TAPS Fish House & Brewery

Service is extremely slow tonight, and it’s Monday! If Cheesecake allows for reservations, we wouldn’t be here.

The oysters here are so clean! So fresh!
They have a full selection of desserts., loved that…
I will say this the hostess at the front we’re pretty rude. I came in with the party of six. I get that we all looked hung over, The way she treated us this disrespectful. Looked at us from head to toe and it looked like she assumed we were broke!
She said. «It’s 37.99 per person you guys still want to be seated? «it upset me and others I was with.
The guy who helped us was sweet and very sharp.
Overall this place is a decent. I can’t say I’m not willing to give it another try!

Came here for Father’s Day dinner. It’s surprisingly nice inside and more of an upscale restaurant than I had expected since I had been expecting a simple brewery. They serve seafood and steaks.
The complimentary bread was SO GOOD and came out steaming, the house-​prepared calamari was good and tasted vaguely Asian.
I had the chilean sea bass and my family members had various steak and seafood dishes. Everything was good and not overly seasoned with good portions.
Service was excellent.
Def recommend.

Man! This was my first time (as well as my family’s) here! It was Father’s Day so you know it was busy. That being said, ofc service wasn’t exceptionally speedy. HOWEVER, it was still good service despite everything being crazy.
For the food!!! Man, I loved everything I got!!! I got the barbacoa empanadas as my meal. Dude, it was sooooo bomb! It comes with three little empanadas (fried dough stuffed with meat in this case) and it’s complimented with some delicious sauce. Definitely for you if you like meat and fried things. I also got the pub Mac n cheese and the gumbo soup. The gumbo did not have seafood in it which is why I wanted to get it! I stick to ground animals. Sue me. Ugh not only was the presentation nice, but the soup was amazing! Definitely flavorful and very rich and filling. Which I learned the hard way cuz I couldn’t finish my macaroni (and you KNOW I took that home). Speaking of! My Mac was the last thing to get to the table due to a hectic kitchen. No worries, no biggie. I’m pretty chill w that kind of stuff. Although my mother is not! Anyway, that macaroni was freakin delicious!!! The noodles were PERFECTLY cooked, the cheese was not skimpy, and the meats that went into it were obviously satisfying. I’m definitely going to be coming back here! We did end up getting a red velvet cake and a chocolate soufflé. Omgosh guys… Definitely try them! The presentation was beautiful for both!!! I’m getting hungry just thinking about it so I gotta fix that. Happy eating!
Side note, our servers name was Jeff. He was SOOO knowledgable and very, very helpful! He gave us recommendations and honest opinions (which were still positive!). It was awesome having him connect w us and make our experience here something unforgettable. There was also a super friendly busser who would get us more bread and even came to refill the iced tea (even tho we got different teas than what he brought.). It was the gesture. I’m giving this 4 stars bc I want to go back on a not so busy night to really try for that 5^th star! Thank you Jeff and Mr. Busser.

Yummm! Everything I had was delicious — from the bread to my main dish. The olive oil, vinegar and tasty spice mixture was on point! I’m not even a fan of dipping bread in EVOO/​vinegar but that spice… yeah… that made it amazing! As a starter, I had a cup of the N’awlins style gumbo. Delicious. For my main, I had the wharf cioppino and it was swimming in goodness. A lot of other people ordered the drunken mahi mahi and it looked amazing and the finished clean plates afterwards was pretty telling that everyone enjoyed it. Someone else had the wedge salad to start, which they offered to chop for him before it was served. Let me tell you… it was the portion size of a main dish! Overall, everyone seemed satisfied and I surely was. I might conveniently find myself in SoCal more often just so I can dine here!

If you’re looking for great seafood in the OC area, this place is definitely a must try! I come here frequently for their happy hour (Mon-​Fri 2−7PM Sat 12−5PM $ 6 select appetizers $ 5 glasses of wine and well drinks; $ 4 all beers) which has a wide selection of craft beers and wines, and several yummy shareable dishes. I always sit outside at the patio, and the servers are still always very attentive and check up on you often.
But, other than the happy hour, you MUST try their Sunday brunch! (9:30 am –2 pm) for $ 35/​person. Come HUNGRY because there are over 100 items ranging from raw oysters to shrimp cocktails, to eggs benedict, make your own charcuterie platter, to prime rib AND bottomless mimosas. Our server made sure our glasses were always full every time he passed us, so we lost track of how many we had. I can’t wait to go back for their brunch!

