent diners or locals that knew the staff. I guess that is a good sign right!
Just come with great friends and everything tastes GOOD.
Happy Birthday Boba!

Great place for beer and food!
super close to my house and I always have a great time here.
Plus they have all my favorite beers, buffalo wings were super good.

Love this place! I used to live within walking distance, so I was a regular here whenever I wanted to watch a game, have a beer, or have a bite. The happy hour prices are awesome, the food is good, the draft selection is great, and they’ll gladly put on whatever game you want on one of the many TV’s.
I loved eating out on the patio, even on cold nights the fire lamps keep you warm. The service is great, the waitresses are always super friendly, not to mention easy on the eyes :)
One of the reasons I miss my old place in Newport Beach is not being able to walk to Tap Shack on a weekly basis.

Yummy bar food, casual atmosphere that I can bring my family to watch dozens of sports games at one time. Enjoy time with my husband and son from the University… enjoyed fish n chips made w sweet potato fries which I highly recommend and the tower onion rings. Come relaxed with a an efficient waitress!

Sweet potato fries and the BBQ chicken pizza… SWEET! I also had a chicken wrap here which was really good. The food here is yum… don’t ask me about the drinks since the hubs and I don’t drink.
Tap Shack is a nice place to have lunch and watch a game. There were some nice folks on the patio that we talked to… nobody was getting shiat faced drunk and screaming at the TV like you see in a lot of these types of places. Our waitress was super nice and quick on the drink refills.
I like that the hubs and I can walk over here from our house and it’s cool to stroll through the high end stores in Westcliff Plaza afterward.

Review for Sunday Funday…
came here on a Sunday afternoon to watch some football and partake in some all you can drink action and had a really good time haha. so its pretty cool that they show all the NFL games and they have a bunch of different tv’s so you can get a view from anywhere you sit including outside on the patio. their all you can drink/​eat specials run until 2pm. if you want the buffet brunch and alcohol then i think its $ 25 but if you just want the drink special, it’ll run you about $ 13 and that includes coors/​bud/​PBR or champagne. from the looks of the buffet, it wasnt all that impressive plus i didnt see a lot of turnover on when the food was replaced for fresh batches. so i opted for all you can drink alone and they serve you huge mugs of beer or super full glasses of champagne. really decent deal for a sunday funday haha. also ordered a dozen wings for about $ 12 and they were surprisingly good. got 6 bbq wings and 6 thai peanut and i have to say that the thai peanut was a winner. a little bit of a kick to the sauce but it was really flavorful and good. overall for a few hours of sunday entertainment, tapshack is really fun. friendly crowds, pretty good food, and tons of free flowing alcohol — what more could you want haha

I really don’t want to give this place a good review because I don’t want it to become so crowded that I can’t get a table! :)
I took a group here for Sunday Brunch for a friends birthday. AMAZING! Hands down the best deal in Orange County. Brunch runs from 9 – 2, there’s a great menu with a range of different foods, and mimosas or beer is included for $ 25. No joke, $ 25. Everything we ate was delicious and the drinks wet perfect.
We sat outside on the patio where they have 3 TVS, lots of seating and heaters. I was worried because we were there only ones out there for a whole and I didn’t want our server to be forgotten. Jessica was AWESOME! She never forgot about is and was always there at the perfect time to top off our mimosas. We loved her for putting up with our rowdy group.
It is a popular place with Seahawks fans so expect a big crowd when they’re playing.
Will be back for sure… like possibly every Sunday!

