The Kirkland Tap & Trotter

The Kirkland Tap & TrotterThe Kirkland Tap & Trotter
The Kirkland Tap & TrotterThe Kirkland Tap & Trotter
Bar, Eatery

425 Washington St
Somerville, Massachusetts, 02143-4346
United States

(857) 259-6585 | map
kirklandtapandtrotter.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.28
Reviews:
3
Ratings:
5
pDev:
6.54%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews.
Ratings by SveNss0N:
Photo of SveNss0N
Rated by SveNss0N from Massachusetts

4.34/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 3.75 | food: 4.75

Aug 25, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of Sheppard
Reviewed by Sheppard from Massachusetts

4.31/5  rDev +0.7%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25 | food: 4.5
This place is now closed for good but I want to throw a rating on. THIS IS UNEQUIVOCALLY THE BEST PLACE TO HAVE A FIRST DATE BECAUSE THIS WAS THE FIRST DATE SPOT THAT MY FIANCE AND SOON TO BE WIFE WENT TO ON OUR FIRST DATE. BRING IT BACK, CHEF MAWS.
Apr 16, 2023
Photo of papat444
Reviewed by papat444 from Canada (QC)

4.11/5  rDev -4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.75
Came for the EBF brunch. Selection was average but they did have a randallized version of 90 minute which was interesting. Service was great even though place was packed.
Mar 23, 2015
Photo of huuvola
Reviewed by huuvola from Massachusetts

3.91/5  rDev -8.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 4.25 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
Tap & Trotter isn't a beer bar; it's more of a gastropub with a small-but-decent overpriced beer selection. The food is largely excellent, but the beer prices are just flat out high. You'll be hard pressed to find a craft beer priced at less than $7 or $8 (including 12 oz. bottles/cans; draft pours typically come in 11 oz. or 14 oz.).

The bottle list is pretty good, but the draft list (8 taps) is oddly curated. I don't know if anyone is really tasked with keeping a good balance of styles on tap at any given time, because the selection can sometimes lean oddly in one direction (for example, mainly Belgians or mainly darker beers, with no real rhyme or reason).

I want to love this place because the food is solid, the service friendly, and the atmosphere is friendly/cool, but the beer prices and selection are a bummer. At the price points they're charging, I'd expect to have a really interesting rotation of beers, especially on draft (taking a nod from Boston's Row 34 restaurant, which has such a well-curated tap list). For example, right now they have Harpoon IPA and Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye on tap. Those are two lines that could potentially be running far more interesting local beers, like something from Mystic Brewing, Idle Hands, Jack's Abby, Trillium, or Wormtown. (And would it kill you to sell draft beers at $6 or $7 instead of $8, $9, or $10 for an 11 oz. or 14 oz. pour?)

One saving grace: Lately they've had a bar happy hour special that lets you get a free selection of (awesome) small plates from their bar menu. So if you get there before 6:30 and find a seat at the bar, you can potentially order a couple of beers and get some free food that helps ease the hit on your pocketbook.

Overall: great local low-key restaurant/gastropub, but the beer program could use some fine tuning.
Jul 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by dmachado from Massachusetts

Apr 20, 2014
The Kirkland Tap & Trotter in Somerville, MA
Place rating: 4.28 out of 5 with 5 ratings