I came here with a couple of clients only got a picture of my food and earls as it wasn’t appropriate to snap a bunch of pictures at this meeting.
I ordered
The CLASSIC REUBEN with Swiss cheese, German sauerkraut, topped with Thousand Island dressing, marble rye. served on a small sheet pan with homemade potato chips with no flavor to them.
It wasn’t the best I have had, the meat was cut the wrong direction making it chewy and the bread was over toasted… so hard bread and rubbery meat was no bueno
Earl had the AHI TUNA YAKI SOBA SALAD Seared ahi tuna, soba noodles, cucumber, carrots,
peppers, bean sprouts, cabbage, yuzu & white soy dressing served on a plate with the noodles spilling out of a classic Chinese food container laid on its side it was a great presentation.
Ryan had a MARGHERITA PIZZA Oven-​roasted garlic, tomatoes, sweet basil and
fresh mozzarella cheese. Looked like a chick pizza to me. In my world pizza needs meat.
Bill got the ALBACORE TUNA MELT Herb-​marinated albacore tuna salad, red onions,
lemon herb aioli cheddar cheese, butter lettuce, vine-​ripened tomatoes, all bulging out of marble rye bread. served on a small sheet pan too.
It looked really great it was a bit messy but the brought plenty of napkins.
This place has a nice atmosphere and good service but I guess I decided poorly on my lunch choice.

I came here for Mother’s Day brunch with my boyfriend and his family. They had a brunch buffet for $ 45.99 a person. They had everything from eggs benedict to calamari to prime rib to turkey to oysters! They had a wide range of desserts as well. Bottomless mimosas and drinks. While they had a wide range of foods available, I think that the price does not justify the quality of the food or the drinks. The orange juice they used for the mimosas was a generic off-​brand orange juice and to be honest, if you’re charging nearly $ 50 a person, I expect a bit more. The dessert was not amazing. They had a chocolate fountain and such but the crème brûlée was not done properly. The top of the crème brûlée which is typically a hard sugar coating was extremely soft. The custard was delicious but the top ended up making the overall dessert rather bitter.
When I went to get prime rib, they were out of au jus and did not replenish. It got to the point where I had to pour it from the pan that it was sitting in. Service on the other hand was great. The waiters were very nice and attentive. I wish that there had been a bit more variety considering the price they were charging. $ 45.99 could get you a really great dinner buffet in Temecula.

Hi everyone!
So finally reviewing Taps in Brea. Now I have not been here for dinner in a very long time so I am just reviewing the Sunday brunch. Now first off it can be a lot of food even for those who have a big appetite. There’s lots of things to choose form and they seem to change every time I go which is maybe one or two times a year.
From tri tip to a casino roast, pancakes to French toast, roasted potatoes and mashed potatoes they have a good variety plus they have a noodle and crêpe bar now which is cool where people will make you what you ask.
A little tip if you are going to order some breakfast skillets then I recommend you order them right off the bat because they can take a while to cook.
But make sure you take your time and have fun!
Oh and bananas fosters is thr best desert there hands down!
Have fun everyone!

Came here for Sunday Brunch with my girlfriends. Made reservations so I didn’t have to wait. This was my second time here for brunch. There was a great selection, crêpe station, pasta station, prime ribs, breakfast items such as bacon, pancakes, eggs Benedict, French toast, oysters, shrimp, ceviche, Italian meats and cheese and various desserts.
Service was great. Our empty plates were continuously clear and my mimosa was never empty. I loved the Nutella crêpe and smoked salmon crepes. Oysters were ok. Italian meats and cheese was delicious. Love the flan and crème brûlée. Both were not overly sweet.

I heard awesome things about this brunch so I decided to try it for the first time this past Sunday. I actually didn’t know you could make reservations, so I would highly recommend that because they quoted us a 1 hour and 30 min wait time. Luckily we found seats at the bar downstairs for our group of 4. I have to say, the bartender was top notch. She was very attentive with getting us drinks and taking away our plates, wish I got her name as her multi tasking skills were great.
Now on to the food. I definitely expected more seafood for the price and the fact that its a fish house (Brunch was $ 37.99 and comes with unlimited mimosas or 2 beers). The oysters were good (think they make them look scarce on purpose) and they also have ceviche/​shrimp but don’t expect crab. The most surprising thing here was that they had the BEST carnitas tacos. Load you up on delicious tacos so you cant eat the expensive food, i see the strategy there LOL. Lunch (prime rib, mash potatoes, fish, veggies) and breakfast (eggs benedict, bacon, etc.)items were all very good. I actually really enjoyed their cheese/​meat/​charcuterie section. Desserts are also legit.
I left pretty satisfied and full. Probably not one of the best brunch buffets I’ve been to but it was solid and I’d go again just for the ambiance.

So many people like this place, but I was impressed by its mediocrity! The brunch buffet is $ 40, but it’s not worth that amount! Sure, they have AYCE oysters…(maybe that’s where the price is coming from) but hardly much other seafood from their small quantity of dishes. I think Hometown Buffet had more choices! The food was not too bad, but I definitely expected more from the price. They pretty much had 3 – 4 sections of buffet areas, but one entire area was dedicated to dessert so there wasn’t much to eat.
Also, the service was definitely lacking for a $ 40 buffet price point. I understand that they’re packed, but if you’re charging that price the service should be up to par and the amount of servers serving should also be up to par since you already know how popular your restaurant is. The refills was very good, but they were slow to get everything else. From utensils they were slow, getting us to go boxes were slow, and getting someone’s attention took forever.
OKOK to be fair the desserts were incredibly cute and fun! But I wanted FOOD LOL
I think I’ll pass on this place unless someone really wants to go!

