New Tribeca Tavern in Cary

Yesterday was opening day for Tribeca Tavern, the new creation of Rocky Top Hospitality. It is billed as a place to go for microbrew beer and food. I did not try the food, but did have a chance to sit at the bar with a client and sample the offerings they had on tap. All of their draft selections are NC beers, with the line up being:

-Big Boss Angry Angel
-Carolina Pale Ale
-Aviator Old Dog ESB
-Highland Gaelic
-Duck Rabbit Milk Stout and Brown Ale
-French Broad Ryehopper
-Foothills People's Porter
-Lonerider Shotgun Betty

They also have their line of Mash House beers. Prices are on the high side of reasonable, at $5/pint for their draft selections and also $5 for the Mash House beers, but they come in a 23 oz. serving.

I sampled one of the seasonals, the Aviator India Brown, which was very good, and the Mash House stout, which was definitely drinkable, but not outstanding. Noticeably missing from the tap list was anything from Durham's Triangle Brewing Company. Perhaps in the future they will be available on tap there as well.

Also, a bit disappointing was the lack of any great beers in bottles. The most adventurous they get in bottles is Fat Tire and the 60 minute IPA from Dogfish Head. For a place that bills itself as a microbrew establishment, they could stand to carry a wider selection in bottles, from more than your standard Harris Teeter and Food Lion fare.

The menu looked creative and reasonably priced, from their made to order guacamole, to a more gourmet version of "Cheesy Poofs".

For the first day, all drafts were $3, and the bartender said they would be offering a different style of beer each day as a special, so all IPA's on Wednesday might by $3, Pale Ales Thursday, etc.

All in all, it is nice to have a place for NC beers on draft on this side of Cary. With plenty of TV's and a good menu, this is a solid start, but will have to do more from a beer selection standpoint to keep those who don't consider Sierra Nevada a microbrew satisfied.