I WANT MOARRRR!!!
I’ve been wanting to try this place since it opened but had never got around to it until tonight. I had this thought in my head that it would be a little more upscale (negative in my book), but I was pleasantly surprised that it was a full on sports bar inside.
We arrived and it had just started to drizzle outside so we skipped the outside seating and headed inside. The sign said ‘please seat yourself’, so we did. A busser quickly brought us menus and waters and we began to look things over. Shortly after, our awesome server Raquel came and greeted us.
We started with the beer menu, and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. I was expecting a large list with many unique beers I had never heard of or tried before. Unfortunately, there wasn’t many that fit that bill. The import/​craft prices were also quite high for a pint at $ 7 for most. 22oz were about $ 9.50. We ended up asking for a taste of the Legends Lager from Irvine since the girlfriend wanted something easy-​drinking to go with her meal. We both liked it and opted for the pitcher since it was the best deal ($ 18??).
On to the menu we went. We asked Raquel for suggestions and she was more than happy to tell us about some favorites and answer some questions. We ended up getting 6 wings (50c/​ea on Wednesdays) and the garbage burger with sweet potato fries for me and the bbq bacon cheddar burger for her.
The wings were just average. Probably 3 stars on those. No amazing flavor choices and the wings themselves were very meaty, but just nothing special (I love wings!). However, our burgers were absolutely fantastic! Everything on my burger from the beef to the pork to the bacon to the egg melded together to make a gigantic, amazing burger. I would easily consider this one of the top 5 burgers I’ve ever had. I’ve always shied away from the burgers with multiple meats on them but I am glad I went for it finally. I was handsomely rewarded. The sweet potato fries were not amazing, but they weren’t bad either. I’ve definitely had worse (soggy ones) and I’ve definitely had better (Eat Chow). The girlfriends beer battered fries were crunchy and it’s possible I would get them next time instead of the sweet potato.
I managed to eat all of my burger but it was quite the feat. Our dishes were cleared promptly and Raquel never made us feel like we were rushed. We stayed and chatted for a while and she came back by a couple times to make sure we were OK and if we needed anything else.
I will definitely be back again! Possibly for the Sat/​Sun all you can eat & drink brunch for $ 25.
NOTE: Prices have increased from those posted on the menu on their website.

Needs a bit of organization … Came here on a Saturday and watched some college games on the patio… Decent craft beer selection and enjoyed the tacos … The patio was surprisingly quiet for a weekend
Will come back

Found this gem from a Groupon.
We had/​shared the Garbage burger and the BBQ cheeseburger. Both were delicious and tasted as good as they looked. The beer battered fries were awesome. They also have a great selection of good beer and the prices warrant what you get.
The service was excellent. We had a very friendly waitress and another gentleman that came by to check on us frequently.
We really liked that it was out of the way of Newport chaos… parking, crowds, etc.
We will definitely head back for more.

My boyfriend and I went there because he had purchased a Groupon. Overall I would give this place four stars but not five. The food was very good and we both enjoyed what we ate, however the service was less than stellar. When we arrived the hostess was not immediately available to seat us. When she returned we sat at a table and received two waters.
Apparently the hostess sat us at a table that was not being served by a waiter or waitress. We were not offered a drink menu but we were able to look over the entire food menu and decide what we wanted. We were seated next to a group of 40+ women having the time of their lives getting drunk so that was amusing to watch. During that time It took a server 15 minutes to finally visit our table and greet us.
Once our orders were taken, the food came out pretty quickly and it was great! The onion rings were fresh and their dipping sauces were tasty. When our main courses came out they were well presented. Both were enjoyable! When we left the place, we noticed that the hostess was on her cell phone but she did say good bye and to come back soon. I was not aware that employees of this place were allowed to use their cell phones at work… We will be back but it is because of the food. Hopefully the service will be better the next time!

We were in the search for a new watering hole. My girl had looked up this place and hinted that she wanted to go there and try it out. Of course I did my Unilocal diligence, and saw some pictures of some tasty eats and I was fully on board.
First off the place is super not easy to find. We did go at night so it was dark and the place wasn’t let up very well. I am a man but I can emit that I even drove past it in the parking lot! But happy to say we did find it soon after.
Tap Shack is a total sports bar experience. There were large flat screen TVs that cover almost every inch of the walls in the dinning area we were in. There also was a large monitor above the TVs on every adjacent wall, showing a kids lounge area where kids can hangout and play video games and watch TV.
I ordered:
The Monster Burger — Topped with cheddar cheese, crisp bacon, mushroom, caramelized onion and succulent shredded pork, BBQ sauce!
To wash it all down I ordered a Legends Lager locally brewed in Irvine, Ca
The burger itself was a fairly big size, but add all those fixin’s listed above and the thing was a behemoth! The burger came with several fry choices. I went with my fav, steak fries! The burger was pretty delicious but the bottom bun was pretty macerated with juices by the time I really got into it. My other recommendation is that I don’t suggest on trying to eat the whole burger in one sitting. I have learned to try not to stuff myself these days. But when the waiter dropped of the burger he wished me luck… Ok, challenge excepted!!! I finished the burger alright. But any plans to hit another bar that my lady was also jonsing about to go to later that night was squashed by my utter fullness. I was couch bound people!
For the amount of burger I got for a little over 10 bucks, that’s a win in my book! Definitely worth a checking out if you can find it, especially when it’s dark.

