Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer, a casual-dining chain based in New York City, will expand to Dallas, Miami and Nashville in the coming year, CEO Chris Barish said.
“All the leases have been signed and we are in various stages of design, permitting and soon to begin construction in both Dallas and Nashville,” said Barish, who founded the concept with his wife and partner Julie Mulligan in 2015.
The Dallas location will occupy around 7,000 square feet in the city’s Victory Park with 100 seats inside and up to 100 seats outside.
The 130-seat Nashville restaurant will be downtown at 211 Commerce St., off of Broadway, with a footprint of around 4,000 square feet.
The Miami restaurant, slated to open in early 2023 in Brickell City Centre, will seat 124 people inside and 72 outside in a space of around 5,700 square feet.
Black Tap already has restaurants in Las Vegas and in Anaheim, Calif., at Downtown Disney, as well as three restaurants in New York City and overseas locations in Bahrain, Iraq, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
Known for its burgers and craft beer selections, but even more so for its Instagram-friendly Crazy Shakes, Black Tap will also have expanded bar programs at the new locations, which will be larger than the New York restaurants.
“In Nashville you’ll enter and there will be a designated bar area and high tops, and we’ll also have that in Miami and Dallas,” Barish said.
To beef up the beverage program, Barish and Mulligan recently hired Christian Orlando as their “bar administrator.” A 28-year industry veteran, Orlando previously was beverage director at The Stand Restaurant & Comedy Club in New York City, overseeing more than 200 whiskeys. Previously he had worked at Henry restaurant, the Life Hotel and Seamstress, all also in New York.
“I think that there's something in the DNA of Black Tap that makes it unique and experiential,” Barish said. “There are a lot of great burger joints … but I think that we've created a brand that has a lot of different pillars. We have the burgers, we have the ’80s pop and ’90s hip hop, the design which my wife and partner Julie heads up, craft beer obviously … and of course the Crazy Shakes. I think if you take all these different elements you get this special thing that isn't as easily defined as another burger restaurant.”
He added that the music is a crucial part of the mix and is curated by his first DJ from when he was in the nightclub business. “He programs [the music] whether we’re in Singapore or Dubai.”
With the opening of the three new domestic locations, Black Tap will have a total of 21 locations worldwide.
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