Beer Bars – Tap 42 Bar & Kitchen in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Tap 42 is a well designed craft beer bar that’s about a fifteen minute drive off the beach in Fort Lauderdale.  It has indoor seating (that I didn’t see much of), and a spacious outdoor area with bar and dinner tables.  There were apparently forty two beers on tap, and the menu laid out my options nicely.  During my visit they offered a handful of local beers from Cigar City, Florida Beer Company, and Funky Buddha.  There were other east coast options from Dogfish Head, Ommegang, Yuengling, Brooklyn, Magic Hat, Harpoon, SweetWater, Angry Orchard, Victory, and Terrapin.  Bell's seemed to be the only mid-west representation, and Left Hand, Oskar Blues, and Breckenridge were there for the Rockies.  Abita wrapped up the south.  Everything else, like Lagunitas, Stone, Sierra Nevada, Coronado, Ballast Point, Rogue, and Anderson Valley was from the west coast.

We dropped by on a Wednesday night and there was an hour and a half wait for a table on a Wednesday (apparently Wednesday is “Lady's Night”).  I was impressed that it wasn’t terrible hard to get my hands on a pint while we waited despite the crowd.  My only complaint is the noise.  The four hundred simultaneous, alcohol fueled conversations resulted in a constant roar so loud that I had to scream at my friends to maintain a conversation.  I’m not sure Tap 42 can do much to manage that, or if they would even care, but after two hours yelling got pretty old.

I had an amazing veggie burger that was clearly made in-house, with roasted brussel sprouts.  My friends enjoyed their meals as well.  When we were done we asked them to call a cab and it arrived quickly.

I would have absolutely loved this place if I didn't have to scream for two and a half hours to maintain a conversation.  I guess it’s a sign of my age that I complain about the noise at “Lady’s Night”, but this is where I’m at. Maybe next time I’ll try Tuesday…

1411 S. Andrews Ave.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33316

954-463-4900

http://www.tap42.com/

-Matt