About this time next month (hopefully by Super Bowl Sunday) the doors will open to one of the more unique bar/retail venues in town, the International Tap House. (Internationaltaphouse.com is under-construction.) The location is Chesterfield, at the corner of Edison and Long Rd.
The hook here is beer. Lots of it. Five hundred kinds of it. Yep, 500. Forty will be on tap (which leaves an beer-belly-busting 460 bottled varieties). Beer from 20 countries will be represented.
Unique as well is the layout...the space is only 2400 square feet, with a 2120 cubic foot walk-in cooler. There will be tables, but obviously this is no sprawling Oktoberfest beer hall. The ITH claims they will be the only bar in town that will serve every beer in its proper glass (flute, tulip, pint, mug, pilsner) and it will surely be the only place to offer a mix-and-match six pack with 400+ selections, available either to-go or for "drink-in."
Happily or unhappily, it will be 100% non-smoking and will be a no-gimmicks place as well—that means no pitchers, no dollar beers. (No word on the status on that all-American end-of-day celebratory right, the Happy Hour).
There will be a small selection of wine available, but no hard liquor.
The ITH will not serve cooked-in-house food, but has contracted with several nearby restaurants to deliver their food (pizzas and the like). Some may question whether it's wise to open a bar that doesn't sell any food directly. Think of the cost of designing, building, operating and staffing a kitchen, then think of food costs projected for 2009. Now think of the margins derived solely from beer...they might just be on to something.
Currently, Cicero's is reputedly at the top of the beer-choice pyramid, with 220 selections. Doubling those options should create quite the buzz. Stay tuned. -- George Mahe
