Taps

Bar, Eatery

54 E Washington St
Petaluma, California, 94952-3115
United States

(707) 763-6700 | map
petalumataps.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.48
Reviews:
16
Ratings:
29
pDev:
8.26%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by BigB415:
Photo of BigB415
Reviewed by BigB415 from California

5/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
The only complaint I have about TAPS is the sitting. It is a small room with just a long bar and tv's so when it gets packed you have to wait for a seat(went there on a wednesday night last week and had to stand for a half hour to get a table). Other than that everything else is perfect. The drinks are inexpensive($5 dollars for a pint of 2009 Bigfoot) food is great(speciality hotdogs, sandwiches, great fries, etc) and great beer line up. Over 15 on tap out front, more in the back I believe(I could be wrong) and a bunch in bottles(all craft beer, I didn't see any BMC). Waiters and waitresses are very friendly and so are the bartenders. The restaurant is in the old petaluma hotel so when you go to the bathroom you walk out of the restaurant into a grand ballroom and follow it to the end for the bathrooms/kitchen. The sitting situation the way it is I wonder why they don't expand the sitting out into the ballroom. Maybe they use that area for parties I'm not sure. This place is a must for beer lover and food lover a like. It is located right in downtown and parking is easy to find and free. They also have speciality nights like wing it wednesday(50 cents a wing) and pitcher night(discounts on pitchers)
Feb 01, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of Sigmund
Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

3.74/5  rDev -16.5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 4.5
I did not like this place much - but that was only because it was crowded and noisy (on a Sunday early afternoon), the beer selection is excellent! Probably fun on a quiet day (if any). They serve food, but we did not eat.
Dec 20, 2020
 
Rated: 4.2 by BerryKumquat from California

Apr 27, 2019
Photo of DavidR_9
Reviewed by DavidR_9 from California

4.7/5  rDev +4.9%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.5 | selection: 5 | food: 4.75
I love this spot. Amazing burgers and fries, salads are great too. The beer selection is even more impressive and they are kind enough to give out more than two tasters per person if you are really curious about new rotations. My girlfriend and I try to go here and support as often as we can.
Nov 24, 2017
 
Rated: 3.74 by MIrvine from California

Jan 13, 2017
Photo of easong
Reviewed by easong from California

4.55/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.5
This place on the Petaluma River waterfront is the overall best representative pub in a pretty awesome beer town. Taps rotate through fast enough that you could go Friday and Sunday with little need to repeat, whatever your style preference. Solid pub food, be it burgers, salads, or appetizers. Riverfront deck for the warmer days, cozy cavern for the rainy season. Norcal at it's best. No need to drive to Santa Rosa unless you must have that one beer that tourists from the midwest are lining up for.
Dec 19, 2016
Photo of SanFranJake
Reviewed by SanFranJake from California

4.4/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5
My review will be biased or skewed because I'm here at opening. So what?!
So no wait for my pour.
Very solid selection going from local stuff (Bear Republic, HenHouse, Lagunitas) to DFH Fort and even Aventinus. Good selection of local stuff I haven't seen before too.
Six or so tv's, great location right on the river.
Feb 06, 2016
Photo of bumchilly25
Reviewed by bumchilly25 from Canada (BC)

4.34/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4
Not sure about all of the other reviews stating it's a dungeon. We sat outside on a great patio by the river. Great service, great selection...would highly recommend this to anyone in the Petaluma area. We will be back!
Jul 29, 2015
Photo of DoctorZombies
Rated by DoctorZombies from Florida

4.9/5  rDev +9.4%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75
Great vibe and service. Tons of local beer on tap. Friendly people. Will go back.
May 19, 2015
 
Rated: 4.39 by Piglet_rulz_da_yard from California

Apr 03, 2015
 
Rated: 4.31 by tbone1384 from Wyoming

Feb 11, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by SimcoeKid from California

Dec 01, 2014
 
Rated: 4.76 by crazysage from California

Aug 17, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by tykechandler from Kentucky

Aug 14, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by banger7 from California

Jul 25, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by bwheale8 from California

May 22, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by leprakhan from California

Nov 20, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by StoutSnob40 from California

Nov 13, 2013
 
Rated: 4.5 by BeerisUber from Washington

Oct 21, 2013
Photo of heytomcat
Reviewed by heytomcat from Minnesota

4/5  rDev -10.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Went here while attending a wedding in NoCal. Cool little place in a very groovy downtown section of Petaluma. Luckily, wasn't very crowded when I was there so I found a spot at the bar. I basically gave this place 4's all around because I just had a couple of beers then I left. The selection of tap beers was outstanding. It looked like the kind of place that probably gets real crowded on the weekends.
Aug 28, 2013
Photo of Offa
Reviewed by Offa from California

4.36/5  rDev -2.7%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
This is an excellent beer place, one of the best in Sonoma County.