Easter brunch review: busy, crowded, food was good, they ran out of some staples (ham, seafood). Everything you would expect, during a holiday brunch.
Regular dinner review: food was delicious, quick service, quality of fish was very good, beer selection was decent.
Overall — TAPS is a decent place for good brunch on Sundays and dinner on weekends. The prices are high, but the quality of food justifies it.

The 5 star review is specifically for brunch– mainly because it’s my favorite place to brunch in OC!
Reason #1– bottomless champagne! There are a lot of places that serve bottomless bubbles for brunch but Taps always quickly refills your glass and never hurries you out the door. We’ve sat for hours just drinking on a Sunday, and the staff is great. If you want even quicker refills sit at the bar for brunch. Great spot to watch some football and get your grub and drink on. Also great if you don’t have reservations and the place is packed, because the bar is first come first serve.
Reason #2– all you can eat. Yeah, usually buffets are not as great as ordering off a menu, but Taps is pretty darn close! They always have standard breakfast items like pancakes, cinnamon rolls, French toast, bagels, bacon, etc… but then they have some of their signature fish dishes, a carving station, oysters, salads, charcuterie, build your own pasta station, crepes, steamed clams, and the list goes on. They even brought back the all you can eat crab legs at the Irvine location! There’s also a menu you can order egg dishes off of like omelettes, hashes, and breakfast burritos. Then for dessert there’s a chocolate fountain and pastries galore.
If you have no Sunday plans, put on your stretchy pants and head to Taps… you won’t be disappointed!

I’ve always heard a lot about Taps and after convincing my boyfriend to check it out he finally gave in. I’m not sure I understand the hype but, here goes.
We walked in on a Saturday afternoon and the place was pretty empty. We walked to the hostess desk and asked for a table for 2 and she seemed like that was kind of an unreasonable request. We were like, «Ummm there has to be about 37 people in here total. Are we missing something?» It was taking her too long to get it together so we just opted to sit at the bar. When we got to the bar we were helped pretty quickly so at least the bartender had her act together. She handed us some menus (which definitely should have been thrown away because they had sauce and shit all over them) and gave us time to look them over before she came back.
We had a flight and the beers were pretty good. I especially liked the shandy and the grapefruit IPA. We also ordered the calamari and it was pretty good. It was nicely fried and the sauce was good. We split a pretzel too and it was good. It was buttery and salty and the beer cheese was pretty good. Neither of us were big fans of the mustard. Get double cheese if you can.
All in all, this is a place to bring people that don’t want to go to BJ’s but want some good beers and good food options.

I’ve never been here for dinner, but I’ve been here for Sunday brunch a few times, so this review is for their brunch only.
TAPS Sunday brunch buffet has a good variety of food… from breakfast items to lunch, desserts, fruits, and cheese/​meat platters. Here’s the 411:
Breakfast: Eggs Benedict, Cinnamon Rolls, Yogurt Parfait, Breakfast Fruit Bowls, Muffins, Bacon, Sausage, and more!
Lunch: Prime Rib, Sausage, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Fish, Baked Potatoes, Veggies, and more…
Seafood: Fresh Raw Oysters & Shrimp Cocktail. The shrimp is kinda small, but the oysters are good.
They also have 2 kinds of soup, usually clam chowder and something else. And they have a Noodle Bar made to order where you can select your veggies and noodles and they’ll cook it for you.
Additionally, they have a fruit, salad, and cheese/​meat/​charcuterie section. I love their cheese & charcuterie section! Their dessert selection is… A LOT! For all you sweet tooth out there, you will not be disappointed. Best of all, bottomless mimosas! I definitely took advantage of this and drank my good share.
They have something for everyone here. The Sunday brunch buffet gets very busy, so make sure you make a reservation ahead of time. Parking is bad, it’s usually full unless you get lucky. However, they have valet on the side of the restaurant which is convenient and is what I use normally. Service is excellent. This is a great place to take family or friends, or birthday celebrations if you want a nice Sunday brunch! It’s $ 37.99 per person.
*Minus 1 star because one time I came for brunch and found hair in my bruschetta and another hair in another item. It was disgusting. It must have been a bad brunch day for me, but they need to be careful about that. Overall, a great place!

The food is good but service is pretty darn horrible.
We had a reservation for 23 people. Due to slow service by management, our entire dinner experience here stretched to about 3.5 hours. Yikes — talk about poor execution. That’s as long as Lord of the Rings movie.
While I understand we had an extremely large party, everything was mis-​executed by the restaurant. Some things which went wrong —
–Multiple food orders were forgotten or wrong, such as my pregnant wife’s soup & salad was forgotten, or many people in our party didn’t receive their ice-​cream/​cake.
–Excessive time to execute pretty much everything. It took a really long time for us to get bread, our food came out rather slow, it took a good 20 mins for them to provide us a bill, and another 20 mins to provide an updated bill once we spoke w/​management (see below). That’s an idle period of 40 mins just pertaining to the invoice!
–Food items taken «to go» went missing, but were somehow found again. A server took the food items to box up. When we inquired about following up we were informed «they couldn’t find it.» A few minutes later they end up finding the food. Very odd.
We voiced our unpleasant experience to management and they removed $ 50 from the bill. In addition, management added they would provide us «free cake» while we were finally paying our bill; our party wasn’t interested as we’d already been at the restaurant for 3.5 hours and were just about to leave. Pretty poor timing.
While the above are nice gestures, it didn’t make up for our overall poor experience.

