American Tap Room

I understand why they only have 2.5 stars! Nothing stood out here, food or service. I ordered the hot Caesar or whatever they called it with grilled chicken, and the meat was not completely cooked! It’s a grilled chicken salad! To add insult to injury, it was $ 17! Even without the chicken it was super over dressed. I was starving when I got there and so disappointed. I was there with several friends and their food was not good and the service overall was terrible. We rushed to order our food with our beverages because the server kept disappearing for long periods of time and sometimes it took three requests to get something simple like an iced tea. One thing I looked forward to was the hot pretzel appetizer with marshmallow dipping sauce. Guess what! It was a dipping clump, so even that was a mess. This was truly one of the worst dining experiences I have had in Richmond in over 12 years. Do NOT waste your money!

So, been here a number of times. Bar scene and beer selection is good, staff, while today they were on it, past visits have been spotty as far as the attentiveness of service.
Today’s lousy food… A very expensive burger… While expensive by anyone’s account ($ 14); for a ¼pound patty & small portion of fries that wasn’t even cooked correctly, let alone have any kind of great flavor… I was very disappointed.
And as you would expect from most Richmond establishments… Even though they always ask how you’d like it cooked… It came out seriously well done… You can see my pics with the tips I left.
Next time I want a burger in WL, I’ll just stick with Hardee’s across the street.
I’m sure I’ll be back because it’s convenient, but I can assure you I’ll stick to beer and the Pretzels… About the only thing worth a crap here. Of course after the review… May just stick with beer… Don’t want my food to be seasoned with chef-​spit

Looks great on first appearance and staff is nice and attempts to be helpful. Unfortunately this is a typical chain restaurant with overpriced food that is decent but nothing to compare to typical Richmond food. The beer selection is sub-​par for any beer enthusiast or even someone wanting to try more than a signature beer from large breweries in the country. Again, it’s not going to compare with local RVA or even touch the surface. If you want good beer, definitely do not come here. Food, meh, I wouldn’t come here either. Way overpriced for typical chain restaurant food.

The food was pretty good but the service was awful. They were nice but very forgetful and it took them extremely long to take our drink and food order. They also brought our food out at different times, which made it very difficult for everyone at the table to eat together without someone’s food getting cold. I did not have a pleasant experience here.

I have never written a bad review. but sadly this place deserves one. Food was okay-​but service was terrible! We stood for a few minutes while the hostess/​waitresses finished texting. We got seated and it took about 9 minutes for someone to acknowledge us. Then another 10 minutes before anyone even came back to take our drink orders. The place was empty, and we had to ask FOUR times for a side of ranch. Food was brought out separately (with no explanation) so by the time I got my food, the table was already finishing. It was not a pleasant experience and I will not be returning.

I have since moved out-​of-​state and dearly miss American Tap Room — the bar and burger! Have yet to find a comparable place in my new home.

We came around 8pm on a Saturday night and waited about 30 minutes for a table of 5.
I’m not sure why the reviews are so terrible here… it wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever had but it was definitely good.
The service was very friendly, the place was clean and spacious, and the food was brought out in a timely manner. The one thing I will say is that I think there was a lot of salt in the food but otherwise it was a solid dinner for our group. The kale salad with salmon was good, and the pretzel and Brussels sprouts too.

I did not go for the beer so I can’t give any input on the drinks. The wait staff was courteous but slow on service. The food was not worth the price. I ordered a steak sandwich and expected a traditional steak and cheese sub smothered with toppings, I received a large bun with very little meat creating a dry sandwich ruined by an overload of wasabi. The atmosphere was nice and matched the price of food but overall under impressed by food and service.

Very nice restaurant and bar. Wish there were more of them like this in Willow Lawn and you would be able to do a nice little bar crawl.
Food every time has been excellent. A little limited on beer they have on tap when it comes to domestics. Great outdoor space.
Don’t miss kind of place if your in Willow Lawn.