I like the atmosphere but this is in large part due to the actual location and building. It's in the downstairs of the historic 1920s Hotel Petaluma in a portion that at one points was an Elks lodge or something like that, but has gone through various uses, including some restaurants, over the decades. It has a bar area in front and in back a fairly cavernous dining hall area that would be rather stark were it not for the ornate original ceiling and the lovely windows (they offer no view, since they are high up and look onto the opposite wall of the building, but they are themselves lovely windows fitting the pseudo Mission-Revival decor of the place). The front is more closed in and low, the back open and tall, giving a nice range. Since the place is often fairly busy, this gives a fairly good feel and experience, but it does have drbacks of making the front cramped and the back part is somewhat cavernous. It is located on the edge of downtown Petaluma, a great location. The crowd has gotten louder, roughy, and ruder as time has gone on. With the cramped front part and the cavernous back part, this has greatly reduced the vibe.

The beer quality and selection are overall excellent. There is a great range of micro brews, especially, quite varied and with some great quality amongst them. They also have a rotating cask selection. It's a great place for local, especially Petaluma, nano-brews as well. The main weak point beer-wise is the relative lack of any good imports.

Service generally seems very good, sometimes excellent.

Food is excellent, with a nice range and great quality.
May 09, 2013
Photo of Dakotah
Reviewed by Dakotah from California

4.66/5  rDev +4%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.75 | food: 5
I'll start by saying I've been a fan of this place since they opened, and now and am even more frequent because it's within stumbling distance of my new place..

A- The place is basically a dungeon, but for this type of establishment, it totally works.. part sports bar, part gastro-pub, all good. A little busy ALL of the time, but everyone from the staff to patrons seem friendly. Cozy bar with plenty of TVs, and tables or family style tables to sit and eat with groups.

Q- A freaking Plus. as others mentioned I have never seen Russian River on tap, but the brewery itself is 30mins north, take a drive.

S- this is where is can be slightly lacking, but hey, the place is always packed.. only gripe on the S is the fact that the Sunday brunch can sell out well before noon..

S- ever-rotating "Towers" of beer, always a great selection with a lot of variety, and a lot of random one-off local kegs run through.

F- food here is terrific. If you can catch the Sunday brunch, do it. they have great, creative hot dogs, and what I would call the best burgers in the Petaluma.

V- great beer, knowledgeable staff, plenty of good beer to choose from, for a beer lover, can't beat the value.
May 06, 2013
Photo of avaldivia
Reviewed by avaldivia from California

4.28/5  rDev -4.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
This is the place I go to on my way home from work. I first heard about this place at work but never went because I thought driving for half an hour to a bar may be a bit much. Then I went and realized it was totally worth it.Thankfully I now live 10 minutes away and this place is on my way home from work.

It is fairly small with a few tables and a bar that sits about a 20 people, maybe a few less. Go here on a busy Saturday night, you will easily be waiting for a table for 20 minutes or more.

I have never had an issue with dirty tap lines which is something I worry about in bars that have a large selection of taps.

The selection is awesome. They have brewery nights where they have a bunch of taps dedicated to a particular brewery. This is how I got The Abyss on tap just last week. Some of the taps rotate frequently but a lot stay the same. The only problem with this place is that I have never seen any Russian River brews here.

Food is good, typical bar fair. Good hot dogs and burgers. Great fries. Everything is kind of heavy. I do wish at times they had lighter options. Come in on Thursday night and they have a cool special menu.

Definitely a place to check out if in the North Bay.
Jul 27, 2011
Photo of 100floods
Reviewed by 100floods from California

4.13/5  rDev -7.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
As mentioned before the worst part about this place is seating. You walk in to the averaged sized room to see all the tables full and the bar stools claimed for. In the back is another, larger room that could easily be filled with every growing crowd of waiting guests, but I think they reserve that for private parties. Sometimes a waiter/ess will approach you and tell you waiting for a seat won't be too long, which is usually true. They certainly don't hesitate to take your beer order. The tap menu is pretty good. Lots of California breweries and a good handful of Belgians. Like any good bar, the tap list rotates often, which the occasional staples. I was surprised to see no Russian River on tap, but they seem to be everywhere in Northern California, and it's not like I couldn't get another good beer.
This is great place to watch sports. 6 screens, usually mostly Giants games (and recently lots of hockey, huge Sharks following up in Sonoma). The crowd up there loves their sports.
The wait staff is hit and miss, mostly miss. No one there is rude, just lacking in personality, but the nice wait staff totally make up for it.
The menu would appear at first to be your typical bar menu, but everything has a little twist. Burgers with goat cheese, capers and arugala? Yes please! In stead of fries on the side, they have a section of the menu devoted to several types of fries, yum!
Overall this place is pretty awesome and one of the highlights during my visits to see my girlfriend. A dinner for two can easily run you $50, with tip, but it's totally worth it.
Jun 22, 2011
Photo of plaid75
Reviewed by plaid75 from New York

