The new Black Tap Craft Burgers & Shakes location in Downtown Disney, Anaheim had their official grand opening celebration yesterday. We were lucky to be among the guests invited. They had most of their menu out for sampling which made the event rather tasty. We have lots of pictures, opinions, and prices to share with you.
Appetizers
Guac & Chips ($12.00) and Queso & Chips ($9.00)
For the grand opening event they combined both versions of their chip appetizers into one appetizer. Queso on the far end and Guacamole on the near end.
The chips by themselves were a standout in this appetizer. They were perfectly salted and had fresh lime to liven them up. The two dips represent two separate menu options. We will start with our favorite – the guacamole. After squeezing some lime onto our chips and dipping into the guacamole we were in foodie heaven. The crisply tender chips coupled with the salty-lime flavor made for a perfect match with the guacamole. The queso was also solid. It was a good temperature and captured the essence of what a good cheese dip should be like with the chips. Which one you will prefer, comes down to personal preference.
Fried Pickles with House-Buttermilk Dill ($9.00)
Let me start by saying that I am not a huge fan of pickles. I still liked this item a lot. They breading was crunchy and the pickles maintained a nice snap. The stand-out in my opinion was the House-Buttermilk Dill dipping dressing. It popped with flavor and accentuated the natural sourness of the pickles quite nicely. The price is another bonus with this item. Eating in Downtown Disney can be pricey, but this item delivers nice bang for your buck.
Fried Mozz ($10.00)
Fans of fried mozzarella sticks have a winner on their hands here. As if the fried, gooey mozzarella cheese wasn’t enough they have added freshly shredded parmesan (or a similar cheese to parmesan – I didn’t ask) on top of the fried mozzarella sticks. The dipping sauce was a twist on the traditional tomato dipping sauces that come with fried mozzarella sticks. It had smoky chipotle flavor accents added into the traditional tomato sauce. The results were quite tasty.
Spicy Korean BBQ Wings ($14.00)
This is the only flavor of wing I had the chance to taste, so the other flavors will be up to your taste palates. It was crisp, hot, and had a lovely sauce on top that packed a little heat. The price is steep at $14 for 6 wings, so you’ll have to take that into consideration.
Entrees
All-American Burger ($16.00)
The All-American Burger is a prime burger with American cheese and special sauce (a jazzed up Thousand Island), served on a Martin’ss potato roll with lettuce, tomato, a pickle, and french fries. The burger was cooked perfectly medium (if you like it more well-done ask your server, and they’ll accommodate you). This was straight up burger comfort food. No frills, no gimmicks. Just straight up high quality beef with cheese, sauce and the other fixings.
Texan Burger ($19.00)
The Texan Burger consists of a prime burger patty, bacon, aged cheddar, crispy onion ring, Sweet Baby Ray’s® BBQ, and mayo served on a Martin’s® Potato Roll with lettuce, tomato, a pickle, and french fries. This was my favorite burger from all of the options we tried yesterday. the bacon, aged cheddar, and bbq sauce were fantastic with the already great prime burger meat.
Crispy Chicken Sandwich ($17.00)
The Crispy Chicken Sandwich comes with Korean BBQ sauce, buttermilk coleslaw, cilantro, fresh lime, and spicy mayo on a Martin’s® Potato Roll, served with french fries. For those who love big flavors then this would be the one for you. It was a nice blend of sweet and spicy. We would recommend pairing this with the sweet potato fries.
Greg Norman ($20.00)
The Greg Norman has the highest quality beef of the burgers we tried (which is saying something). It has a 1/2 lb Wagyu Beef Burger, house buttermilk-dill, blue-cheese, and arugula served on a Martin’s® Potato Roll with lettuce, tomato, a pickle with french fries on the side. This burger was probably my personal *least* favorite, but I still think it was pretty decent. I have read LOTS of people who are saying this was their favorite burger though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Pizza Burger
We wrote about this one during our first trip to Black Tap a few weeks ago, so we will include it again in this review. The pizza burger is a prime burger with marinara, shaved parmesan, and FRIED MOZZARELLA STICKS! Lettuce and tomato are optional garnishments on the side. The fries were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. In hindsight, I think it would have been tasty and fun to try one of their special dipping sauces that are available for a small fee. Bring napkins – lots of napkins, because this thing is messy. I think it was well worth the hassle of constant clean-ups though. The fried mozzarella sticks gave it a super cheesy and pizza feeling as you were eating it. If you are intrigued it is definitely worth trying at least once.
Part 2 – Crazy Shakes
The crazy shakes – check out our other article for a full write-up on the crazy shakes that Black Tap is famous for serving.