Dusty’s Tap Room is part of a larger Dusty’s Cellar complex. My girlfriend’s parents were in town one weekend and we wanted to go to Meridian Mall to go to Caruso’s (reviews HERE). After a 3 1/2 hour drive, they were hungry, so we needed a place for lunch first. I did a search for restaurants in Okemos and Dusty’s came up. Just another reason why restaurantuers need to have a website.
The Tap Room is located in a strip mall just down from Dusty’s Cellar. The Tap Room is a really comfortable bar with high pub tables, low lighting, dark wood and of course TV’s in front of the bar. There was one other guy in there with his two daughters when we stopped in. We took a table near the back of the bar. The waiter came over with menu and to get drinks. The menu was a lot of sandwiches, wraps, salads, and hot dogs. Our waiter, Joel, came back with drinks, but didn’t ask if we were ready to order. He just dropped them of and left.
So, five mintues later, Joel comes back and we order. My girlfriend ordered the smoked turkey pretzel sandwich and her mom got the Dusty’s chicken sandwich. They cut each sandwich in half and gave it to the other. The smoked turkety pretzel sandwich is turkey, bacon, and provolone on a pretzel roll. It came with a side of honey mustard and your choice of fries. All four of us ordered the beer battered fries which good and salty. You could really taste the sea salt…that’s not a bad thing..it’s not like iodized salt which is overpowering when you get too much of it. Back to the sandwich, the pretzel roll is the reason she ordered the sandwich and it didn’t disappoint. The grilled chicken sandwich came with a mixture of spinach, sun-dried tomatos, and a garlich-herb cheese spread on top of a pretty good size chicken breast. Both ladies liked both sandwiches, but I think the pretzel roll won.
Myself and my girlfriends step dad went pretty boring and got the Classic Burger. I really wanted a Black and Bleu burger, but they mix the bleu cheese with a black olive mayo and that didn’t really sound appetizing, so I backed off. The burger is a 1/2 angus burger. I got mine with cheddar…her stepdad got it without cheese. The burger comes on a square seasme seed bun. I had mine cooked medium which left it juicy and just a little pink in the middle. It was good, but it was just a burger.
It took Joel a long time again to come back to refill drinks and quite a while to come back with the check. We sat there for a while with empty plates waiting for the bill. Once it finally did come, the total for four people was about $45.
After we ate lunch, we decided to walk down to Dusty’s Cellar. There’s another restaurant there…a little more fancier and an upscale grocery store with wine, a deli, baked goods, and some gourmet items. They even had my girlfriends favorite salsa which we can’t find anywhere (Sable and Rosenfeld’s). The Tap Room has a great ambience and pretty good food. The whole complex is a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon. There’s private dining on top of the two dining rooms and at the Wine Cellar, there’s an outdoor patio. I don’t know if we would try the Tap Room again as it doesn’t really stand out, but I am looking forward to trying lunch at the Cellar. It was good and the experience is good. I would recommend it to someone looking for a place in Okemos…just not sure if I’d go back.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
The Tap Room is one of my favorite places to eat. The atmosphere is great and all the servers are very nice. I highly recommend their beer-battered fries. They have a ton of quality beer on tap (not Miller Lite or Bud), and also a long list of about 50 bottled beers. This places makes me happy everytime I go there!