One star for the poor waitress who had to keep telling us what we wanted from the menu was not available. Perhaps other days are better, but this Monday was an awful dining experience.
Our 3^rd menu choice was the turkey and avocado sandwich. My wife ordered the half sandwich and half French onion soup. Fries came for an additional $ 4.00.
Only when we told the waitress that the avocados were not yet ripe, she admitted that the someone else had complained earlier. We could hear the kitchen crew arguing with our waitress. Apparently, the manager was out picking up food for the staff to cook.
That of course explains why they were out of so many ingredients.
Since the manager was out, we paid full price (over $ 40) for lunch that was average at best.
On a positive note, the onion rings were ok and the waitress came by to refill my tea and waters.
I have been here before once for lunch and early evening for drinks about a year ago, and never had these types of problems. Also, there was no hostess to greet us this time. Previous times, no less than 3 staffers were up front to greet customers.
I hope this place gets their act back together, as there are a number of other restaurants very close by.

Bad service, lazy staff, generic food. Don’t waste your time. Most of the employees here look like they’re part of a prison work-​release program. The food is overpriced and paying the prices they charge for beer, you’d expect a better selection and knowledgable bartenders. Obviously things trickle from the top and the management here is as about as incompetent and neglectful as they come. Their «Happy Hour» beer selections consist of a few stale kegs that often get crossed off the list by 3:15, leaving a can of Natty Boh or a Miller Lite draft for $ 4.00…some «Tap Room.»
Places like this deserve to fail.

Wow! The food is amazing. Had the skirt steak, and it was flavorful and juicy. Sides were also great… highly recommend the crispy Brussels sprouts!
Service was top notch, with Jackie being particularly attentive and helpful. Beer selection is vast on tap, and the barkeep is very capable of excellent mixed drinks.

This place is FAR from what it used to be when it first opened! I loved to brunch here but now… The food is terrible!
I arrived around 11:45 and I left at 12:45pm. On a Monday. You’d think its be packed from all of the people on lunch break– nope!!! (See picture of EMPTY restaurant). There may have been 5 parties during that whole hour.
Today, I ordered a spinach salad with grilled chicken. Seriously? How can you mess that up? Terrible! They are also extremely overpriced for the quality of the food. I’m not sure if it is the cook or what… But it’s not worth the time, energy, or price of the food.
While I was dining I could hear a very disappointed customer talking about how terrible his BLT was because it only had 3 pieces of bacon and a sliver of a tomato. The manager came and dealt with the situation appropriately but it still was a messy situation.
Additionally, this place is not well-​kept. The women’s bathroom has two sinks and should have two corresponding mirrors but one is missing (?). The toilets were also clogged and one of the three stalls did not lock.
Service wasn’t bath but other than that his was Not a good experience. Not worth the disappointment!

My husband and I were very underwhelmed by this tap house. First, for a tap house their beer selection is not unique and quite lack luster. The only reason we give it two stars is because their French fries were quite good. As for the entrees, the ahi tuna tacos were bland one note flavor.

We have been noticing the place and wanted to try it out. We decide to sit at the bar where you get to see a front house representation of service and preps. The server /​barmaid was mentally preoccupied… meaning she was not sincere on her interactions with us. We had asked 3 times for clean silverware, the wings which BTW we rubbed, but season less & rubbery and we had to wait also for the dipping dressings. After we paid our check she bid us farewell mumbling something about enjoy your valentine…
Will not be patronizing this place again… disappointed.

Really tried to like this place, but after a few different experiences I won’t be returning.
First time Jan 1^st 2015 — they had only been open for a few months. We had a party of 15 friends for New Years Day brunch. They had a big table set for us that looked promising. The brunch took 2.5 hours. I totally get that big parties are tough (I used to be a server myself) but it was excessive. Drinks took 30 minutes each. Food came out all at different times. I tossed it off to growing pains.
I went again sometime within the last year with a group of 8 or so. Sat on the patio. Felt like we were forgotten again. The food is pretty good– definitely not horrible. But seemed to encounter that same lack of service that I’d noticed on New Years day.
Last visit Jan 1^st 2016 — had another big party of 12 people in town for New Years and knew that tap room was big enough to accommodate us. Called them that morning at 10am to make a reservation for 12pm. They said they could definitely get us in. We arrive at 12pm– they set up and lead us to our tables. We had 2 tables of 6 set up. I was pretty surprised since usually restaurants will tell you that up front and they didn’t on the phone earlier, or when we arrived. I wouldn’t have gone there if I had known our friends that only get together a few times a year would be split. Following that, the service was pretty terrible. Yet again brunch took over 2 hours. Food was slow and cold (their turkey avocado BLT was legitimately just deli turkey with some bacon) and the only time you saw the servers were when they were whisking away your food from your table.
I really wanted to like this place since Willow Lawn is getting to be such a great area. It could be that they’re just not good with big groups, but I’ve definitely dined there my last time. It seems like these qualms with service are re-​occurring. Maybe time for a re-​training session?

