I Went to the Bar without Bartenders, Should You?

If part of your daily routine involves glancing at Philly news sites or social media posts, you’ve most likely seen mentions of Tapster, the new self-serve bar without bartenders and tasting room at 16th & Sansom.

THE PROCESS

You check in at the counter with your ID and a credit card. They hand you a plastic “tapcard” that is linked to your credit card. You then take that tapcard to whichever set of taps you’re interested in tasting from, hold your tapcard up to a sensor, and pull a tap handle. You’ll see a running tab as you pay by the ounce. You can check out at the counter or drop your card in express checkout boxes, similar to hotel express checkout boxes, according to the percentage gratuity you want added to your bill.

There are 54 taps, 36 of which I think are beer. The others are for seltzers, kombucha, wines, pre-mixed cocktails, and a couple of non-alcoholic beverages. The taps are divided into groups of three similar varieties such as “Seasonal”, “Macro”, “Sessionable”, “Cocktails.” etc. A variety of glasses are available in different sizes from a few ounces to a pint.

They have a bunch of TVs showing sports, some swings, and a photo booth.

DISCLOSURE

For the sake of transparency, I love a good bar and tasting room. I’ve been going to bars since I was about eight years old when my Uncle Bill started taking me to his neighborhood bar, Mike’s, which used to be at the corner of 2nd and Westmoreland. That being said, I was dubious about this concept from the jump. Simply reading of a bar/tasting room without bartenders or servers brought upon a physical cringe, but I wanted to check it out for myself.

PROS

Introverts’ Dream

If you like beer, hate interacting with people, and were a fan of places like Old Country Buffet, this might work for you. You can sample 54 different beverages without speaking to anyone or to just your friends. I get that’s a real thing for people. If that’s you, you’ll probably love this place.

Rolling Rock

Cheap Rolling Rock. I haven’t drunk much Rock since my college days before it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch. Rolling Rock at Tapster pours at $0.18/ounce. A full pint will run you $2.88/pint and might be the best beer bargain in Center City.

Staff

Granted, there isn’t much staff here, but the person working the counter was great. They were welcoming, informative about the process, and friendly. They’d probably make a great bartender.

Pre-mix cocktails

I can only speak on the pre-mixed Old Fashioned, but it was decent. I’ve had better, but I’ve definitely had far worse. I’d imagine the same would be true for the Moscow Mule, Negroni, and others.

Sampling

Yes, you can sample 36 beers or 54 total beverages if you have the time and/or desire and pay a nominal amount for each sample.

Seriously though, how many can you sample? Bartenders in most bars will let you sample beers for free as long as you’re not trying to sample every beer in the place. So, there’s that.

CONS

Pretty much everything else.

PRICING

The prices are out of line with other beer-drinking options in the area. Deschutes Fresh Squeezed will run you $11.36/pint at 0.71/ounce. Love City Brewing Lime City Lager runs $9.76/pint at $0.61/ounce. A Guinness will run you $9.44/pint at $0.59/ounce. Those all seem astronomical unless I’m at a concert or ballgame.

For comparison purposes, I stopped by Good Dog Bar (one of my favorites in the city where one of the city’s best bartenders even though he’s a Giants/Rangers fan, Zach, was working) to have a beer. They too had Love City Lime City Lager on draft for $7/pint.

THE VIBE

For me, this felt generic and corporate. It’s bright. Everything felt like background. The decor. The music. Maybe that’s the case. Maybe nothing is meant to distract you so you can drink alone in thought or engage in conversation with your friends. I’d love to use words like kitschy, rustic, or fun, to describe it. For me, the best word is probably eh.

THE ICE

The ice here is self-serve from a machine that kicks out water or ice. The ice comes out in cubelets, which are great for soda, but not mixed cocktails. I want regular cubes or large rocks for my Old Fashioned, not cubelets. The cubelets melt too fast and water down drinks. If there was an option for larger chunks, I couldn’t figure it out.

TIP BOXES

The express check-out tip boxes are labeled 15%, 20%, 25%. For what? I’m a decent tipper. 20% is the lowest I go for bad service. Bad service is still service, though. Why am I paying a tip when I’m serving myself drinks and walking my used glass up to the window for used glasses? I’m assuming the people working here are getting paid living wages with the prices of the drinks so tipping shouldn’t really be a thing here.

NO BARTENDERS/NO SERVERS

This sounded like blasphemy when I heard the concept and it proved to be. Bartenders and servers are vital to a good bar or tasting room. Anyone who thinks otherwise just hasn’t spent much time in a good bar.

Bartenders and servers don’t just serve drinks and food. They create the ambiance in most non-corporate bars. They adjust the lighting. They play their own music and, if you’re lucky, skip shitty music played on the jukeboxes. They tell assholes to leave.

They bring knowledge. While the counter-person at Tapster when I was there could not have been nicer, they lacked any real grasp on beers. They admitted to having just turned 21 and not having a great deal of experience with beers. That’s where an experienced server or bartender helps in recommending a beer or cocktail depending on your preferences.

Bartenders and servers have their own look and feel. They bring personality, like ambassadors of fun. They bring intangibles that A.I., robots, and self-serve machines cannot replicate. Good bartenders and servers make bars and tasting rooms what they are. Heck, they can even make the most mediocre bars and tasting rooms bearable.

Great tasting rooms like Yards, Tonewood, and Phila Brewing Company don’t necessarily have bartenders, but they have people you can talk to and learn about the beers and make informed choices.

CONCLUSION

No bartenders. No servers. No good. As I mentioned above, I guess this serves a need for people who hate interacting with strangers and have that sort of social anxiety. Outside of that, I don’t get the appeal of this at all.

If I did want to drink with friends without dealing with a server/bartender, I would suggest we all grab a few bottles from The Foodery or Beer Love and gather in a park or at someone’s house.

For me, there is nothing like gathering at a local watering hole and having great discussions with other partons and, most importantly, a good bartender. Luckily Good Dog, and Zach, were only a short walk away.

I wish Tapster luck and never want to see any small business fail. Maybe I’m just an old man who hates change and the younger generation will love this. That’s definitely a possibility. This just isn’t for me.