The Taproom

The best burger I've ever had! This place is classic! And they have many draft beer options! The service is great too! 10/10!

My husband and I came here about a month ago, and we agreed that we had the best burger ever. Today we decided to come back, and it was such a disappointment.First, the meat was way overcooked, but that was not the main issue. I ordered the G.O.A.T. burger with an additional fig jam, and it did not come with it. I asked the server whether she had actually ordered the jam, and she said it was spread on the bun—but it was not. The jam adds a sweet flavor that was completely absent. The first time we came, it was impossible not to notice it, and this time it was clearly forgotten.I did not argue and paid for it anyway, even though it was not there. To my surprise, the menu lists the jam for $0.75, but I was charged $1.00. It’s not about the amount, but about the lack of interest in making the customer happy. The server should have brought me extra jam when I mentioned it, but instead she ignored my concern and charged more for something I didn’t even receive.

Always fantastic!!! Great staff. Excellent beer selection. Yummy food! The guacamole queso burger is the best! Plus, the fries are good. Great atmosphere any day of the week but also a great place to spend a holiday like St. Paddy's day! Sadly, I'm not in the area, but if I am, I always try to go!

I have always loved there food and beer on tap selection and today I had the Reality Burger and it was the best start to my New Year I could have ever asked for! A chicken fried steak on a their sourdough bun with house queso and jalapenos with a Stella to wash it down was fantastic. I had a side of onion rings. This restaurant is truly a staple of San Marcos.

Saw an ad for this on FB saying it had the best burgers in the county, so we had to try it out. If you know parking in this area, you will be happy to know there is parking in the back just for the Tap Room. The atmosphere is fantastic. Love all of the old taps lining the walls. Then you have the wall of beer to peruse, and if you can decide what to get, your server is more than happy to help you out. If you don't want beer, they also have a full bar to make something more to your liking. I ordered the blue cheese bacon burger without the blue cheese. My spouse got the Philly burger. The burgers were both presented well and led great. Both were well seasoned and very juicy. We truly enjoyed our lunch. The food, service and atmosphere are great, it is a bit pricy so be prepared for that. We will be back.

Warm. Laid-back. Seat yourself kinda Dine-In joint. Staff was welcoming but seemed overwhelmed so I didn’t take any side glances or lazy hand swipes personal as they told us to sit where we liked. Atnosphere. Cozy Cabin with screens on each wall showing sports, news, and/or action films. Lots of seating with just enough room to maneuver one at a time. The staff are helpful if wheelchair accessibility is needed. It’s like a sports den more than a sports bar as they have a variety of food and drinks as well as have game nights. It’s a great place for gatherings, meetings, and meetups for game day. We weren’t fond of the chips and queso appetizer as we kinda are addicted to Kerbey Queso, lol. But the entrees were a home run! I got the Guacamole Queso Burger and the hubby got the BBQ Cheddar with chips. We shared a portion of each and it was delicious! The cheese was melted on the buttery bun and complimented the spices of the burger with the fresh toppings of bacon, lettuce, and onion. The chips tasted like they were made, not bought had they were lightly salted and had a natural crisp to it. Overall. Great place to hangout for an old school, down to earth burger and a cold one.

We all like to go out a lot, but eventually you find a spot that just speaks to you. I always have a great time when I visit this place, especially when Eden is my server. Eden is so attentive and friendly! She makes me feel like I’m at home. Cheers Eden

We had to wait over an hour for our food, but our amazing waitress Natalie, was sweating to get everyone's orders in, as we had a big group. There were also a lot of college kids, and people coming off the river. The cooks worked their butts off to get the food out as quick as possible. The manager, Samantha and Natalie cleaned off tables and pushed them together to accommodate our big group. I definitely recommend "The Taproom". Parking is a pain in this whole area though.

bingo bango wingo wango i love bingo at taproom every wednesday @ 7 soup soup soup soup!

Visited again after and few months and this place is still rocking. The Swiss burger and the Swiss Chicken sandwiches are amazing. So darn juicy and full of flavor. Their beer selection is unparalleled in my opinion and I began my journey on trying all 44 of their taps and combos.

