The Taproom expects national show visit
A San Marcos restaurant will be soon host a a visit from America’s Best Restaurants.
According to a press release from the show, this Saturday, Sept. 30, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., The Taproom will open its doors to filming that was previously scheduled for this past Wednesday.
America’s Best Restaurants, a national media and marketing company focusing on bringing attention to local, independently- owned restaurants, will bring its ABR Roadshow to The Taproom for an afternoon that will highlight the restaurant's menu and ambience.
Popular dishes will be featured, along with an extensive on-camera interview covering the restaurant’s special place in the community with owners Sara Chavez and Samantha Strahan and Executive Chef Luis Morales. The episode will be aired extensively on social media channels at a later date.
Established in 1994 and gearing up for 30th anniversary celebrations in 2023, The Taproom offers a bar menu featuring fresh, local ingredients (The Taproom partners with Texas State University’s student-led Bobcat Farm), 36 local and international draft beers, craft cocktails and special events. The Taproom holds the title of Best Burgers in Hays County for 2022 and many years prior, as voted on by San Marcos Daily Record readers year after year.
The Taproom features weekly bingo, trivia and beer-focused event programming. Live music is also the focus of The Porch, The Taproom’s sister bar. The two concepts are connected by a breezeway and share the same kitchen and cocktail menus.
Strahan and Chavez said they have worked together in other bars and non-profit organizations for several years and had been talking about opening their own place in early 2020.
After visiting the businesses just one week before the COVID-19 shutdowns, they said they stayed in touch with the previous owners and finally purchased the two businesses in late 2021. Since then, their emphasis has been on updating the brand and offerings, while staying true to the history that people associate with the restaurant, according to the restaurant owners.
“We’re trying to reintroduce it [the business] to people,” Strahan said, noting that there is a deep nostalgia for the restaurant, especially with its ties to the local university, but that people have changed their habits post-COVID. “The foundation of the menu hasn’t overly changed. We still focus on delicious burgers, but we’ve streamlined the offerings to focus on house-made items and fresh, local ingredients. We have to give people a chance to fall in love all over again with The Taproom - that’s kind of our mission right now.”
“A lot of people met their significant other here,” Chavez said. “This place holds a lot of emotions for a lot of people.”
America’s Best Restaurants will be filming on location. The restaurant’s finished episode premiere date will be announced at a later date on The Taproom’s Facebook page and will also be featured on America’s Best Restaurants’ website at https:// americasbestrestaurants. com/rests/texas/the-taproom.
The Taproom and America's Best Restaurants will be giving away gift certificates throughout the filming to patrons in attendance: 2x $25 gift cards, 1x $50 gift card, 1x $100 gift card. The Taproom is inviting San Marcos and other local communities to come out for the filming.
Restaurants featured on the ABR Roadshow are found through customer nominations or by a restaurant applying to be featured at www.americasbestrestaurants. com.
About The Taproom: Open daily 11am-Midnight, The Taproom is located at 129 E Hopkins St. #110, San Marcos TX 78666. Telephone is (512) 392-9824. For more information visit www.taproomsanmarcos. com. The restaurant features in-store pickup and offers delivery via Grub-Hub, DoorDash and UberEats.
America’s Best Restaurants, a national media and restaurant marketing company based in Florence, Kentucky, whose staff travels the country telling the stories and highlighting the unique food of locally owned independent restaurants as part of the ABR Roadshow. Restaurants are featured not only on ABR’s Restaurant Network of social media channels and website, but also each individual establishment’s Facebook page.