Based on the prior Unilocal reviews, I was a bit hesitant about dining here. But I was pleasantly surprised!
The interior is clean and nicely decorated. The Tap Room features very comfortable upholstered arm chairs at the tables. The bar area is separated from the dining area to help keep the noise level at reasonable levels.
They have a wonderful selection of both wine and beer. I need to make special mention of the Thai Chicken Wings appetizer. They were great! Meaty and very tasty with a touch of «heat». May be the best wings i have ever had. :) I could have made a meal with just wings and a salad!
Our entrees were the Chicken soft tacos and the fish and chips. These two dishes were very nice and tasty; my only comment would be there was a bit more breading on the fish than I care for.
Prices are a bit high for this type type of casual dining establishment, but they are not excessive.
Service was steady and consistent. The wait staff was very attentive.
I would go back.

A great place to go for happy hour. Several food and beer specials to woo you in, however, that is not enough to keep you around. The atmosphere is amazing with the right mix of pub and chic décor. Yea, all of the working hipsters are here, so this place really appeals to me. On top of that they boast that they keep over 100 beers on tap!
My date and I sat at the bar and looked over the inciting happy hour menu, great prices and good food. Planning that we would stay through happy hour into dinner, we thought we would pace ourselves and really see why this place was special. Well it turned out, our bartender set our pace for us. By the time I could order a beer and ask about its uniqueness, she was gone! Quick one word answers and her nonchalant attitude really had me perplexed. I would have like to sample some of the offerings I was not familiar with. Maybe her perfectly coiffed blonde hair wasn’t flowing correctly or she thought the guys next to me would leave her a bigger tip, may have distracted her from providing all of the wonders the American Tap Room could offer. We tried to order their Burbon Ribeye and Surf and Turf after our apps, but hey, thanks for saving us $ 60.00!
Fortunately, they have a bartender named Marlon. I highly recommend Marlon, due to his knowledge of beers and how to upsell items. He was very conversational and actually took time to discover my preference in hops which led me to discover a very good chocolate IPA and Belgium Wheat. Great pub munchies like the TapTap Shrimp and Thai Chicken Wings prove they’re not just average.
I’ll be back, but I will call ahead to see who is working and who is not!

Way to go American Tap Room, you’ve got the perfect mix of fun happy hour outdoor setting, and chic comfy restaurant side where I can dine with my family. Two very different atmospheres that are very hard to combine.
On this visit we were getting dinner with friends on a Friday after my daughters swim lessons. The staff quickly accommodated our party of 4 that changed to 5. I would highly recommend our waiter, Dean. From the beginning to the end nothing that we asked for was ever an issue and we were a little needy on this night.
I got the crab omelet but the tap tap shrimp appetizer is definitely my favorite. I’ve visited this restaurant a few times and haven’t yet found my favorite entrée but I really do enjoy the large beer selection and ambience. 5 stars for customer service this time though!

This was my first trip to American Taproom. I thought the atmosphere was great for a fun Friday night. The weather was nice so of course the bar patio area was the place to be. On this particular visit I was with some other moms and we had the kids, so, naturally we opted for the dining area! I think a lot of people are afraid to take kids to places like this, but there is a good segregation between the bar and dining area so it was perfect!
As far as food, we mainly stuck with the appetizers. I tasted the Maryland Crab Soup and the Tap Tap Shrimp. Both were good but didn’t wow me. The shrimp was semi-​spicy which I don’t mind but also served on a bed of lettuce so that cools your mouth off well if you are not a fan of spicy. Strangeways’ Albino Monkey is always a goos choice so I was glad to see it on the menu.
I would have to say I would definitely go back. I truly enjoyed the service, especially our waiter Dean! He was friendly, funny, and attentive which is exactly what you need on a Friday night! Next time I will probably try eating something else.