The Taproom in San Marcos, TX holds a special place in my heart, especially from my days as a Texas State student. This spot has always been a go-to for amazing burgers and beers, and it's still just as satisfying as it was back then. Their burgers are consistently juicy, perfectly cooked, and bursting with flavor. Whether you go for a classic option or try one of their creative takes, you're guaranteed a top-notch meal. What's great about The Taproom is that it's not just a hit with college students; it's also a nice spot for family meals. The laid-back atmosphere makes it easy for everyone to relax, enjoy good food, and connect. Whether you're reminiscing about your college days or creating new memories, The Taproom always delivers an enjoyable, flavorful experience. For delicious burgers and a welcoming vibe, this San Marcos staple remains unbeatable.

We found this bar around the area we were at and saw that it had good reviews so decided to give it a shot. We accidentally walked in the back area where the main road is and called. The server stated that the entrance is around back and there is parking. Once we arrived it had a great awesome vibe with a list of all the beers they have on the wall. Service was good, even though there was only on server for the whole place. We ended up ordering the onion rings and fries along with a couple of beers. My girlfriend ordered the Works burger and I ordered the 666 burger. Both were amazing and overall the food was delicious. The price was decent but they had no Military our first responder discount but they did have buy one burger get one half off so that was a plus. Overall, everything was good, great vibe, and if around the area will try out another burger.

The Tap Room is a San Marcos staple. A bit divey and definitely expect drunk patrons coming from the river. Their burgers make it worth it! Not to mention the kind employees. They have great drink specials too. We arrived during happy hour and our drafts were $3-5. The Philly burger was everything! Great portion size...I made two meals out of it...and it's delicious! My friend got the queso/guac burger and also really enjoyed it.

our favorite place before games!!! food is amazing and the serving size is large. excellent bartenders and service

The bad This is a complete dive, hole in the wall bar. Which I don't mind these types when they're not filthy, which this place is pretty sure there was puke next to the toilet at 3 in the afternoon.... Sooo I wouldn't normally start with the bad, but if you are super germaphobe or plan to use the bathroom, this might not be the place for you! -1 star for the bathroom and overall general filth The good So the food here was actually really good!!! Even the burger bun was delicious! (I would be scared to see the shape of the kitchen, but let's not focus on that!). Lots of options for beers, tons of taps!!! And our server was sweet and friendly! Stopped by just the right amount of times making sure our beers were never empty. So if you kind get over the dirt and want a good beer and burger in the afternoon, this is the spot!!

I tried the bacon blue burger ! Not taste at all in the burger was just the blue cheese that add flavor, we also tried the fish they have was over cooked and salty , so not my thing same with Mac and cheese ! doesn't worth the price , I don't have anything bad to say about servers because they are super nice , ambiance is good the restaurant have an amazing decoration but all need to be just a plus and improve more the food they serve ! So please change the person in the kitchen !! Because all the rest have a great potencial .

Taproom has the best Mac & Cheese in San Marcos. It is always extra cheesy and cooked perfectly. I use to go there after work and just order sides of Mac & cheese to go before I headed home. I've tried lots on the menu though and I've never been disappointed. The fried catfish is my favorite entree at the moment. When they changed the menu, they lost some good stuff but made the food they had better. The catfish basket is so much better than it was before (way better breading). Kristin is my favorite , she's very friendly and funny and knows the menu well.

This place is tried and true. I love it! After floating the river we stopped in. We were party of five, open seating and a great server named Emily made our dreams come true! Kudos to this establishment for weathering the storms and always feeding my face! I got the mushroom Swiss burger as usual, never disappoints! Whatever seasoning they put on these steak cut fry's is highly addictive!!! Classic taproom vibes have stories to tell, like the cards stuck to the ceiling, that's a good story. Some bar tender back in the day, used to put a name on a card and toss the cards at the ceiling and magically your card with the name would stick up there...something tells me that guy got laid!