My boyfriend and I stopped in at the bar at TAPS for a late meal after watching «Lady In The Van» at the local Edwards Theater.
Even though it was almost closing time, our bartender made sure to get in our order before the kitchen closed.
We shared a large bowl of the gumbo, the Atlantic salmon, fries, and we tried the West Kolsch beer, which was very refreshing but not overly hoppy so it was really smooth.
Our meal was great, and we enjoyed the West Kolsch, too.
Even though only one other person was finishing her dinner at the bar, we never felt rushed.
The bill came to about $ 60, but for the quality of the food, beer, ambiance, and service, it was worth it.

Brunch here is from 9:30 am — 2 am.
There is a Valet Service right next to the restaurant.
It is about $ 33/​per person.
You can do an endless mimosas/​bloody marys or you can do beers!
They have SO MUCH food available, there is like no way you can try everything.
–the oyster bar: fresh and also has the condiments for you on the side
–the cheese and charcuterie bar: can I just say WOW. The selection is amazing. The cheese is amazing. They even have roasted whole garlic cloves and different honeys!
–american breakfast food: on point from red velvet pancakes, to eggs Benedict’s, a meat station where they slice you meat of your choice.
–dessert: fruits galore. and how can you forget the Chocolate fountains?! Also a fresh donut machine you can make your own type of donuts.
I don’t know of any other brunch buffets in this area that are THIS good. I have to say it is my favorite brunch buffet local location.

My friend and I pass by Taps all the time and decided to finally try it. Overall we were pretty pleased with our experience!
Food:
We didn’t order any actual entrees, just a lot of small plates from various categories of the menu so we got to try a lot!
*For the table:
–Calamari Provençal
So good! Very buttery, they give you a very generous amount. I’ve never had calamari prepared like this, very rich flavor. Highly recommend this dish.
*Sides:
–Brussel Sprouts, Bacon, Meyer Lemon
Pretty good, but very oily! The pieces of bacon they add in here are delicious and pair very nicely with the tangy lemon flavor.
*Snacks:
–Onion Roasted Bone Marrow En Croute
Delicious, love all of the spices and flavors incorporated with this dish. You get four pieces of toasted bread which is just enough for the amount of bone marrow you get.
–Fig and Baked Brie Tarte
Not that great. Not enough brie, way too much fig, and pretty dry. The fig overpowers the small amount of brie cheese you get in the pastry. I’ve had better baked brie at other places.
*Happy Hour Menu:
–Mini Cheese Burgers
This would’ve been better if the bread and the meat wasn’t so dry, I’d skipped this!
Service:
Great, server was very friendly and she came around occasionally to check on us. We never had to wait long for water refills or to ask any questions.
Atmosphere/​Ambiance:
It was a warm day, so we decided to sit outside on the patio. Patio was very nice with comfy seats and lined with umbrellas.
I would definitely consider coming back to try some of the other items on their extensive menu.

REVIEW FOR TAPS HORRENDOUS STAFF MEMBERS
This is my 6^th review for Taps since 2009 so you know that I am a loyal diner and supporter for this restaurant. I always shared how great the food is and how we get fine-​dining service from the staff here. Today’s negative experience needs to be addressed and I hope the owners will do something about these two unprofessional employees.
We came here for the Sunday brunch today to celebrate my cousin’s baby shower and our server Emily was… a total B-​word. Here’s a run down on why she ruined our party:
1. She asked us if we were new to the brunch (everyone was except for me) but didn’t explain anything to us. Didn’t tell us that we could order omelettes and specials from the kitchen. Nothing.
2. She barely came to check on us and when I tried to call her by saying, «Excuse me!» to wave her down she rolled her eyes and frowned at me and when she came over I said, «sorry I forgot your name so I just yelled excuse me to get you» and she sarcastically snapped, «Oh no just call me ‘excuse me’ that’s my new name.» WHAT THE HELL??? We were all shocked.
2. She only gave half of us champagne glasses for our mimosas. When we asked for an extra champagne flute for my cousin (who is pregnant duh baby shower) to drink her juice out of so she doesn’t feel left out– she kept forgetting to bring it. We asked like 5 times!
3. When I asked again for the champagne glass she ROLLED HER EYES AGAIN and turned around! Are you kidding me?
So this was when I had enough. We all lost our appetite and I was shaking from anger. I took her to the side away from the group and asked her what her problem was. I basically told her that she was ruining our baby shower with her crappy attitude and service and that I’m going to talk to the Manager. She didn’t even deny rolling her eyes and made excuses that she didn’t bring us the champagne flute because they can’t be filled with just orange juice so she was hesitant… and then she changes it and said something about not giving us the glass because kids sometimes sneak champagne… ummm what kids? There were NO kids with us. Was she talking about us? Which leads me to her next mistake…
4. She DIDN’T ASK FOR OUR IDs when pouring our mimosas. Isn’t that against the law to serve alcohol to individuals who look under the age of 25 or something? She just said she thought one of us was underage and that’s why she didn’t bring us our glass– yet she pours us all champagne?
Our entire table saw, heard and felt the dirty vibe she was giving us. When I threatened to go on Unilocal and talk to her boss she was VERY apologetic afterwards but it was too late. We knew she was just trying to save her own ass. I’m guessing she’s racist because the other tables she was serving were non-​Asians and she was smiling and friendly with them. But when serving us she gave us dirty looks and eye rolls… as if we’re bothering her to do her job! Why was she so rude to us?!
I asked to speak to the Manager and a lady name SUNNY arrived who had already spoken with Emily. It was obvious she was taking her side. She had a PC reply to every thing I said and apologized but it was not sincere. She was backing her up saying they don’t give champagne flutes to children… again WHERE did she see kids at our table? Afterwards she went to Emily and I see them smiling and chuckling. SMH. Listen SUNNY you should go back to being a server and leave the management position to someone who knows how to correct a negative experience and give out excellent customer service. I run two large schools and deal with parents and clients all day and I can smell a lazy fake manager when I see one.
Thankfully we got a new server (Betsy I think?) who was super attentive and friendly. Thank you for being sweet and doing damage control– we appreciated that.
But the other two? They shouldn’t be working in the service industry– especially for a reputable restaurant like Taps Fish House and Brewery. We spent $ 230 today on a crappy serviced meal. They didn’t offer to comp anything or say anything to make things right. What a damn shame.

