From craft beer roots to elevated American fare, popular restaurant arrives in PB Gardens

Tap 42 Craft Kitchen & Bar has officially gone double digits and opened their tenth restaurant — this one in the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens.

Located on the upper level of the mall's east wing, the new eatery began serving guests on May 10.

At 8,000 square feet, this is the largest Tap 42 and can accommodate up to 270 guests at a time.

Known for their elevated American fare, craft beers, and creative cocktail menu, they didn't exactly start out in that direction.

Owned by Tapco Restaurant Group, partner and vice president Alex Rudolph said that when they first opened in Fort Lauderdale in 2011 it was definitely more about the beer. He said that over the past decade plus, however, they've evolved and, though they still have have plenty of great beers and an excellent cocktail menu, "the focus has shifted more to the food."

Tap 42 is "Now contemporary American restaurant that also has a great bar program," he said.

Rudolph said that some of those elevated American fare offerings include their prohibition burger and their jumbo barbecue baby back ribs.

Not mincing words, Rudolph said the prohibition burger, featuring their Tap 42 burger blend, white cheddar, applewood bacon, lettuce, tomato onion, secret sauce and dijonnaise, is one of their top sellers and stated "we consider it to be best burger in Miami."

Tap 42 restaurant's elevated American food menu features burgers

Not afraid to throw down the gauntlet on those ribs either, he said "Our ribs are some of the best in South Florida. I'll stand by that."

Tap 42's menu also features creative appetizers like truffle street corn guacamole and spicy tuna tartare, salads and entrees including the Southern fried chicken and waffles, wagyu steak & noodle bowl, prime chimichurri skirt steak and more.

Though the owners originally had hoped to open in 2023, Rudolph said the buildout was a huge project that took a little longer than expected. The interior and layout is very impressive, he said. "This is definitely the most upscale... most elevated Tap 42 location to date."

Though it's the only Tap 42 so far not to have patio seating, Rudolph said the entire front of the restaurant has nearly floor-to-ceiling windows, that, when the weather is right, open to offer an open air dining experience. "When they're open it gives you an indoor/outdoor feel. We call it the sunroom."

And that name— Tap 42? Rudolph laughed and said "We've tried to think of a lot of different stories, but it was just how many we taps we could fit on the wall at the original Fort Lauderdale location."

In addition to lunch and dinner, Tap 42 is known for its brunch. In particular, the bottomless brunch which includes all the bloody marys, mimosas, Funky Buddha beer and Truly Hard Seltzers you care to drink for $30. In addition, there's a brunch menu that includes options like their Chicago style steak & eggs, which features a grilled filet mignon, creamy garlic spinach, classic hash browns and sunny-side up eggs; and the tres leches french toast that includes strawberries, bananas, dulce de leche whipped cream and maple syrup.

“We’ve always seen northern Palm Beach County as a perfect fit for Tap 42,” Rudolph said. To make sure everything went as smoothly as possible he said they had their new Palm Beach Gardens staff working at the Boca Raton location for several months and even brought in staff from other stores.

"We're excited to open a lot of eyes and serve new guests in a new community."

More: 10 fun things to do in Palm Beach Gardens

The restaurant, which now has outlets in Aventura, Boca Raton, Coral Gables, Coral Springs, Davie, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Kendall, Midtown Miami and now Palm Beach Gardens, will open an 11th Tap 42 in Naples this summer.

Tap 42 restaurant in Palm Beach Gardens

What: Tap 42 Craft Kitchen & Bar

Where: 3101 PGA Blvd., Palm Beach Gardens

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday; 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday

Information: tap42.com/locations/palm-beach-gardens

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post , part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com . Help support our journalism. Subscribe today .

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: From craft beer roots to elevated American fare, popular restaurant arrives in PB Gardens