This place used to have the best burgers in town. Just went there this evening and was very disappointed. My burger was small , bacon undercooked and fries were not fresh. My husband's burger was undercooked the bun was soggy. I also asked the waitress if there was a fee to use card she said no but then charges a fee. 55$ for nothing

Dive bar and bar food restaurant. Love the pitchers of beer and yummy burgers. But the place is full of flies and the bathrooms are disgusting. Service was ok.

Amazing beer selection and amazing burgers. I got The Works burger - one of my favorite burgers of all time. People with super friendly - great, relaxing vibe.

Great service, food and ambiance. Started out with a Bloody Mary and a Mexican martini. Both were great. I ordered a qtr pounder with pepper Jack cheese, he ordered a Works that he couldn't finish. Both fantastic, only complaint is they don't have onion rings or frozen margaritas.

Food was great got the works and my friend got the cat fish everything was great. Our waitress was very attentive and not once forgot us. They didn't kick us out and we were there for six hours. Extremely patient with us, recommended definitely.

We visited today and when ordering some fried pickles our waitress said "we are not serving those today.", so we ordered some other stuff and 10 minutes later we see them deliver some fried pickles to another table. What the heck? I asked and our waitress awkwardly replied that the just "rebatched" some more, and they are made in house and we could order some now. What does re-batched even mean? What does making them in-house have to do with saying the unavailable then they suddenly become secretly available? Instead of saying "we are not serving those today" she could have just said "we are rebatching some more since they are made in house, would you like some in 10 minutes?" ... just kinda weird to be lied to. I've been coming here for over 20 years, and have had some hit and misses with servers (to be expected, it's a college town) but have never been lied to. Two stars... one for food quality and the other for their beer selection.

Going to school at texas state and falling in love with the taproom... it's hard to come back and see how far it's fallen with the new ownership. Sad to say, I won't be returning in the future. Everything was great on the menu .... So why change it. Queso sucked Mac and cheese was basically Alfredo pasta with no flavor Burgers mehhh And I heard they changed the fried pickles to spears ??? Not the OG taproom I know What happened !!

This place is great. Huge selection of beer. Lot of good burger options, including a vegetarian black bean burger! The 666 burger has some real heat. I always come in for a Guiness and a shot of Jameson. The staff is great, Cait, and Kristin are super friendly. My favorite place in San Marcos.

Seems like a good environment, but we've been here for over 45 minutes and can hardly get served. Bar tender says "it'll be faster to get your beer if you order thru the server instead of coming to me" then server didn't come to our table for 35 minutes and says "if you want beer, it'll be faster to order directly from the bar. It's almost shift change so the next server will be over to help you soon" (nobody for another 20 mins, so waiting). No offer for menus for food, no offer to take or empty cups (from when we did get a beer from the bar), no offer to refill empty water glass. Mid afternoon on a Sunday, not crowded at all. Plenty of open tables and some open seats at the bar. Heard great things but can't verify.

The Taproom used to be the very best burger/beer/bar place in town. A mainstay in San Marcos for decades. The restaurant was sold a little over a year ago. It is nowhere near the same. Not even close. No more ribs. Let me say that again, NO MORE RIBS. WTF? The burgers were amazing, like truly unforgettable. Now they are almost as tasty as lunchroom burgers in elementary school...without the pink cake. That's being generous. Fries; don't even bother. Actually...just don't bother at all. If you ever loved Taproom, leave it at that. hold your memories as this 'new' place will only kill the magic you once enjoyed. Go to Showdown, or Jax, or McDonalds or get an Easy Bake Oven. Can we get the old owners back?

Service, burgers, sweet potato fries, condiments to dip etc were ALL AMAZING. Wish I lived near San Marcos so I can be a regular. Highly recommend.

Good burgers, service slow but it is a bar just buy a beer and bring a friend and it's fine. Plenty of selection.

Great service, nice selection on draft, and best burger I've had in a long time. What more could you want?

This place is nostalgic, and always a great pop in near campus. Highly recommend for anyone visiting wanting a quick beverage and some snacks.