Oh how I WANTED to love you, Tap Shack. I really did! I wanted to be a regular. But alas, as novel as your idea is, there is ONE THING I can’t get over — your lobster torture chamber. Any person in their right mind wouldn’t think this is okay. I can’t stand that something like this exists. You disgust me. Honestly.
Not to mention that you probably would make more money getting rid of it than actually keeping it, as I’ve not only read several reviews that won’t be back to your establishment/​that share my feelings, but I’ve also talked to numerous people that feel the same way. You’re losing money because of your cruel «game,» because there ARE people that are just hightailing it out of there for that very reason, or choosing not to come back because of your «game.» Those people won’t be back, just like I will never give you my money so long as it’s there. Replace it with a pinball machine or something! Pac man! Whatever! Why include living creatures? It’s just not right. I’m literally telling everyone I know, and that is way more than a handful of people, being the fabulous 28 year old chica that I am.

After a run through the OC Swap Meet my wife and I were hungry and had this place book marked to check out. I love a good sports pub so we came through to check it out. First off the art that is on the wall when you walk in is sick!!! And what is this in the back? A game room for competitive gaming to geek out in and tap handles at some of the tables to pour your own beers… WTF!!! They had me already and I hadn’t even tried the food yet.
We didn’t want to go fat kid status so we grabbed a couple pints of Sculpin IPA (win) and ordered up the ceviche and split the spicy tuna & ceasar salad wrap. Ceviche was on point and tasted fresh and that wrap… damn it I am craving one right now. Its a classic simple let effective meal. Doesn’t leave you feeling like a beached whale.
Our waitress here was really cool, my wife grabbed a IPA that she was not really feeling at all and the waitress let her swap it out for a Sculpin IPA. I wish I didn’t live so far because I would love to come and pour my own pints till 2AM but that would be a expensive cab ride home. CHEERS!!!

Tap Shack is a cool place — they have a good selection of beers and food prices are decent.
I got the Tap Burger — it has three types of cheese (one of them being gouda). I was pleasantly surprised with the burgers. You get a pretty hefty sized burger with a side of fries for $ 10 — not too bad. For my beer, I got a Bootleggers Old World Hef.
While I was very impressed with my burger, the place just didn’t WOW me. It was definitely more family friendly than I thought it was going to be (there is nothing wrong with family-​friendly I just didn’t expect the place to be that way).
And seriously — get rid of of the lobster game. It really doesn’t fit in with the restaurant theme and it is cruel.

Was in the area and decided to stop in to see if some of the poor reviews were warranted. Plus I have had a string of 4 and 5 star reviews lately, and figured the worse that would happen is that I would get a 2 or 3 star opportunity.
Well lo and behold, everyone from the friendly young host to the male model looking Btender were all smiles and very professional. The host even looked like Freddie from Freddie and The Dreamers:
I ordered the «sun dried tomato chick wrap» and everything was fresh and tasty. Several sides are offered and I went with the beer battered fries. The bartender gave a very generous pour of their house chard, which was more than slurp-​able. Tons of flats for your sports watching enjoyment, and def more upscale than most of the areas other sports bars.
Sandya is right about that lobster tank. I grew up in Michigan hunting and fishing, and this tank grossed me out too. The thing appears to be rigged as well. There were several frat boys attempting to capture one of the unfortunate lobsters. They must have spent 15 minutes, but just as the claw would crest above the water line the poor guy would free fall back to his buddys. Even one of their girl friends were giving them crap, and that she was going to call PETA on them. She was joking, but not a bad idea.
Besides the Torture Tank I did enjoy my 1^st visit, and plan on returning often. I just hope they remove that tank so I can get Sandya and hubby over here again.

