The Tap House far more than a neighborhood bar

I’ve been to the Tap House quite a few times over the years for newsroom departures: Tradition is that you get a dice clock and a send-off at the Tap House. What’s the attraction? That was never clear to me because there aren’t that many of us Cleveland Browns fans on staff, so I guess it’s just something that nobody’s been moved to change.

But because of the nature of my previous visits, it wasn’t until recently that it occurred to me that the Tap House also has pretty good food and that some people go there to eat, not just to drink or play video poker.

That revelation came to me as I was eating a Fellini’s pizza. So, when I went by the Tap House strictly for dinner, I decided to repeat that experience, with a personal-size Fellini’s ($8.95; larger sizes are $10.95 and $13.95). If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Fellini’s at the Stratosphere and the other late lamented locations around town (including one next to the Tap House) are/were sister restaurants. And that legendary Italian cuisine seeps into the Tap House in the form of a number of dishes but especially in the pizza.

It’s excellent. The Tap House makes its own Italian sausage (and offers it for sale), and that’s the star of this pizza, along with mushrooms, bell pepper, salami and black olives, plus a deeply flavored marinara and lots of stretchy mozzarella. And speaking of stretchy: While thin crust is available as an option, we had the regular, which was just thick enough, stretchy and yeasty, and all that good stuff.

The Tap House trumpets the award-winning nature of its chicken wings ($8.50 for a dozen, $14.95 for two dozen) and no wonder; they were like we picture the seminal wings at the Anchor Bar: crisply crusted, moist inside, and even the mild sauce we chose (medium, hot, salty or teriyaki are other options) had tons of flavor. They’re served with celery on the side and blue-cheese dressing with plenty of cheese chunks.

And chicken parmigiana ($14.50): a big, meaty breast fillet that, again, was crisply crusted but moist inside, and came with pasta and a big bowl of minestrone soup that rocked.

The decor is vintage bar — the vintage in this case being about the ’70s — with memorabilia from Ohio sports teams, including the excellent Ohio University and that other school in Columbus.

But here’s a caveat: This is an older establishment (50 years with the same owners) that escaped the no-smoking laws of several years ago. It’s a big open area with the bar in the middle and dining around it. The smoke wasn’t bad on the slow evening when we visited, but it’s a trade-off you may want to keep in mind.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Email Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Find more of her stories at bestoflasvegas.com, and follow @HKRinella on Twitter.