Chappys Tap Room and Grille

No Longer In Business

This being the top-rated beer restaurant in Ohio (which is proudly advertised in multiple areas around this restaurant), I’ve stopped here a handful of times, usually on my way back from Michigan trips for some food. The place is in a strip, with plenty of easy parking. There’s a patio out front, but I always go straight to the bar -- which is a very interesting, unusual sort of serifed V-shape. Not much to the atmosphere, feels kind of corporate restaurant-y. I dig the current music choice though currently, kind of western-y (but not country), at a reasonable volume. Definitely a very solid tap selection. Always a handful of new things for me to try. On this recent visit, though, things seem to have changed. Bartenders in the past would be happy to pour me samples, or even 2 half pours (for the price of the more expensive -- a reasonable deal that is often agreed to when I propose). The bartender today though told me they couldn’t do that because it would mess up the keg-weighing program. That’s disappointing to hear, because they don’t offer the option of doing a 4oz pour, only the full. Flights are offered, but they are standard sets that cannot be customized, making this sort of useless for a lone guy who wants to try new beers. Or prohibitively expensive and dangerous. This combined with the over-priced menu makes me think the owners have turned this into a cash grab. "Jumbo Shrimp" is on the appetizers menu for $10, which turned out to be (5) utterly normal-sized shrimp. Giving it a chance, thinking maybe they might be incredible for price, I tried 2. They were well-seasoned (I chose blackened -- cajun or beer-battered also available), but I was thoroughly disappointed with the size of the plate and knew that If I was going to have 2 full pours of beer, I was going to need something a bit more substantial. For the first time in my life, I apologetically asked to return the plate for something different. Bartender agreed, but gave me some considerable shit for it. I said I could take it back if this was not OK, but she had this "nope, too late" attitude. I ordered the burger (offering to forgo the 2 sides as a sort of compromise for the 5 comp’d shrimp), which was solid but not quite as good as I remember (good meat albeit mildly dry, grilled bun, but everything else about it kind of basic). Not worth the price. If these guys are known for their food, then it must be for the entrees/ribs, but with nothing being less than $16 I’ve always steered clear. Beers themselves are somewhat reasonably priced, with a few options for as low as $4.50 + tax, but a few are definitely over-priced (Weyerbacher Twenty for $8.75 + tax?). The non-flexibilty of half-pours / samples also hurts the value here. I used to be a fan, but I think I’m disillusioned now. Things change, I guess. Or as some say, sometimes everyone has a bad day. That’s one reason why I don’t like reviewing places on the first (or even 4th) visit. You only really get to know a place after you’ve been there at least a handful of times. Sometimes, that’s needed to help you realize the long-term true hidden charm of a place, or to meet a key super-star staff member. Other times, it can indicate that it’s not all roses and daisies. My scores here are positively-adjusted for all the other good visits I’ve had here, but after today I fear that those days are a thing of the past. The next few times I’m passing through, I’ll choose Lucky’s, or one of the other restaurants on Ratebeer’s top-rated list.

About 25-30 beers on tap. Good local selection with nice specials (Bell's Two Hearted for $3 on Tuesdays). Decent bottle/can selection. The people at the bar aren't here to drink light beers! I had the chicken and waffles with the sriracha maple syrup. It was very good.

We had dinner with friends here on a Friday night in September and it was pretty busy. The place is in a strip mall in the Morain area south of Dayton. The inside has two large dining rooms on either side with a bar in between. I was pretty impressed with the tap list, which had about a dozen things I’d never had before. Not much in the way of locals, but lots of good regional, national, and international craft. Things I’d never seen around here from Unibroue, Struise, Brooklyn, a new Jackie-O’s, and so forth. They really do a nice job with the selection. The food is very good bar food. The prices are fair. Service was a bit slow, probably overwhelmed from the crowd, but otherwise very friendly. This place definitely beat my expectations.

Very nice strip mall tavern. They have good pub grub. I had the pulled pork and it was very good. Great tap list that apparently rotates pretty quickly. I like that they advertise the new kegs on deck. Nice variety with a good selection of international beers too. Definitely worth the stop if only to check out the tap list.

Plenty of parking. Fairly large place. Though the bar looked kinda small. Was seated at our table rather quickly. Checked out the beer menu which was laid out nicely. As usual 3 out of the 5 beers i asked for were unavailable, nothing new for me. Somewhat dissappointing. Service was good. The young lady was fairly beer savvy. Pulled pork was pretty damn good as was my wives chicken sandwich. TV,s were on but the volume was down. Kinda dark also. Dimly lit.Prices were good also. Facilities were clean too. Definitely worth a stop if yer in the area.

Went in nby myself and bar area was jammed when I got there so had to sit in dining section. Lots of TV’s around. Great selection of craft beers. Very knowledgeable staff and food, although bar food, it was fresh and well prepared. Thumbs up to this one.

Great place for local and out of town beer geeks! The food is amazing, Fried Chicken is worth the wait and homemade chips can’t be beat! Can end up being a bit pricey but definitely worth going to. Check out "The Beer Bible" to see what is on tap when you go. Always ask just in case something new was cracked open. Occasional firkins, and a knowledgeable staff to boot. Check the website for their upcoming releases.

Restaurant and bar with good selection of local, regional and international beers. Many seasonals and appear to be high quality choices. Service was good with helpful suggestions. Pricing was good on a national basis not sure how it compares locally.

Very good selection of beer with pretty good service.