This place seems to be still working out a few kinks. They have a great happy hour and if you love IPAs, you’ll love their selection on tap. Alas, I am not a fan of the chewy IPA so find myself relegated to Budlight… meh.
They’ve a pretty extensive list of grub and it all looks pretty damn’ tasty. Brittany P. and I have only imbibed whilst within the confines of their establishment, so I cannot testify to the delectable attributes of the ½ priced happy hour appetizers.
I can say one of the bartenders is friendly and the other likes to BS and play grab-​ass with the other staff. This is why Britt and I usually bail shortly after shift change.
I am gonna give them a couple of months to get their act totally together. I bet this place will end up being a pretty cool joint!

I had the opportunity to go to Tap Shack opening night. I was surprised how many people were there for a new restaurant about a mile off Newport Blvd. Being opening night I expected problems and there were. We were seated then it was about 30 minutes before a waitress came by, took drink orders and left. 20 minutes later we flagged her down, still no drinks, but we wanted to order. She went and put in for the drinks again. 20 minutes later she looked over at us and then went to the bar and got the drinks that had been sitting there. She delivered us our watered down drinks, which we complained about, they were awful having been sitting on the bar for 40 minutes or 20 minutes depending on which order they were… She offered to bring new ones, which we refused, we just wanted to order dinner at this point.
Everything seems to be made fresh, which is refreshing. I am sick of going to restaurants and finding that much if not most of the food is off the shelf, Sysco or US Foods packaged products. If I wanted to reheat a dinner I would stay at home.
Food took forever to come out. I don’t know if it was inexperienced waitress, cooks, or if it just sat back there forever…
I had the Clam Chowder in a bread bowl to start, wow! They make the chowder from scratch, as opposed to other restaurants I know of that just serve Campbells. I was told the bread bowls are baked fresh daily at a local bakery. It was absolutely fabulous.
We then shared the Big Papa as a Bacon Cheddar burger which was incredible, 8oz Angus and ground short rib topped with BBQ & Onion rings. Wow! I have yet to try one of those burgers at other places that are ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ beef and bacon, but this was burger was delicious. I will definitely be going back for another.
My poor friend Mandi, her food was all wrong and had to go back twice, fortunately they comped it for her.
The best by far was dessert… Hawaiian Bread Pudding with a Elderflower liquor crème anglaise. OMG it was to die for. I recommend you save room for dessert, or better yet just start with dessert, then if you are still wanting more… have dinner. My friend Merrill had the Peach pecan cobbler which was the best I have ever had. According to the menu these are «Homemade», so I am guessing made on site… as opposed to the chef’s home. The cobbler is baked to order, so think about that… it takes a little longer to prepare than the waitress just scooping out some ice cream or grabbing a piece of cake.
Other unique features, there are self serve beer taps, one can get a keychain dongle and touch it to the tap and pour your own pint. No need to flag down the waitress for another. There are 2 stations outside on the patio and 2 in the bar area. Also, for Happy Hour, I was told the price of beer is $ 1.50 + the weather… So if it is 70 degrees outside, beer is $ 2.20.
There is also a game room for kids and kids at heart. For a small fee kids can play the latest X-​Box and Playstation games. There are security cameras and parents can watch them play on monitors throughout the bar and restaurant.
Service was a slow, but it was opening day, we didn’t mind, the Angels/​Dodgers game was on and was spending time with good friends. At the end of the meal there was no bill yet. So we looked for our waitress and couldn’t find her. We asked another waitress to find her, nothing. 40 minutes go by, no waitress, no bill. I honestly believe she went home for the night. After the 40 minutes went by we got the manager, who brought us the bill. Then it was another 20 minutes before she came to run it. All in all I think the whole meal should’ve been comped, we were there about 4 hours, good thing parking is free.
Food 4 Stars
Dessert 5 Stars
Drinks 1 Star
Service 1 Star