I’ve only been there twice and it was very inconsistent which is why I’m writing this review. The place has good potential to be 5 stars if it were consistently good. We must have had different chefs on the 2 different occasions.
First visit: Good service, good food, good drinks, no complaints. Great experience!!!
Second visit: Rough service, cold food. Started off with cold apps– yuck. Nobody wants cold calamari or cold fondue cheese (the cheese sauce was poorly made and it was broken and clumpy/​grainy) — gross. My beet salad that I absolutely LOVED before came out all wrong… The greens were different and sparse and the polenta was cold where it was hot before. I also had a trio of soup which was abysmal — I was shocked: all cold, all thick and over salted. My husband was happy with his meatloaf dinner but that was about the extent of anything good.
To the waitresses credit she took a lot off our bill because we were so disappointed. I would have rather paid full price and had it right.

This is your typical American eatery. There sever steaks, burgers, seafood and have lots of beer on tap. Our meal here wasn’t very memorable which is why I don’t remember much. The food was good but nothing outstanding. Steaks were cooked well, fries were crispy, mussels were nice and pasta was good but nothing really impressed me.

Went to Taps last Friday on a whim because I was craving oysters. This place never disappoints with their great customer service and the best oysters. We had their clams also and dipped their bread in the sauce! Heaven… I have to say this one of my favorite establishments.
I choose to valet park and it’s never an issue.
I recommend you make reservations if you want to dine during the weekend, otherwise you’ll have to wait or find self seating out in the patio or near the bar.
Will continue to dine here, forever.

Upon arriving at our table, there was a lap napkin missing. Didn’t get one until halfway throughout the meal.
We wanted to order a few fixed items and only got to do so once because that’s about how many times our server came by to check up on us.
Someone spilled champagne while refilling my mimosa and didn’t bother to grab an extra napkin to soak it up.
I got the half bagel with salmon and lox — not worth it. Bagel not toasted, too little cream cheese (tasted like I was just eating a soggy bagel with salmon, blegh), and heaping amounts of salmon.
Food was incredibly mediocre and very limited selection, and it’s now 6 hours after we’ve left and I STILL feel sick. Not coming back
Only reason this review has 2 stars instead of 1 star is because they had a good amount of champagne for me to get drunk off of in an attempt to forget this horrible brunch

If you’re feeling tired from a long day/​week at work and in need of a pick-​me-​up, definitely check out TAPS for their happy hour! I’ve never been here for brunch or dinner, but that will definitely be on my list next, as I’ve heard enough raving about their sunday brunch!
Came by last night on Friday in desperate need of a drink with the hubby. Place was packed (as expected) around 6:15pm, so it was a bit awkward because its a «seat yourself» environment. You basically have to put your hawk eyes on to seek out an empty table and seat. If a table or seat becomes available, you better swoop your way over there before someone else takes it. It ain’t time to be a chicken! (Okay, enough with the bird references, but it was getting really fun) In other words, it can be an awkward and uncomfortable seating situation, a problem which could be easily fixed if only TAPS would devote more of their dining room to happy hour patrons.
Anyway, after we finally inched our way over to the bar area with one empty seat available, the people at the bar saw that the hubby was standing in back of me without a chair. They kindly scooted over to make space for another chair, so that was an extremely kind gesture. Its definitely a good environment to have a drink and strike up a conversation with your neighbor in the bar area, which is what we did for about two hours :)
Drinks were delish! The hubby really likes their unique draft beers and I like their cocktails. I got their Cold War Sour, which is basically a lemon drop. So good though!
We’ve been here a couple of times before and have seen tables with bread, although we haven’t gotten any before. This time, we decided to ask for it (isn’t it sad that you actually have to ask for complimentary bread?), but honestly the bread was so good! It came with a garlic balsamic vinegar olive oil that was perfect for dipping.
Food was mediocre at best. Ordered oysters (set of 4 small oysters) for about $ 8 and their chicken wings ($ 7). Chicken wings came with a blue cheese sauce that was extremely watered down. The free bread definitely tasted better than the other items we ordered =/​. We’ve tried their other food (blackened fish tacos, pizza) during other times at happy hour, but still they were only OK. If you’re looking for better food, I’d go to Yard House instead. One good thing about TAPS though is that their happy hour ends at 7pm (rather than 6pm like at Yard House).
Overall, this is a great place to wind down, grab a drink, and talk to people. Just don’t expect really great food. Or you can opt to drink more so your food will maybe start to taste a little better ;)

