21 Taps to offer self-serve beer

Southeast Missouri native Timothy Menz and his wife, Bonnie, are readying the building at 36 N. Spanish St. in Cape Girardeau to offer a sports-themed "pub-like atmosphere" by early December.

Dart boards, pool tables, 12 televisions and a self-serve beer system are all part of the endgame design for 21 Taps, Timothy Menz said Thursday.

Open seven days a week, the location will serve quick eats such as pizzas, quesadillas, street tacos, wings and appetizers, along with craft and domestic beer.

"There will be a beer wall," Menz said. "It's going to feature a self-serve beer tap system."

When customers arrive, they can either open a bar tab or prepay for a radio-frequency identification card, he said, which will be used primarily for the self-serve option. Radio Frequency Identification technology uses radio waves to recognize people or items.

TYLER GRAEF ~ tgraef@semissourian.com Crews work to install concrete inside 36 North Spanish Street Thursday. The space which will soon house a new bar, 21 Taps.

"You can go up to the beer wall, open whatever tab you want with the RFID card and then that will open up that particular tap," he said. "Then you pay by the ounce."

The nearly 2,840-square-foot location will feature a lounge area near the entrance with a couple couches, chairs and coffee tables, Menz said.

There also will be a full bar, offering whatever beer isn't available on tap, he said.

"I'll have charging stations throughout the bar so people can charge their cell phones or tablets," Menz said.

This is Menz' first venture into the restaurant/bar business, he said, but he's wanted to undertake the venture for quite some time.

"While working in California I went to a place that had a self-serve beer tap system. I thought it was a great concept," Menz said. "So that's what pushed me to making this happen."

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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