If you’ve ever been on the lookout for an establishment to have an afternoon or evening out while enjoying a drink or two and a delicious, from-scratch menu amid a casual and welcoming atmosphere, then more than likely you’re familiar with Long Island’s very own homegrown bar and restaurant chain, Tap Room. And if you’re not familiar with them, well…then you’re in for a treat.
Known as “Long Island Premiere Gastropub,” the first Tap Room location opened its doors for business in April of 2011 in Patchogue as a joint venture between owner and founder James Bonanno and his partner, David Johnson; it was the culmination of the duo's extensive experience together in the hospitality industry.
“It's been the only business I've really worked in since I was 14 years old,” Bonanno said. “When I started out, I was bussing tables, and as I got older, I started waitering and bartending. It was just what I knew. And then I met my friend David when we were bartending together in our mid-twenties, and I'd always had an entrepreneurial spirit and was looking for something to do in the restaurant field, and an opportunity presented itself in early 2011.”
Bonanno said that he had long dreamed of opening his own pub with a special emphasis on food made with quality, locally-sourced ingredients made from scratch; an establishment that would straddle the line between being a restaurant and a bar, breaking the mold at the time of what you would expect from such a business.
“That type of place is fairly common today, but back then it was more unusual,” he said. “At Tap Room, we get people who come there to enjoy the bar scene, but we also have a wide degree of demographics that frequent our establishments, such as people who come there for brunch, for happy hour, for dinner, the catering, the nightlife. We really do a lot, and from day one our goal has always been to have a very high-quality product, and the people have responded to it.”
The one thing that sets Tap Room apart from the competition is the focus on the quality of the food; whereas many similar businesses see fit to serve their guests frozen, microwaved grub, you can be rest assured that everything you order at Tap Room is fresh and made with an emphasis on taste and quality.
“We didn't want food to be an afterthought, we didn't want people to just come to the bar and order food only when they got the munchies. We wanted people coming to us just for the food and for it to stand on its own,” he said. “Everything is made fresh and from scratch, including our appetizers such as our mozzarella sticks, our mac and cheese bowls, our poppers. And everything, from our apps to our entrees, are all made from high-quality ingredients, locally-sourced whenever we can.”
“However, we also wanted to create a fun, casual atmosphere where the people can just relax and have a few drinks and watch the game and enjoy the nightlife as well,” Bonanno added.
When opening their first location in Patchogue, Bonanno said that he always envisioned turning Tap Room concept into a chain; thankfully, reaction to the initial opening was such that his vision of expansion was soon to become a reality.
“I knew we were planning to grow something. Originally for the first two years David and I had two other partners at the Patchogue location, and during that time we learned and gained experience,” he said. “Eventually, we ended up amicably buying out our partners, added a second floor, and from there the brand really took off.”
Having grown up in Blue Point, Bonanno noted that Patchogue was essentially right next door, and that he enjoyed the idea of having a business essentially right in his hometown. However, for Tap Room’s second location, he said that he wanted to test the waters in an unfamiliar area, and to that end he chose Massapequa Park.
That opening was also a great success, and as time went by more Tap Room locations sprung up across Long Island, including Bay Shore, Farmingdale, Jericho, and Rockville Center. And, at the time of this writing, more are yet to come, with a location in Huntington slated to open this week, as well as Garden City in August and Ronkonkoma near the end of 2024.
Like many businesses, Tap Room took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic when local businesses were shut down in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. However, unlike many of their other brethren in the restaurant and bar scene, Bonanno noted that Tap Room had already been doing digital takeout orders prior to COVID, and thus were uniquely situated to place a greater emphasis on that side of the business until lockdowns were lifted.
“We never could have envisioned that businesses were going to stop on a dime, and it was very scary,” he said. “But we already had a very good takeout business and we're very technology-forward, and while other brands were scrambling and trying to figure out online ordering, we were already experienced with Uber Eats and DoorDash. Plus, we were very fortunate to be located on Long Island, and the local governments were really accommodating about letting us use sidewalks and parking lots for dining. So, in the end, we made the best of a tough situation, put our best foot forward, and did our best to support our staff until we got through it.”
In addition to their food and trademark casual "everyone's welcome" atmosphere, Tap Room is also highly noted for their extensive beer selection and cocktails. They also strive to be an active part of their local communities in a variety of ways, which Bonanno says is a way to thank them for supporting his business through thick and thin.
“We want to help support the people who support us, so we really try to stay as active as we can with our communities,” he said. “Whether it's supporting local schools or sports teams, we do whatever we can to help. Sometimes during back-to-school time we'll pick a school in one of our districts and, on our dime, feed all the faculty and students. We also help school districts and local charities to run fundraising campaigns where we donate a percentage of our sales to them. Whatever we can do to give back, we're happy to do so.”
Bonanno noted that he gets a great deal of pride and satisfaction out of being a part of an industry that he's worked in all of his life and creating a successful chain within it that stands head and shoulders above the competition. And his success is coming to the point where he's considering expanding Tap Room beyond his native Long Island, giving other neighboring regions an opportunity to sample its impressive wares.
“Right now, we have a lease on a building in Bayside, Queens, and we're looking to eventually venture off of Long Island, probably within the next year or so...perhaps Westchester or New Jersey, or Connecticut,” he said. “David and I really love our jobs, and we've been able to build something amazing from the ground up with some really great people working for us. There's something new each and every day, that's one of the things we love about this job. It's really great.”
To find out more about Tap Room, please visit their website at https://taproomofny.com.