I have severe food allergies and this is my favorite place for date night! They are cool with special orders and the food is always on point! The Salmon is a must try!

Wow… Just… Wow… Let’s just say their Sunday Brunch was so good that I was able to eat there two Sundays in a row without any complaints :)
Their service was awesome. The servers were attentive. Who can complain about bottomless mimosas? My favorite were the clams :) They cook them right in front of you.
You can also order stuff from their breakfast menu at no additional charge (except for the crab legs).
Parking is a bit hard to find. I highly recommend valet ($ 6) or über. if you’re a local :)

«Whenever I go to Brea in the afternoon, I think of Happy Hour. And I don’t always go to HH, but when I do, I’d start with TAPS.» Ok that sounds a lot better in my head but anyways, to the review
Pros:
— One of the best HH places due to combination of great selection of small bites and awesome beer list (lots of medal awarded beers) as well as hard to beat HH from 2pm-​7pm.
— I’ve been here 4x and my go to are: 2x orders of oysters, Gino pizza, charcuterie and several Irish Red. Trust me, I’m an Engineer! (sorry, lame joke)
— Fun, attentive bartenders and servers. Some of them are pretty cool, we actually went to Yard House that night with our server for late night HH (It was a fun but blurry night for me at the end: P)
Cons:
— Only one I could think of is parking situation. Hard to find parking, I usually give in after 5 mins and pay $ 6 for valet parking.
Overall, great place to hang out and chill and watch sports. Planning to try their brunch one of these Sundays.

My first time here and I was very impressed. Taps is a classy restaurant with a beautiful interior that’s quite welcoming. It’s definitely a brewpub as the bar is the central focal point and you can’t miss the line of vats next to it. What sets this place apart from most brewpubs is the extensive menu with extravagant dishes. I had swordfish (herb grilled) that was just perfect. The bed of risotto it laid upon was also savory. The staff was very friendly and helpful and I can’t say enough about the environment; it really is a sight to see.

Came here on a Sunday morning to celebrate my friends 30^th. It was amazing to say the least.
Better than Vegas buffets if you’ve been to any of those. Literally anything you can imagine.
From ceviche to oysters, pasta, pancakes, fajitas etc etc. includes bottomless mimosas.
Coming back here for my anniversary weekend.

This place is solid. The ceviche, although anglified, is still good. The baked bread is great. They have 3 kinds of oysters, rockefeller, plain, and another one. The other one, is good. The rockefeller are too much. Too heavy, too much stuff. Used to be my fave but it’s just… too much, now. This is based on a very recent visit.
Previously I thoroughly enjoyed their calamari, chilean sea bass, and baked alaskan. I like the neighborhood, it’s a little commercial, but, I like it. I may be biased.

After a self-​imposed absence from Taps for a «few years,» my wife and I ventured there for a burger and beer after a friend recently went and enjoyed the same. The reason we stopped going (we are locals and we were frequent flyers) is we simply became bored with their stagnant menu. That ended last night. We were pleasantly surprised with a greatly expanded lunch AND dinner menus that have something for everyone. Although their burger is not listed on their dinner menu, it is always available.
I would call this burger, as my wife calls it, more of a ground «steak burger.» A thick and quite tasty burger patty, soft hamburger bun (not the former loaf of bread bun of years past,) fresh produce and healthy portion of fries. You get your choice of the garlic parmesan cheese toss or regular fries. It was simple, it was tasty, it was quite ample, it was delicious. The Wedge Salad was huge, enough to share, and loaded with blue cheese crumbles (too much and too strong for me, to each their own) and bacon. Good stuff. Looking forward to returning and trying many other items.

Let me just say the host and hostess were rude. There wasn’t one family in the dining room area and they asked us if we had a reservation. Then offered us to sit outside in the freezing cold. Then they finally gave us a table indoors. Our server saved the day she was amazing ! This girl had so much energy I couldn’t believe it. She was wonderful. The food on the other hand was not so wonderful. I think it was because we had a bunch of appetizers and small plates. I am sure if we ordered entrees the food would have been better. A fish house should have a better selection of rose and white wine but everything was served by the bottle which was annoying.

