The Brass Tap, a craft beer and bar franchise based in Tampa, Fla., is opening a location in Rockwall on Monday, Sept. 21.
Co-owners Ridham Bhatt, Kirat Shahiwala, and Ravi Patel decided to shift careers from healthcare and pharmaceuticals into the restaurant industry after harboring the lifelong dream of running a restaurant together. Bhatt, the managing partner, will be supervising the daily operations while Shahiwala and Patel will be silent investors.
“Kirat is my cousin, we grew up together, literally in the same town [in India], and Ravi is our friend as well,” Bhatt says. “For all of us three partners, a bar-restaurant was something of our dream growing up.”
Bhatt was working as a healthcare and IT executive until his company closed down last year, giving him the opportunity to explore the craft beer market and the restaurant industry.
“We looked at many, many, many franchises, but Brass Tap stood out because of their service, the quality of the food, the beer, and the environment,” Bhatt says. “Brass Tap believes in supporting local communities, which caught our eye. Every Brass Tap is different. So, you’re not going to just find any beer, you’re going to find beers that are local to the specific Brass Tap.”
In addition to a full bar, the Rockwall location will have 60 craft beers on tap and 100-plus bottles and cans of craft beers, with 70% from local breweries. They will also serve typical bar food from burgers and sliders to beer-battered shrimp and fish.
With Rockwall as their first location, the trio signed a five-store deal to open four more Brass Taps in Sachse, The Colony, Plano and Sherman. Jamie Cecil, vice president of franchise development for The Brass Tap, says there are more Dallas-area locations to be built within the next 9-12 months.
“A lot of our growth is organic growth,” Cecil says. “A guy who’s visiting Dallas but lives in Modesto [might say] ‘Wow this would be great in Modesto.’ So, he reaches out to us and it just kind of builds from there.”
Cecil says the two main qualities they look for in franchisees are a strong business acumen and financial wherewithal.
“With our training and how our model is set up, they really don’t need restaurant or bar experience,” Cecil says. “What they need is a strong business acumen and the ability to run a strong business and get involved with the community. That’s big with Brass Tap. [And] typical buildout is between $600,000 to $1 million, so we’ve got to have someone with strong financials.”
The Brass Tap is looking at two more openings by the end of this year in the DFW-area and 8-10 bars scheduled for 2021.
“Our first location in Dallas was in Allen ... and it just really did phenomenally,” Cecil says. “Obviously, [there are] strong demographics in Dallas. People like to drink beer and they like to drink good beer, so it works very well for The Brass Tap.”
Bhatt’s wife has been running a Cold Stone Creamery at The Harbor in Rockwall for the past several years, which gave him some exposure to the area before opening his own bar in the same dining development.
“It’s the location itself that excites me,” Bhatt says. “The environment sets up such a good tempo that it’s a typical neighborhood bar that’s not in a normal location. It’s an exotic location for the neighbors to come out and enjoy their night.”
The Brass Tap is located at 2075 Summer Lee Drive, Rockwall, and has open for takeout and dine-in at 50 percent capacity. brasstapbeerbar.com.