Delicious and cozy ; Excellent burgers and friendly place. Find your inner bar fly at The Taproom

We needed somewhere to eat decided to come here. It's a bar so they have bar food. I had the fried pickle spears they were very good. Better than I expected. My fiancé had the BBQ cheddar burger he said it was okay. The fries got forgotten about so they came late. I ordered a drink that they didn't have the ingredients for so had the peach iced tea also just ok. Over all this is a a place you could come for when your starving and need something quick.

Food was great, beer was cold. Place is always noisy, but as it is a pub, I can get past that. We were seated at the bar and were served by the bartender. He did a great job, was wonderful to talk to, and made great menu suggestions. Excellent appetizers...great burgers. A great stop in SMTX.

I came into the establishment around 5:30 on a Wednesday. The place had a couple tables filled but was not very busy at all. I ordered the mushroom swiss burger and my girlfriend had the beer battered chicken. We proceeded to wait for more than 25 minutes for our food. My burger was pretty good but my girlfriend said the beer battered chicken was one of the worst things she ever ate. She couldn't even eat half of it and we did not want to ask for an exchange considering how long the food takes to come out during not busy times.

Wing size is terrible. The wait was a little longer than I'm used to but that's ok. I just don't understand how small the drum sticks are. They are baby chicken size. WTF.

They may say they have a large selection of beer.... but what they actually have available is definitely disappointing. Four different choices and all four were not available - even with them marked on their big board of selections. Gave up after that... .

Great Food, Great Staff, Great Vibe. And the bonus?... Great Live Music. Highly Recommend.

Ok. Well, the service was great. Kate was a very lovey person to deal with. But the food is absolutely horrendous and WAY overpriced for the quality. I wish I had taken a pic of my husbands sandwich. Just the sandwich. No fries. No side. Close to $15. It looked like a 3 year old made it or it was something pulled out of a garbage can at Burger King. There are a lot of beers to choose from, but if you ask for one, they are probably out of it. In fact, it may take you 4 try's like it took us to get a beer that they are not out of. The beers were good. Kate was awesome. That's it.

I used to love this place as a young college kid but now that I am older it just didn't cut it for me. The food is good but it's super sloppy and too much. The service is okay. They have a good drink selection.

Drove up to San Marcos from SA to meet sister and niece to help move into dorms. They were running late, so decided to stop here for some drks and grab a quick bite. Place was not that crowded (in the front) and the tables were spaced out. View was nice to enjoy those strolling by the sidewalk. The sign at the front said $3.50 bloody mary's, so I ordered one and it was the bomb (see pic). Perfect drink that had all the fixin's. The Chicken & Waffle Bites caught my attention, so I ordered that to hold us over. These were really good and worth the appetizer! The reason for 2 stars knocked off were the service that was absent throughout our time here. He disappeared all the time and couldn't find him once my sister and niece showed up. This service made me decide to go somewhere else for lunch. The other star was due to being charged full-price for the 2 bloody mary's. I didn't say anything, as I wasn't sure when the waiter would come back and also felt small businesses need any extra cash during these times. I still tipped the waiter, since they need money too but not sure how he was so busy with a light audience in the place.

Finally went back to check out this old favorite of ours. Hadn't been back since the ownership change. The beer was still great and the chalkboard beer listing was a nice addition. However, the reduced food menu was a huge disappointment. Gone are the famous Taproom ribs that everyone raved about. Gone also are the mozzarella sticks and southwest eggrolls that were a nice side for casual beer drinking. Seemed like fewer customers than we remember in the past as well. Hard to decide between 3 or 4 stars now...

This review is long overdue. First time visit last month and we were pleased with overall service and food. The burgers are huge (in my opinion) and they have a nice selection of beers/cocktails. Staff were super pleasant and prompt - it's nice spot for a quick fix at reasonable prices.

With Great atmosphere, awesome food and drinks what's not to like about this burger joint. Service is fast and helpful too.

I like to get The Works burger with some barbecue on the side! For fries i prefer the wedge cut fries. my partner tried the mac n cheese burger and chili cheese fries and they were huge! The don't skimp here, and the service is nice as well.