I’ve been to Taps numerous times over the years & this is a very belated review. This review pertains to the outside patio & happy hour, which is the only reason I frequent this place so yeah. There’s so much that has already been said about Taps, so I suggest you scroll through the pictures. I’ll try to keep this short & give some highlights & lowlights.
Parking is a semi-​hassle. It’s a center with 10 other restaurants, I’m surprised parking isn’t worse. Avoid the valet. They are jerks.
As a starter, they give you bread. Amazing bread. Thick crust and super super soft inside. The balsamic dip they give you with it is to die for. Butter on request.
Waitresses are attentive if you’re nice to them. There’s a fire & heat lamps on the patio & basically never a wait to sit out there. Head straight for the patio.
Skip the french press, they don’t know what they’re doing. Skip the burrata salad, the bread they serve it with will tear up your mouth.
Gino’s pizza is great, oysters are good, the escargot is interesting.
You should be here drinking beer… don’t waste your time on their Chardonnay.

+ Great service
+ Very nice ambiance
+ $ 35 for AYCE Brunch w/​option of bottomless mimosa or their in-​house brewed beer
Came here with my friend Truong T and his little bro for brunch on Sunday. We all had a great time. This was a bit more upscale than we were used to, so we did feel a bit out of place lol. But you know what wasn’t feeling out of place? All of the food I ate, it went home into my tummy.
I’m gonna say, our waiter was very awesome. From beginning to end, solid service and great humor, made the experience great. The food, you had an array of things to choose from. My buddy was raving about their ceviche. I enjoyed the stir fry noodles, and yes there WILL be a line. The noodles, you have 4 choices on what kind you want, as well as meat options and sauce options. All of them are good, I’m sure. as I had the spicy thai w/​beef. man it was damn good!
If you take yourself down to the lower patio, you’ll find some dessert and more meaty options. Some turkey, sausage and other meats. I tried majority of the stuff, including the fruits. watermelon and cantaloupe. all were good. I’m not going to say this place blew me away, but if you want to eat away and feel upscale, this is the place to be.
Oh, instead of bottomless mimosa, I opted for their in-​house brew. you get a nice amount of options to choose from. I chose to go with their grape fruit IPA, very good! Very smooth, doesn’t have that super bitter taste, but a tid sweet. I wanted to try their Golden Poseidon, but forgot to ask for it. apparently that’s their double IPA. I’m pretty sure I’d love it.
We DID have this one issue though. All three of us left the table at once to go for round two of food, I guess that was a bad idea lol. When we came back, they were cleaning our table, mistakenly thinking we left haha. Nothing bad though, they hurriedly put a new cloth back on, provided beer and mimosa once more, and we were on our way to eating again.
Overall, I’d come back again. Maybe for a date or just a nice dinner with good company. I’d love to try other items on their menu besides the brunch.

I had a pretty good brunch experience here. So much Im really considering taking my best friend here for her birthday brunch and my mom here for mother’s day as well. First off the staff was super nice but particularly our waiter. He was simply the best I have ever seen. He was on it from the start, I couldn’t have ask for a better waiter.
For brunch it starts at 9:30 and ends at 2:30pm. Its a brunch buffet and the whole thing comes with juices, water, mimosa, beer, etc… We sat down, told him what we preferred to drink and was on our way. There are just so many options to choose from. For my first dish I had some oysters (just ok), fruits (delicious), ceviche (bombtastic), cheese and meat assortments. What a wonderful first dish I thought. Everything was super delicious and I once I was done I was ready for more. I then went to the downstairs area where they had most of the meats and breakfast type food. I had the apple cinnamon pancakes which were really good. The french toast was even better than the pancakes. The eggs benedict was one of my favorites, great texture and simply marvelous. Of course I had to get the sausages too and lots and lots of bacon. Finally dessert portion came along and it was amazing. They have a chocolate fountain where you can dip anything into chocolate. There was also a donut area too. Ok I am beyond in love with this place.
Overall I had a really amazing time at this place. The experience was incredible and I will definitely be making my return here as soon as possible. There were still stuff I hadn’t tried yet because I got super full. You definitely get your money’s worth in my opinion.
PS valet parking for 6 bucks or self parking in the back
PPS reservation was pretty tough so make it early in advance… I reserved it a day before and most of the time slots were already filled.
PPPS Shoutout my little bro for this belated Christmas gift and the homie Lasty K. too for coming through to enjoy such a dope experience with me.

At $ 36 dollars for the Sunday brunch which includes oysters, prime rib and a donut maker you really can’t go wrong! Factor in the unlimited mimosas or two of their brews and you really really can’t go wrong!
What else, what else… hmm… chocolate fountain, some banana dessert thing w/​ice cream on top (you can get just ice cream too if you want)… oh and finally a made to order omelet from the kitchen!
TAPS really does have it all when it comes to Sunday brunch, I can’t imagine money better spent if you’re in the mood for the full gambit !

