Social Tap owners sharing more east-side details, and burgers and beer are involved
Wichita learned in early October that the owners of Social Tap Drinkery at Braeburn Square, 21st and Oliver, had taken over the lease at the former California Tortilla spot at 2244 N. Greenwich.
At the time, though, the owners weren’t ready to share details.
Now — with the grand opening of the restaurant scheduled for Dec. 8 — they are, and they’re particularly excited about a new partnership they have planned for the business.
Justin Neel, one of the owners of Social Tap, said that the east-side restaurant will be teaming up with Nortons Brewing Company, the downtown brewery and restaurant that Dan and Becky Norton opened in 2018 at 125 N. St. Francis. The Nortons have agreed to brew beers exclusively for the new Social Tap and will also serve many of its customers’ favorites there. Though the east-side Social Tap will serve other types of beer, Neel said, Nortons will command the majority of the bar’s taps.
Because the restaurant will be so close to Oak & Pie, it won’t serve its Sungrano Pizza menu offered at Braeburn Square, Neel said, but it will offer the burgers and fries from its Wheatly’s Burgers menu along with a few other items that Neel is still developing.
The east-side restaurant will be called Social Tap Drinkery, and it will employ the same type of ordering and payment system used at the original: Customers pull up menus via QR codes then order and pay using their phones. Those who prefer will be able to order and pay “in the traditional way” if they request it, Neel said.
“We want everyone to feel as comfortable as possible,” he said.
Once spring arrives, Neel said, Social Tap will add an outdoor space that will offer an “elevated patio experience.” The patio, which will be set up on the east side of the restaurant, will be able to seat about the same number of people as the Braeburn Square restaurant’s patio.
Social Tap first opened in August 2021 with two restaurant concepts — Sungrano Pizza and Wheatley’s Burgers — operating inside the space. Social Tap owners Neel, Luke Luttrell and David Hopkins also own Sungrano and Wheatley’s.
California Tortilla, a build-your-own burrito chain that first opened in Wichita in January of 2020, vacated the space that Social Tap is taking over in early October.
This story was originally published November 27, 2023 at 4:37 PM.
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