Northside Food: Revisiting The Roswell Tap

Pierogi special.

Is everyone here familiar with the concept of a "third place"? It's where you go when you aren't at home or work. It's supposed to be a place where you feel like you can go any time and just hang out and be part of the community. For me, that's The Roswell Tap.

I first reviewed The Tap in 2011 when it first opened and I've been a regular ever since. We go almost every week for lunch or dinner. On school breaks or weekends, I like to take my laptop over there and work under the big oak tree shading their front patio. In fact, I'm typing this post there right now. We play trivia with a group of friends on Wednesday nights and that's one of the high lights of my week. There's live music most nights and community activities on weekends. So there's plenty besides the food to bring you back week after week.

But what about the food? Well, The Tap is, at it's heart, a sports bar. So the food reflects that sensibility. It's lots of burgers and wings and pizzas. But everything is fresh made and with a creative flair. Daily specials add variety and they do cycle menu items in and out. My particular favorites are the chicken fingers served with hot sauce, the fish n chips and the Pittsburg salad. My husband loves chomping on the hot wings and the burgers. When we bring friends, we love splitting a basket of the beer battered fried pickles (Best in Roswell, don't tell Fickle Pickle!) or smoked barbecue pork wontons. It's the kind of place where I can bring friends and family for a casual night out, or just sit at the bar with my iPad and read.

Their signature item is the "grit chip", a variation on the corn chip made with grits instead of whatever you usually make corn chips from. They are extra crunchy and salty and are the star the BBQ pork nachos, as well as a few appetizers. They are popular enough that you can find them packaged in some specialty stores now and they have a licensing deal with Jeff Foxworthy.

Fried pickles. I will kill a man for these.

The staff is always friendly with only the occasional off night. They keep my drinks filled and know me well enough to suggest new things I'd like. My favorite is their signature "Tap Tea", which is lemonade, ice tea and vodka. It's a nice cocktail to sip on the aforementioned patio and many of their drink specials are variations on it.

The Tap aspires to be a neighborhood community gathering place. For me, they succeed quite well. Roswell needs places that feel like an extension of your home. They add to our vibrancy. Every week I'm glad I found this place and it's become part of my life.