First Sunday Brunch of 2016 and bottomless mimosas with the lovely Idy T. and Mary T. I made reservations a week in advanced on Open Table and we secured a spot for Sunday morning at 10:30pm. We arrived a few minutes early and we were still immediately seated. Service was very friendly and efficient!
The brunch here is buffet style and there are so many options to choose from! I tried a little bit of everything, except the Chinese food since it did not look authentic. I didn’t want to waste space!
Chilled items: The shrimp was really good, love the marinara sauce that is paired with it. On the other hand, the oyster was very disappointing. Some of the shells were empty and the oyster itself was thin and tasteless, no distinction of the meat being either sweet or salty. I liked the beets salad and the cheese and crackers station also.
Warm items: They had a carving station as well as many common brunch items. I really liked how the size of these items were really bite sized so you have the option to grab more if you want, but in my case I just want a bite. The french toast and red velvet pancakes were my favorite in this section. I was a bit disappointed by the bacon, it would have been better a bit crispier. This section is definitely a win though, it had a bit of everything I would expect a brunch to have.
Brunch Specialties: These are made to order and you have to order them from your waiter/​waitress. Idy T., Mary T. and I shared the beignets, lox bagel and banana foster. We just wanted to try their specialty items! The lox bagel was probably the weak link in this section. The beignets were okay, but the banana foster was amazing! I regret not getting my own! The scoop of french ice cream on top was a nice touch to this dessert.
Desserts: Whoa! They had a crêpe station and a donut making station that I did not get to because I was so stuffed! I will definitely try those next time. I love that there are so many desserts though. They have TWO CHOCOLATE FOUNTAINS! A milk chocolate and a white chocolate! They have rice crispies, strawberries and marshmallows to dip into the fountain. I had a blast with it! I also got their tiramisu bite, a chocolate peanut butter cake bite, flan and crème brûlée. These bite size items are super cute and a perfect size, however they don’t taste as amazing as they look.
Fruits: I finished off with a fruit plate! This fruit section was clean and the slices were all cute perfectly. The fruits were of the highest quality and they were all very sweet. I tried the watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapples and grapes and I loved all of it!
I think we got our money’s worth in the mimosas alone at $ 37.99/person plus tax&tip. It wasn’t bottomless the whole time, but when they did have time to refill it, they were very generous with the champagne to barely any orange juice ratio! It was great! I would definitely come back here for the bottomless mimosas and the opportunity to munch on a nice variety of brunch foods.

I came here with two of my co-​workers. We ordered the following:
— Lillie’s Q Tri Tip Sandwich ($ 12): My co-​worker loved it! She said the meat was cooked perfectly (Medium), we all took her truffled potato chips and Garden Slaw.
— Albacore Tuna Melt ($ 13): I got this and did not like it. It had so much mayo where when they melted the cheese, everything bacame a gooey gross mess where it was impossibe to eat. I should have ordered something else.
Swampfire Pizza ($ 12): it has chicken, mozzarella, blue cheese, mushrooms, onion and Swampfire glaze. My co-​worker loved the pizza, it had a good kick but not too strong.
I was the unlucky one. Don’t know if I will be here again but I just want to try their beers.

I came here for dinner on a Sunday, and there was no wait. Last time we went, we made the mistake of coming during the end of their brunch buffet, so we ended up leaving.
*Sourdough bread with balsamic– This was probably my favorite of the night, and it was free! The bread was fresh and hot, and the balsamic was the die for.
*Shrimp ceviche– Comes with tostada chips that I found to be too fried/​crunchy. Ceviche was just ok. I thought it was too sweet, not enough tang.
*Eggrolls– Way too sweet and salty.
*Mahi mahi– What my bf ordered. It was like a Mexican dish– came with tostadas, Mexican rice, and mahi mahi. He said it was pretty good.
*Yellowtail– There was a sweet potato sauce with mashed potatoes and asapargus. Nothing bad to say about this dish. But nothing extraordinary.
*Dessert: Sorbet– I loved the trio of flavors. My favorite was the lime flavored one. I liked that there were fruits to eat as well.

Five words. All you can eat brunch. Tell me, does that not sound a dream come true? TAPS is truly the ultimate place for #SundayFunday. As with most popular brunch restaurants, this place can get crowded quickly so reservations are definitely a must.
For around $ 40, TAPS’s brunch gives you access to their self-​service brunch buffet, dessert bar and your choice of unlimited mimosas or 2 pints of their draft beers. Resist the urge to gorge yourself on all the carb-​y goodness in their hot foods section first. I know it’s a beautiful sight to behold but instead, make your way to the fresh seafood section where there are oysters, ceviche, shrimp cocktail and steamed clams. The ceviche is one of the best I’ve ever had and is accompanied by the crisp tortilla chips. However, the oysters are a hit or miss, depending on the week.
As for their hot food selection, they offer your classic brunch favorites with a delicious twist. Apple cinnamon pancakes, cheesy breakfast potatoes, cinnamon rolls and more! If that isn’t enough carbs to fill you up, there’s also a donut section where chefs are frying up fresh mini donuts. There’s also a charcuterie section where you can enjoy different cured meats and cheeses. And don’t forget to order their beignets off their breakfast menu!
Wow, I haven’t eaten anything this morning and I already feel stuffed after writing this.