Quick Take:
Location: 1515 Town Center Dr G-102, Lakeland
What Mike Ordered: All-American Pub (Burger) with Cole Slaw
What Katie Ordered: Cheese Pizza
Gluten-Free Options: Yes
Vegetarian Options: Yes (Impossible Options)
Final Score: 1.75/5
Price: $10-20 per person
For our thirty third-stop on our Polk Food Quest, we visited The Brass Tap in Lakeland.
We normally try to keep it to strictly local spots, no chains allowed, but you guys have been asking us to try some more sports bars (and places to catch a game and a beer) for burgers and wings.
Sit-down spots. Places to watch the game.
Well, The Brass Tap originated in Florida (Wesley Chapel in 2007) and is now franchised by a Tampa-based group (same group behind Beef 'O' Brady's).
So we thought this was the spot to start switching it up a bit.
Unfortunately it wasn't the best decision, but I suppose not all our reviews can be good reviews.
We've had a lot of burgers, a ton of pizza and wings (though, spoiler alert ... you can't get wings or fries at The Brass Tap) and this doesn't rank for any of them (actually lowest ranking for all of them we've ever had).
By the way: if you're new here, the concept of my Polk Food Quest is simple: every week I try a local spot, order the most common thing people get, try a few extras, and rank it on taste, value, vibes, and overall.
This week: Burger and Pizza!
Which means I ordered an All-American Pub burger and Katie ordered a cheese pizza.
How Does This Work?
I order the standard item for that category (for burgers and pizza that's the most standard burger on the menu and a cheese pizza), plus a few extras so I can get a full feel for the menu.
Then I rank the experience on four things:
Taste | Value | Vibes | 
Overall
Taste focuses on the standard item.
The rest reflects the entire experience.
Taste: 1.5/5
The burger was virtually the only thing that was even "okay" that we were served.
The pizza was worse than school cafeteria pizza.
I genuinely think I'd prefer gas station pizza over this...
They don't have french fries (chips instead...), and their menu lists their signature sauces, but they also don't have wings.
So I went with a burger and coleslaw (instead of chips) and the coleslaw was literal sticky slop that I couldn't even eat.
And let me just say this: it takes A LOT for me to not eat the food I'm paying for. I've been raised to NOT waste food — but this wasn't food.
Here's a quick breakdown for my quick scanners, though:
- All-American Pub Burger (2.5/5): Compared to the rest of the food this was great.
But overall I would not be going back for another one. - Cheese Pizza (1/5): Horrible. Skip for just about any other pizza.
- Coleslaw (0/5): I'd normally skip the sides for the review, but I need to mention the fact that this was literally inedible. Sloppy, sticky, and even the wrong color...
This is the worst review we've ever had to give, but at least it's for a franchise, I suppose...
Vibes: 2/5
Going into this one, I thought the vibes were going to get an extremely high rating.
But unfortunately, that was wrong as well.
Here's how I rank vibes:
- The Physical Location (Where it is on a map)
- Hospitality/Service
- The Interior/Space
So technically the vibes for the interior and physical location are great...
But this is not well-trained "hospitality".
Not only did they only have one server and one bartender on Sunday for the football games (including while the Buccaneers were on) — so our server was racing — but the service just also does not hold to a high standard, at all.
Tack on the fact that it's a bar to grab a beer and watch the game, but doesn't have wings or french fries, and I'm giving it another push down.
Then throw in the fact that it wasn't THAT busy (too busy for one server and one bartender, but not for the food to be made) that we should be waiting as long as we were for such low quality food AND THEN to have it sit in the window for an extra 5 minutes ... and this just gets tanked down to a 2/5.
The place is nice inside and it's at Lakeside Village, but the vibes are off.
Value: 1.5/5
This isn't a value spot.
You're still paying over $15 for a burger ($15.50 was the cheapest option), and $12 to $14 for what tastes worse than a frozen pizza.
So as much as I'd hope to say there was one section of this review that I could give a boost — it's really hard to do that when it's priced as though the taste and vibes were a much higher score.
So Value is coming in at a 1.5 as well.
Overall: 1.75/5
Overall I'm giving The Brass Tap a 1.75/5.
Is it okay for a beer and a burger to watch the game? Maybe.
But there are a million better options in Polk.
Would I bring my visiting family there?
Definitely not.
Katie and I won't be back. There’s nothing on the menu I’d order again, and there are plenty of local sports bars we can support that have 100X better food and service.
Here’s how I’d sum up The Brass Tap:
Skip it.
The burger was the best thing we had, and even that only got a 2.5/5.
The cheese pizza was worse than school cafeteria pizza, and the coleslaw was inedible.
There are no wings and no fries, which is a big miss for someone wanting to catch a game and a beer.
The inside is nice and it’s in a great spot at Lakeside Village.
But on a football Sunday they had one server and one bartender, so we waited a long time for food that wasn’t worth it.
At $15.50 for the cheapest burger, the prices don’t match what you’re getting.
If you just want a beer and a seat to watch the game, it’ll do. If you’re hungry, there are plenty of local sports bars in Polk with way better food and service.
Before You Go...
Hey!
I want to know what you think of The Brass Tap.
Leave a comment below.
The more you share, the better, but anything is appreciated.
Each comment helps The Best Of Polk articles and eventually, the yearly awards!
Have a place you want me to try?
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I love reading the articles. Very informative.
Thank you! 🙏
Wow, that’s not the Brass Tap we know! We actually like their pizza and they have great drink specials everyday! Yes, service can be slower but it’s just pretty laid back there. We like it because it’s not a “sports bar”… but something in between that and a full on restaurant … it’s not our favorite but it’s a weekly stop for a beer and appetizer! Did you mention their 70 tap beers?
We have been there twice now and the first time we went [with friends] we said “maybe it was a fluke, we’ll have to come back for a full review just us” — and the second time was even worse (for the review). A million beers on tap couldn’t save this one. There are just so many better locally owned spots. And we’re ALL FOR laid back service; this service was just poor AND slow. I have another business (I head marketing/operations) that coaches service all over the US.
This was really informative and thanks for sharing this 🙏.
Of course! 🙏