The story around town is that the chef at Taps needs to wear rubber gloves and goggles to handle the hot sauce for his chicken wings. The hottest version, a fiery “Stage 4,” comes with a warning that customers “will have to sign a waiver… no joke.”
Yet as good as the wings are, most of the patrons of the Petaluma hotspot aren’t really there for chicken. They’re there to get their dogs on, as in hot dogs, which is the culinary theme to the fun, funky watering hole that’s drawing crowds to Old Town, in a Cheers-like wood-paneled and brick space beneath the historic Petaluma Hotel.
And they’re there for beer, because what goes better together than hotdogs and hops, brats and brewskis, suds and sausages? The wiener-beer combo is a classic that dates back to the first prehistoric caveman football game.
Diners can dig into eight types of hotdogs and four kinds of bratwurst and sausages alongside 30 craft, micro-brewed and Belgian beers on tap, plus a wide array of domestic and imported canned and bottled beers, with new varieties posted weekly on chalkboards.
Because we know that a good dog comes from good breeding, Taps owner Eric Lafranchi uses all-beef Miller’s brand, then goes to town with recipes that elevate these basic bites to haute dogs.
A Reuben is a delight of flavors and textures, the wiener piled with pastrami, Swiss, sauerkraut and Thousand Island. For the BLT, we were kind of hoping to get the whole beast deep-fried, yet the chef wisely just wraps the foot-long hot dog in bacon and deep fries that, before loading it onto a squishy roll with lettuce, tomato and mayo.
Tie on your bib for a messy meal. There’s a Mushroom Swiss model, and a Seattle Dog loading sauerkraut topped with cream cheese and spicy mustard (it’s way better than it sounds). To be sure, fans of the Chicago-style hot dogs won’t be disappointed in this pretty creation of yellow mustard, sport peppers, neon green relish, onions, tomatoes, a Dill pickle spear and a kick of celery salt.
One of our friends has set a goal of trying at least one new type of beer every week, and Taps is where he goes to meet the challenge. Gutsy guzzlers can get into 21st Amendment Monk’s Blood strong dark ale, while rowdier guests can be discovered quaffing Speakeasy Brewer’s Reserve Old Godfather at a whopping 13.7% alcohol.
Because the list changes constantly, there’s always something unexpected to tempt. Though in an ironic twist, when we ordered the Moonlight Death and Taxes beer, we were told the bar was temporarily out. What, aren’t D&T the only sure things in life?
While there may be suds-a-sloshing at the giant wooden bar that spans the length of the room, Taps is family-friendly. Our above-mentioned friend happily brings along his toddler daughter, filling her up on her favorite salt-and-pepper French fries, from a list of five fry flavors served in portions big enough to feed a party of four.
If you don’t dig dogs, that’s a sad thing, but Taps has you taken care of, too. Other choices on the short menu include seven kinds of Italian beefs, a recent line-up of salads like a “chef” with pastrami, and yes, even more chicken.
After multiple experiments, this is one of our Taps favorites, in fact: chicken sausage boasting a bit of tangy artichoke, smoked mozzarella, caramelized onions and roasted peppers. It’s delicious paired with New Belgium Lips of Faith Dandelion ale that’s made with, yep, dandelion greens.
Details: 205 Kentucky St., Petaluma. 707-763-6700. petalumataps.com.
