Story and photos by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi –
At the center of Warsaw’s Main Street is Old Rapp Taphouse, a brewery, restaurant and beer garden that adds a bit of nightlife to a town that once rolled up its sidewalks after dark.
Andy Beale’s Old Rappahannock Development Company transformed a commercial block in 2019, wedging a 2,200-square-foot taphouse between retail stores. Old Rapp also includes a 1,000-square-foot patio.
With large screen TVs lining the walls behind the full service bar and lounge area, the restaurant is ideal for the sports enthusiast but it also offers “an elevated American style” family-friendly menu.
A few weeks ago, my husband and I joined friends for a night on the town in Warsaw, starting with drinks and dinner at the Taphouse.
Executive chef Kay Campbell, who was the first person to join the Old Rapp team, has a limited menu but offers several nightly specials driven by the availability of local ingredients, including seafood and produce.
“My menu is small but we do a lot of specials,” said Campbell. “The specials are always a sure bet.”
Since we were at a taphouse, we had to start our dinner with drinks. My husband Chris opted for a blood orange grose, a tart, fruity wheat ale from Anderson Valley Brewing Company.
I opted for a speciality cocktail—The Jackass— which included coconut rum, dark rum, lime juice, ginger beer and cilantro. It had a kick but was smooth, sweet and refreshing.
Wanting to taste-test several of the tempting starters, we ordered fried banana peppers and Mexican street corn dip as appetizers. My husband stuck with the starter menu for his entree and paired one of the nightly special appetizers, baked brie, with a menu staple, mussels smothered in garlic, wine and butter sauce.
The hearty portion of fried peppers were sweet and crunchy, lightly breaded, and came with a tangy ranch dressing. I liked them so much I rushed to the store the next day to buy banana peppers and tempura and tried my best to replicate.
The Mexican street corn dip was a spicy, creamy cheese blend served with either pork rinds or house made tortilla chips which were thin and crunchy.
The baked brie must have been good. Chris cleaned the plate without offering a taste and his mussels were almost more than he could finish. They were swimming in a pool of rich butter and wine sauce that kept them moist.
I chose one of Campbell’s nightly specials, a half rack ribs with a side of butter beans and cole slaw. The ribs were tender and juicy, not fall off the bone, but easily pulled apart with fingers or fork. The barbecue sauce was sweet and tangy, not spicy, just the way I like it. The butter beans took me home to Sunday dinner at my grandma’s, seasoned the Southern way with pork and cooked slow.
My girlfriend also ordered the ribs but paired hers with homemade mashed potatoes. A pat of melted butter floated on top. I don’t usually eat mashed potatoes but was offered a taste and was upset I didn’t choose those as a side. I know better for next time.
Her beau ordered one of the other nightly specials—prime rib tacos. Ahi tuna and smoked brisket tacos are a permanent fixture on the menu. His three tacos came filled with tender strips of prime rib on a slaw, smothered in melted cheese.
Burgers, crab cakes, prime rib and flatbreads complete the menu. The restaurant’s smoked brisket flatbread includes a brisket smoked for eight hours on white oak and seasoned only with pepper and course ground salt.
A slice of rich, creamy cheesecake, drizzled with a blueberry glaze was a perfect ending to the meal.
Old Rapp Taphouse is also developing a brewery in the vacant space at St. Johns and Main.
“The brewery won’t be open until the end of the year,” said Campbell. “But we carry a lot of speciality beers and we change them out weekly, sometimes we change out four beers a night.”
Feeling full, we strolled along Main Street to the town park, which was hosting one of it’s Pickin’ in the Park music events. We enjoyed some classic rock and an unusually cool breeze on a July evening. It was the perfect ending to a nice night in Warsaw.