Oof. It used to be great, but the new ownership seems to have changed everything for the worse - even the burgers aren't the same. And I'm fine with change, as long as it's an improvement. The burger was mediocre at best. Fries were awful. They had no flavor and were extra greasy. They got rid of the onion rings. Also, it's an interesting choice to not have bottles of ketchup in a burger place. Entrees are now served with a small cup of ketchup, and when we asked for more, we were brought a cup of packets. I will say, the service was much better than before, so that's a plus.

This place used to be great before they got new owners! They changed the menu, got rid of the burger and beer special, upped their prices tremendously, and the beer list went downhill. We used to go in for a great beer selection and amazing burger. Tried it a few times after being sold. Won't be back now.

I really enjoy this bar. It is outdoors and there is ample seating. I also love looking at the huge variety of plants that cover every inch of this place. The drinks are good and the staff is friendly. Overall, a great place to unwind and socialize.

I've given this place quite a few chances, maybe between 6-8, maybe more. The service is always terrible. Horrible. At one point last night for laughs we started a timer to see how long it would take for my friend to get a glass of water after our fourth time asking...it was 19:11 by the time we got it. Almost 20 minutes after the fourth request. Only she ever got one. We had a friend join us and another waiter asked for his drink order and within 3 minutes he received his water. I ended up going to the bar to get a glass myself. The burgers are the only thing worth coming for. Don't bother with the chips and queso and salsa. The queso is basically Velveeta with Rotel mixed in and it's usually completely congealed by the time it comes to the table. The salsa is also very akin to the flavorless stuff that you'd expect to find in the Lunchables nacho kit. The only thing worthwhile are the burgers. But that's only if you're looking to be there a while and hangout because your order will not come out quickly and if you find you need anything else or anything is wrong with the order, you're pretty much out of luck. Lastly, rule of thumb: order two drinks at once. You won't see a second drink for a long time if you don't. Especially for non-alcoholic drinks. The fact that it's even a known rule of thumb, by at least a dozen or so locals that I've heard say this, speaks enough for itself.

Incredibly odd service. Pretty average frozen type food located in a dirty restaurant.

The bartender woman was so friendly and the drinks were at a great price! The Taproom was a great place to stay during the cold weather.

Pizza burger saved my soul y'all. Have always loved this place great drink good prices and friendly people.

Wonderful burgers! We were a group of 19 people, went in all hungry and got out super happy with the food. Amazing taste of burger and really good service in spite of the busy hour we went in on a Saturday.

It's so sad that this is where we are at. People who know me, know I love Tap Room. And with complete transparency, I knew the previous owners. They have new owners. Is, but I don't feel like I'm being biased when I say that the love of Tap Room for me changed. I have seen the slow change and have liked it. I enjoy the patio having a band and many of the same bartenders are employed so it hasn't changed that much. Well, it hadn't till now. I had already heard from everyone that they started charging more for their food but the quality went way down. I though that the people saying this were showing allegiance to the previous owners and not giving it a chance. But I was wrong. Tonight my husband went there to eat and bought me back my favorite (least favorite now) hamburger the Queso Avocado Burger. This is usually the best meal hands down and anyone who has eaten there has usually had it. But let me tell u NOT TOO. He came home with an overcooked slightly burned, looked like it has been frozen, hamburger patty, smashed between Texas toast. Evidently the ran out of buns. That should have been warning enough, but I had faith! But alas, NO! My faith was misplaced! The Texas toast hadn't even been toasted! WTH? Who wants an overcooked hamburger patty in between untoasted Texas toast? NO ONE! I then toasted and buttered it myself, but nothing saved it. The meat tasted bland. No one seasoned it at all. My husband said that everyone at the table was NOT HAPPY with their food and even more upset that it cost quite a bit more for less quality. I'll also pay more if the quality improves or even stays the same. I realize that costs have gone up for everybody and they are going to need to off set it, but not like this. I have included the picture of the bread I toasted and after I added the guacamole and queso, so keep it mind it looks better than what I got

Very cool. Mermaid spit is tight. Why not try some wings and check out the darts. Yes

Travis J was the best server I've had hands down in San mo. Smart, funny, attentive, gave a great beer recommendation. He gave us some quality service and cold beer. It's really hard to find around here.