After a long wait, Frisco Taphouse is back at a new location.
Yes, after many months, Frisco, is open again, with lots of TVs, a nice craft beer list and your choice of booth, table, high table or bar. They even brought the aquarium from their old location.
A few of the Pint Night gang spent the past two Wednesday nights at Frisco Tap House in Columbia. Both nights I had dinner and a beer(s).
Here are my thoughts.
FOOD
The food is much better than the old kitchen bar food. I had a veggie Pizza the first night, intending to share with the table. It was so good, I gobbled down all eight pieces all by myself, showing my usual restraint. Their pizza oven puts out a great pizza with a wonderful, melt in your mouth crust. The second night, I had the Mushroom Risotto, which was full of creamy, tangy flavors. Also, the French Onion soup was quite yummy, with lots of cheese and a healthy offering of onions. I heartily recommend all of those dishes.
Beer List
The previous Frisco location had 53 taps pouring many world class ales. Frisco was, in my humble opinion, the best beer bar in the county and probably the second best in the state. Now, the beer list is much more limited. The new location puts a heavy emphasis on their in-house brews, which are quite acceptable, but I haven’t found one yet that I would drive far to seek out. Their sour program is fun and the IPA respectable. I tried a few non-Reckless brews – a mug of Troegs Nugget Nectar (always an exceptional IPA) and a ten ounce pour of Burley Oak’s Jelly Not Jam – Key Lime, Pomegranate, Vanilla (as Dennis says, “The flavors just keep on coming”).
Most of the pint night crew have earned the right to receive 16-oz mugs of the beer of their choice. Frisco still honors that privilege. However, on the Reckless Shepherd side of the building, I still have not discovered the secret to ordering a mug.
Service
The servers are all efficient and friendly. I like their team approach where you can flag down any server to make an order. This new location just opened up, so I am not surprised that the staff seems unfamiliar with a lot of the beer or food selections. I do miss the old location wait staff with their impressive beer knowledge.
The Reckless Shepherd and Frisco Tap House share a building and ownership. You can wander from one to the other through a connecting door. Reckless is a massive, game oriented place with many TVs, pool tables, a potential music venue and a large deck outside. Each location has a QR code, which you can scan to place an order. When the process works, your order seemingly appears by magic. Paying is just a click on your phone. This eliminates that mad rush when everyone from your party leaves at once, flagging down the waiter, and getting, reviewing and paying the bill. Sometimes I have difficulty with the online system, which I blame on user error. Hopefully, I’ll figure it out soon.
Frisco Tap House provides the traditional system, with paper menus for food and beer, and no QR codes. I tend to like that system better. Since Frisco is so new, their on-line presence is very limited. For instance, right now no food is listed on their on-line menu and only one beer is mentioned on-line at the Columbia Frisco.
Outside Deck
The outside deck overlooks the back parking lot. It is part of Reckless, using the QR code system. It has great potential, being outside, with 2 large firepits and enormous wooden tables. I had lunch there with Mrs. Adventures on a warm fall afternoon. Reckless had just opened and the QR system was hiccupping (well it just didn’t work). But the service and food was good. Unfortunately, some of the refrigerator trucks behind Wegmans were idling (I guess to keep their inventory cool), and it was very loud. Despite that bad first impression, I still imagine spending an evening out beside a firepit enjoying a drink with friends when the weather gets warmer.
Cheers,
Warren