In historic downtown Farmington, an area comprised of a few small blocks, one building literally stands above the rest. Erected in the 1880s, Braun’s Hall has lived many lives, seen many owners, and gone through multiple renovations. It started as a hotel, morphed into a saloon, went on to become a post office, and even housed a bank at one point. When the building was around the ripe old age of 120, the late restaurateur Herb Schwarz rescued and renovated the dilapidated structure. This paved the way for Old No. 102 Tap House, the brain child of executive chef Josh O’Farrell and owner Brian Hurst, which opened in July 2019.
The rustic brick-and-mortar walls of the historic building set the stage for the star of the show, the pizza. Old No. 102 Tap House creates house-made doughs and sauces, roasted to perfection in a 600- to 700-degree wood-fired brick oven. The restaurant offers expertly crafted topping combinations, such as the Uncle Vito, with sun-dried tomato cream, meatballs, mozzarella, fluffy clouds of herbed ricotta, garlic, and drizzled chili–infused honey. The most popular selection is the Jabroni (pictured below), which holds garlic cream, an assortment of essential classic pizza meats, mozzarella, and oregano. One of the dozen signature pies is the crab Rangoon pizza with Thai sweet chili sauce, crab, scallions, mozzarella, and wonton strips. You can also create your own and a cauliflower crust is also available.
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“Some people come up with amazing ones,” says O’Farrell. “I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh—I’m having this one for lunch today.’”
The restaurant also offers carefully crafted hot sandwiches. Each is named after a cultural reference. For instance, a pretzel bun sandwich with sirloin, Swiss cheese, crispy onions, and garlic mayo was christened The Bill Murray, with the sole objective of drawing the attention of his favorite actor and comedic performer to the restaurant. (“You always hear these stories about him just showing up in random places and people having an amazing time with him,” says O’Farrell, “so I was hoping it would be a beacon to him.”)
The Music City (pictured at right) is a brioche bun loaded with Nashville hot chicken tenders, lettuce, boom boom sauce, and homemade pickles. The Leroy Jenkins is a steak sandwich with beer cheese and jalapeños on a brioche bun. (The name comes from a viral video of a World of Warcraft player gleefully running into enemy territory with reckless abandon, which led to uncompromising defeat for the player and his teammates. I leave you to make the connection on your own.)
Rounding out the menu are several salads, pastas, and starters which include a number of options for vegetarians, including buffalo cauliflower, garlic knots, hand-cut fries, asiago and red pepper soup, and spinach artichoke dip. No self-respecting pizza place in Missouri would dare leave toasted ravioli off the menu, and the restaurant offers a three-cheese blend with red sauce. Other starters include the Country Grammar fries (seasoned with a chipotle rub loaded with pork and beer cheese), tater tots with all the fixins of a loaded baked potato, and a game-day dish called Big Poppa Dip (with barbecue pulled pork, cream cheese, jalapeños, cheddar, and scallions served with tortilla chips). The restaurant also serves chicken wings with eight flavor options, ranging from mild to tear-inducing.
Finally, there are the drinks. The emphasis is on beer, with 20 choices on draft. The restaurant also boasts an impressive selection of liquor and an array of signature cocktails.
Looking ahead, O’Farrell is in the process of obtaining a smoker, a meat grinder, and a sausage stuffer, which he says will help expand the options: “More house-made ingredients, more house-made items, and more things you don’t [typically] get in Farmington.”
