Brick House Tavern + Tap - Tampa, FL

My Grandma Anne moved from Palm Beach to Tampa about a year and a half ago to be closer to her side of the family.  My parents, brother David, and cousin Jenn all live in town, and my aunt and uncle live close by in Orlando. 

Tonight Grandma took all the grandkids out to dinner – it is rare for us all to be free at the same time.  We decided on Brick House Tavern + Tap.  A lot of restaurants besides chains are closed for late night dinner on Sunday nights, but this chain is worth visiting.  It is a higher end sports bar that we had been to a few times in the past. 

There is a wide selection of draft beers and specialty cocktails – David and I both had the “Summerthyme Moonshine” (ole smoky blackberry moonshine, licor 43, citrus thyme puree, lemon, soda & fresh blackberries).  If you like really sweet drinks, I’d recommend it (Grandma didn’t like it…she stuck to wine). 

We started with two different wing appetizers – the Duck Wings (with “man cave sauce”, fresh cilantro, and sriracha ranch) and the Tavern Wings (with garlic parmesan sauce and bleu cheese).  The duck wings were a little spicy – and the Tavern wings were piled up with parmesan. 

Grandma said that she’s been craving ribs for a while – and luckily tonight the special was “Bones & Beans” – a half rack of baby back pork ribs slow cooked with harissa bbq sauce, served with shiner baked white beans, cornbread & black rum butter.  Lance and David ended up copying her and ordering ribs as well.  They are the best ribs I’d had in awhile – the sauce was sweet but had a nice spicy kick to it.  And you could tell that the beans were homemade, not just out of a can. 

Jenn had the Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich – spicy buttermilk marinated fried chicken on a brioche roll with fresh arugula and bacon ranch.  The chicken was huge – she ended up taking half her food home. 

I had the Sitting Duck Salad – with roasted duck, savory greens, candied bacon lardons, brioche croutons, smoked cheddar, and roasted shallot vinaigrette.  I really enjoyed my salad – sometimes restaurants drown their salads with dressing, but this was a nice light dressing.  The best part were the candied bacon lardons which added a sweet crunch to the savory salad. 

Although we were all full, we still were tempted by the dessert menu.  As our waitress put it, people have a second stomach reserved especially for dessert – even if you are full you always have room to end on something sweet.  We ordered a Chocolate Bourbon Cake and Apple Crumble to share and wiped the plates clean.  You could taste the bourbon soaked in the cake, and the crumble had large chunks of granny smith apples with a caramel foster sauce. 

I can’t remember the last time I went out to eat and had appetizers, entrées, AND desserts.  Needless to say, we were all pretty tired afterwards and will sleep well tonight. 

Brick House Tavern + Tap is located at 1102 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33607 and is open Monday through Thursday 11am – 1am, Friday & Saturday 11am – 2am, and Sundays 11am – 12am.