4.4/5  rDev -1.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
Located on a street perpendicular to the main drag of Petaluma.

Upon entering there is a step down into a large open floor plan. There were about fifteen tables all pointed toward a row of televisions above the bar. I liked this concept as it felt very unifying especially as Giants fans watched their team advance to the NLCS.

The bar was rather long with seating for approximately fifteen. There were approximately 20 or so draft selection all conveniently docketed on a large chalkboard. The selection featured a wide range of regional selections as well as east coast favorites and specialty imports.

The food menu was concise and featured a few delicious hit dig selections. The wait staffwas extremely friendly as well.

The building that houses the bar is huge and on your way to the bathrooms you are directed through a cavernous bingo style hall.
Jan 22, 2011
Photo of IRONRakkasan
Reviewed by IRONRakkasan from California

4.3/5  rDev -4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
Ever since this place opened up, its been hopping (pun also intended). Most nights I walk by its nearly standing room only.

The selection is great, with a mix of house, imported, and local brews, that are rotated often. The staff know their beer too.

I can't speak for the food as I haven't tried it. That said, whatever food they do have seems an after thought as beer is definitely the focus.

Petaluma has some fun places to drink beer, but this one takes the cake. Glad to see something other then typical pub beers and American mass produced swill.

Glad to see this place open and successfull. If they stay on track, they'll be around for a long time.

Check it out!
Dec 06, 2010
Photo of willjschmidt
Reviewed by willjschmidt from California

4.3/5  rDev -4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5
A craft beer oriented bar located in downtown Petaluma. They have about 30 beers on tap, all craft and imports. They have a long bar with about 15 seats at it. There are also about a dozen tables. The quality and selection if very good. I had a Deschutes Hop Trip and a Blind Pig. Prices are reasonable, $5.50 for those two beers. The pours were excellent, for those two beers they used imperial pint glasses. Prices go up and pour size goes down for higher alcohol beers and "rare" beers. One warning, they are not currently updating their website beer list on a regular basis. The list currently on their website looks nothing like their actual beer list. However, they do seem to rotate their beers quite a bit. Service was fine but not anything outstanding. I did not sample the food but it the menu consisted of hot dogs, sandwiches, and wings.
Nov 15, 2010
Photo of juhl31
Reviewed by juhl31 from California

3.85/5  rDev -14.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
whatever the review grade, so glad this place opened and will continue to go here and hope it keeps getting better!

-atmosphere is decent, but i feel they missed on some really crucial spots...the lighting could be dimmer, the tv placement could be better, the chalkboards could be bigger (at least they got away from the paper menus though), could not have reggae on tuesday nights. not horrible, but plenty of room for improvements

-service is pretty solid, but sometimes are a bit understafffed whcih is a bummer

-the selection is starting to get pretty darn good. has continued to improve and improve and has gotten all the need to get stuff like abyss and black xantus and life and limb.

-food is pretty good for what it is, hopefully the menu will keep getting bigger

-totally reasonable prices, i pay pretty much the right price that i should on all beers. the food is a touch pricey though for what it is
Dec 23, 2009
Photo of xhcadamx
Reviewed by xhcadamx from Maine

5/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
A - In the "basement" of Petaluma Hotel. Has a lot of history, probably a speakeasy back in the day.

Q - These guys have it down. Proper glassware for every beer. Bartender continuously checks to make sure glasses are clean before he pours beers.

S - Awesome, personable, timely, prompt. What more could you ask?

S - 30 beers on tap! They cover the whole range too, not just American versions of English Ales. The taps also constantly rotate.

F - Haven't ordered anything off the menu but the two times I have been here the Chef has come out with food for everyone to try. It's been very tasty. Hot Dogs, Sausages, Fries - perfect food whilst quaffing beers.

V - Reasonably priced for a REAL PINT!
Oct 13, 2009
Taps in Petaluma, CA
Place rating: 4.48 out of 5 with 29 ratings