Happy Hour at The District Tap

Last Wednesday found us at another of those local establishments we have been wanting to try – The District Tap Northside at 3720 E. 82^nd St. Tucked away back from the road, and across the river from the Fashion Mall area, it is a place we had heard good things about from friends for quite a while.

Usually we explore online when we are making plans to check out a Happy Hour (HH). Many places have a menu available on the internet or, at the very least, the HH hours are available. This wasn’t so with thedistricttap.com. Some ancillary info is available on several other web pages but nothing official. There are reasons for this, which I will relate later.

The District Tap (TDT) is located in a very large building. The main room is a bar/lounge featuring a huge double-sided bar, surrounded by high tables, a table area by a fireplace, a sunny porch area, and loads of comfy booths. Large televisions tuned to sports programming are everywhere. When we arrived a little after 4, the place had a good number of people sitting at the bar and at tables.

After we were seated in a two-top booth, I asked our server, Brian, about HH fare and was told there were several low-cost drink options. There are well-drinks, a full list of select wines, and pints of select brews – any one for $4. Happy Hour runs from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. When I told Brian that the info we were able to find online had indicated 3 to 6 p.m., he said he thought that maybe that was a recent change and likely the web info had not been updated. We ordered our drinks, picking a Chardonnay for Mrs. K (natch) and a Pinot Grigio for myself. The brand on both was Canyon Road – inexpensive, but still very good.

Brian brought our drinks and we asked about HH plates. Surprisingly, there are none. At The District Tap, you get a very special HH drink price, the lowest we have run across anywhere, and you are welcome to order off the regular menu. This isn’t a bad deal whatsoever. The menu is full of tempting items at good prices. Check it out at tinyurl.com/TDTmenu1225.

So, my wife ordered her favorite – Sliders. These were the Filet Sliders: “2 filet sliders, creamy horseradish peppercorn sauce, and fried onion straws.” They came with a choice of “Regular Sides.” She wanted a Salad, which was listed as a Premium Side, so she included that for an up-charge of $2. That brought the price to $19. At Mrs. K’s request, they added two tomato slices for her sandwiches and there was no extra charge.

As I said, there is a wide array of food items to choose from at TDT – really a great menu. I ordered the $15 Hoosier Daddy Breaded Tenderloin and chose Sweet Potato Fries as my side. I also added a cup of French Onion Soup for $6.

Before our food arrived, I had a nice chat with one of the managers, James H. I asked him about the HH info being so hard to find, and was told that he would look into that because it needed to be available. We broke into a happy conversation about the recent IU Football Championship. I guess the place was loaded with fans for the exciting TDT watch party.

The food arrived in stages – the salad and the soup first. Both were very good – the cup of soup was a generous sized portion. Then our plates came out. My Tenderloin was full-out Indiana-style: big and crunchy on a soft roll with lettuce, tomato, pickle slice, and a cup of mayo. Mrs. K’s sliders were heaped with a very thick and tender serving of filet. Both sandwiches were delicious, but she could only eat one of hers and I only finished half my massive sandwich. They became lunch for the next day. We finished all the Sweet Potato Fries, though.

Regardless that TDT’s HH offering is drinks only, we enjoyed the food, the service, and the surroundings very much. Our tab came to just over $50, plus tip, which is fairly normal for us at most any Happy Hour we go to. We’ll definitely be back. There is so much left to explore on this menu and the drink prices can’t be beat.

Ken Klingenmeier offers this series of columns, called “A Seat at the Table,” wherein he reviews Indy-area restaurants – specifically their Happy Hour offers. Keep reading The Reporter for future restaurant reviews.