Thirsty Moose Tap House Opening Soon

The first thing that hits you when you walk into the Thirsty Moose Tap House is the massive number of beer taps – 116 in all – framed by a giant metal moose head.

The new restaurant, located in the old Muddy River and Foobar space, was originally scheduled to open this week, but a post on the restaurant's Facebook page said it is now expected to open Monday. The restaurant has also posted 70 of the beers that will be on tap on its Facebook page.

"We're putting on the finishing touches," Brian Ward, the general manager and partner in the new downtown eatery, said last week.

The space at 21 Congress St. since the Muddy River Smokehouse closed several years ago.

The Thirsty Moose is being opened by eight partners, led by managing partner Joe Kelley, owner of , and the clothing and accessories store.

"It's going to be a great beer bar," Ward said, referencing the aforementioned 116 draft lines, which will serve all kinds of local and regional craft beers. He said the Thirsty Moose will have more beer on tap than any other establishment in the city, and probably even the region.

The food will be American bar and grill style cuisine, made from scratch. There will be a smoker to smoke meats in-house, and two brick ovens for cooking pizza.

The space will be familiar to customers of the Muddy River and Foobar, but it has been painted to brighten up what Ward said was a "drab" space. A new back bar has been installed on the main floor, which will have a replica of the Memorial Bridge above it. There are also two huge projection televisions for football games and other sporting events.

"Sundays, this will be the place to be," Ward said.

The downstairs will have a lounge feel, with lots of comfortable places to sit. The hope is to eventually have live music downstairs as well, but that likely won't be for a while.

The Thirsty Moose is not part of a chain; there are other restaurants with the same name in other parts of the country, but Ward said they are not affiliated with this one.

Ward said the goal is to have a soft opening at first, with a grand opening at a later date.