SYRACUSE — This fall, Armory Square gains two new options for people looking to get a bite to eat or enjoy a drink when The Taphouse on Walton and sister business Taphouse Bread Company open their doors. Kyle Mastropietro, president of Mastro Restaurant Group, says The Taphouse on Walton, at 165 Walton St., will serve […]
SYRACUSE — This fall, Armory Square gains two new options for people looking to get a bite to eat or enjoy a drink when The Taphouse on Walton and sister business Taphouse Bread Company open their doors.
Kyle Mastropietro, president of Mastro Restaurant Group, says The Taphouse on Walton, at 165 Walton St., will serve a variety of beers, wine, and spirits. The taproom has 40 taps, 10 of which will feature the same beers. The other 30 taps will always be changing, he says, and feature local breweries and seasonal brews. It will be “all our local breweries that we are so lucky to have and that are so good,” he adds.
The taproom will also feature a wine-dispensing system for pricier wines, allowing Mastropietro to sell more-expensive wines by the ounce instead of just by the bottle.
“What this will allow you to do is try that $200 or $300 bottle of wine by the ounce,” he says. Where he can, he wants to bring in new and unique offerings for customers to try.
Paired with it all are sandwiches, cheese boards, and flatbreads, many that will feature bread from the Taphouse Bread Company next door.
“The food is going to match it all,” Mastropietro says.
Patterned after a French bakery, Taphouse Bread Company will make pastries and specialize in sourdough bread, featuring some of the same flavor profiles as the beers served next door. “The bakery is going to be the engine for our menu,” he says. Along with supplying bread for the taproom, the bakery will be open to the public.
Mastropietro rents his space from Pacific Properties. The Taphouse on Walton will seat about 84 people including the bar and lounge spaces. The taphouse is about 4,900 square feet, with the bakery occupying another 1,200 square feet next door. He expects to employ about 10 people at the bakery and between 16 and 20 employees at the taproom.
After some delay in getting the necessary permits, work began in June to renovate the space, which was formerly home to The Blue Tusk pub and restaurant. During the permit delay, Mastropietro says he was able to stockpile building materials and supplies and then hit the ground running when work began. He is the project’s general contractor and hired a slate of subcontractors to complete the work.
“Everything is going to be brand new in there,” he says, including new flooring, new plumbing, a new bar, and a completely new layout for the space. “It was exactly what I wanted to do for my next project.”
Mastropietro declined to disclose the project cost.
“We didn’t want to add something to Armory Square that is already here,” he says of his newest concept. Mastropietro believes the more variety there is and the more successful the businesses are, the more those businesses all lift each other up. “We really care a lot about this neighborhood,” he says.
Mastropietro is hoping for an October opening for his new business ventures. He also owns the Kasai Ramen restaurant at 218 Walton St.