Riverfront Taproom Brewpub Review
The Riverfront Taproom is a brewpub that opened sometime in 2016. It’s located a few miles down the road from exit 113 at 530 North Harrison Street in Shelbyville, IN. They have ten house beers as of this posting as well as beers from 450 North Brewery and wine from Simmons Winery. There’s a good selection of food from pulled pork nachos to their brick oven pizza. A pizza buffet is available during week days 11:30AM to 1:30PM.
The Riverfront Taproom offers a nice design and plenty of room for busy times.
The posted building capacity is somewhere near 350 and they list having 250 plus seats. The building has a nice layout that should provide ample space to move around when busy and there are plenty of TV’s for when a good game is on. They also have a 50 person barrel room available for parties.
My best description of the building’s design would be industrial. The first thing that sparked my interest was the brewery room with a clear view from the whole place. No one was brewing at the time but it would offer a great view of the process when in action. Even when not in action the equipment pulls your attention. The conicals are worth mentioning as they are labeled as John, Paul and George. I can’t help but feel jealous over the setup.
The bar had a nice layout with clear writing. It’s always good to ask what’s new but you can’t order a beer if you can’t read the name! I didn’t get a chance to look at what they had on tap but with 32 taps I’m sure everyone could find something to drink. Their house beers offer a wide variety and I like that they actually have them posted on their website as well as at the table. The bar was lit pretty well but I’d say the rest of the building was too dark.
I love that the buffet station is placed right in front of the brewery room.
Me and my brother visited the Riverfront Taproom specifically for the $8.99 pizza lunch buffet. We were seated very quickly in the center of the building. A friendly waitress took our drink order within a minute or two of sitting down. I typically avoid even having a drop of alcohol when I’m driving so I opted for a coke. I’m a firm believer that a buffet and alcohol aren’t friends as well. The coke was priced well at only $2 and I liked that it was served in a mason style jar. We were even offered a to go drink on the way out.
We were a few minutes early before the buffet start time so we started with the salad bar and garlic knots. The salad bar had fresh lettuce and a few good toppings. I wasn’t a fan of the large slivers of carrot and would have liked a few more toppings but it was still good enough. A large pile of garlic knots were located between the salad bar and pizza table under an enclosed buffet holder. They were really big and super fresh with plenty of flavor.
Pizzas rolled out within a few minutes of us finishing our salads and knots. There were 3 large pizzas including a supreme, a sausage with mushrooms, as well as a pepperoni. It was nice that the pizza came out at the perfect temperature rather than the typical mouth scorcher. The pizza reminded me of a cross between a bar pizza and New York style pizza. It was super thin and loaded with toppings. The sauce had a good balance without being too sweet or spicy. The toppings were fresh and had plenty of flavor.
I only had two gripes with the pizza. Typically I prefer my pizza more on the well done side. I love variety so I wish they would have included one of their BBQ pizzas on the buffet. The pizza was really good though and my gripes are more a preference than a complaint.
We can’t forget the brews!
While I can’t give you a direct review of the brews, I can offer an observation of their offerings. The ten house beers include a cream ale, wheat beer, an English brown, a session IPA, a milk stout, a lager, a festbier, a west coast IPA and a raspberry barrel-aged imperial stout. Everyone should be able to find something to drink out of those house beers and the rest of the stuff on tap. The beer was priced similar to other places and they offer a growler fill deal on Mondays as well as other weekly specials.
I’ll definitely be stopping by the Riverfront Taproom again in a few weeks for a flight of beers or at least a growler fill. Once I try their beer I’ll update this and give you my full verdict as well as more pictures.
Check them out at their website or Facebook page!
My Overall Verdict: 4.83 / 5
- Food: 4.5 / 5
- Beer: NA (Didn’t try yet!)
- Service: 5 / 5
- Environment: 5 / 5
