Tap Room In The News
The secret of Tap Room’s success
Written By Scott Joseph
The walls of the entryway at Tap Room at Dubsdread are covered with plaques, awards and citations that the College Park restaurant has received over the years. But even though it’s a big foyer with high ceilings, there isn’t enough room for all of the accolades. Some of the honors include: Best Burger; Best Outdoor Dining; Orlando’s Best.
Other Bests: Power Lunch, Neighborhood Restaurant, Place to Take Company, Brunch.
And in recent years, it has gotten more widespread notice through OpenTable’s lists of Top 100 Neighborhood Restaurants in America, 100 Best Al Fresco Dining Restaurants in American, and Top 25 Hidden Gems in the World.
That’s right, the world.
So how did it get to be so good? Some might assume it’s the uniqueness of the setting, in a storied building with a wraparound veranda overlooking the city-owned golf course.
Historic Dubsdread Golf Course turns 100 – WKMG News 6
WKMG News 6 ClickOrlando
Now a landmark golf course, clubhouse, and Tap Room marking a milestone. Tonight Dubsdread golf club marking its 100th birthday this evening in Orlando’s College Park. Troy Campbell was there for tonight’s celebration of the past and tells us Dubsdread is already setting its sights on the future.
Still Making History After 88 Years
Written By Ted Simmons
If you notice we didn’t open up a restaurant, a bar, and a catering facility. We opened up a restaurant that happens to have a bar in it. We accentuated the outside. We created a restaurant.
An Oral History of Dubsdread and the Tap Room
You may hear the Tap Room described as a place where “everybody knows your name,” except everybody is really Steve Gunter and Barabara Teal, and “Cheers” doesn’t take place on a golf course. In the building adjacent to land that can be described only as ‘historic,’ the Tap Room has succeeded where others have failed. We celebrate the College Park cornerstone restaurant with an Oral History of the community’s personal golf course and how it developed a restaurant with a heart.
Our story starts in the ‘20s, with Carl Dann and a golf course much different than the Dubsdread we know today.
Steve Gunter, Owner: From 1924 to 1978 it was a private country club, much like Country Club of Orlando, owned by the Dann Family. In ‘78 the City of Orlando bought it. The room that is now the Tap Room was a bar and they had bands in there. It was kind of loud and rowdy, but it had a good following. From ‘78 to ‘90 it was kind of the place to go. But it was a bar, it wasn’t anything fancy. The City was interested in Dubsdread and renovated the whole building in 1990, and they opened it up in ’91. A series of restaurants kept opening and failing. They had the same space we have now but most of them kept the bar, used the middle room as a restaurant and the end room was a banquet room, but it never worked out. The reason they failed is because they tried to run it like a restaurant. To succeed in a building like this, you have to throw all of the old formulas out.
Giveaway: The Tap Room at Dubsdread Celebrates Historic 100 Years in College Park
Written By Tiffany Nguyen
The Tap Room at Dubsdread is an award-winning restaurant that has gained recognition for some of the best burgers, steaks and seafood in Central Florida in an award-winning setting.
Dating back to when the golf course first opened in 1924, it eventually became a hangout spot for officers during World War II and continued to be popular ever since. Politicians, celebrities, friends and families dine in for lunch, dinner and happy hour on the Verandah overlooking the historic 100-year-old Dubsdread golf course. The connected ballroom has also served as the perfect venue for meetings, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, debutantes and many more special events throughout the years.
Taproom at Dubsdread taps into College Park
Written By Sarah Wilson
He accomplished what five other owners in had tired, and failed to do in the decade prior, and in the process became “Mr. College Park,” said College Park Partnership Director Andrea Kudlacz.
“He knows everybody, and everybody knows Steve,” she said.
Getting there, Gunter said, required throwing everything he’d thought he’d known about running a restaurant, throwing it out the window, and starting from scratch, the key variables in that formula being his mangers Barbara Teal and Cathie Ashby.
“I assure you without both of those women I would have been a colossal failure,” he said with a laugh.
Far from a failure, since Gunter took ownership of the Tap Room the restaurant has won six Orlando Sentinel “Foodie Awards” and was named as the winner of the “Best of” in Orlando Magazine three times.
Celebrate your love at The Tap Room at Dubsdread. Treat your partner to our special Pre Fixe Menu for two just for Valentine’s Day or enjoy any of our award-winning dishes from our traditional dinner menu. Either way, you’ll enjoy an exceptional experience!
Valentine’s Pre Fixe Dinner
February 14th, starting at 4 p.m.
Reservations are recommended as we normally book up.
