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Federal Taphouse Getting Set to Open in Fraser Centre

By: fioreMarketing | June 30, 2017 | Original Article

Originally published by State College.com

by Geoff Rushton on June 30, 2017

Federal Taphouse is getting ready to open in the Fraser Centre in downtown State College, with the grand opening of its fourth Pennsylvania location now scheduled for July 7.

On Thursday, the restaurant held a soft opening event for guests at its spacious site on the second floor of the new downtown high rise, where it is joining Target and H&M along with Hyatt Place hotel.

Owners Corey Fogarty and Judd Goodman are Penn State alumni who opened their first Federal Taphouse in 2012. Along with the new location in State College, they’ve previously opened the restaurant and bar in Harrisburg, Lancaster and Camp Hill.

Goodman said as Penn State alumni, the newest opening is significant to him and Fogarty.

“It is special,” he said. “I’ve been coming here a long, long time for games and to visit, for Arts Fest and special events. This is a great opportunity. It has a special place in my heart, and Corey’s as well.”

General manager David Chubb said the restaurant has capacity for 280 to 300.

There’s plenty of open space, with hardwood floors, open ceilings and large windows that let in natural light and offer views of parts of downtown and campus. Flat-screen TVs are positioned behind the bar and throughout the restaurant.

A long bar will have 100 beers on tap, along with wines and craft spirits. The menu, meanwhile, features “food that is scratch-made and hand-prepared,” Chubb said.

The restaurant also has a wood-fired oven and Chubb said Federal Taphouse is known for its wood-fired pizzas and other fare like their signature appetizer, the Devil on Horseback, a date stuffed with bleu cheese, wrapped in bacon and topped with a balsamic drizzle.

“It is tap house food with a little bit of a twist,” Chubb said.

The restaurant plans to open at 11 a.m. each day and will offer lunch and dinner menus. On Sundays it will open a little earlier for brunch. Chubb expects closing on weekends to be 2 a.m. and for weekdays midnight or 1 a.m. In general though, opening and closing times aren’t yet firm.

“We’re still playing with the hours a little bit before we announce that part of it,” he said. “We’re just trying to feel out the summer and then college starting up.”

Goodman said his hope is that Federal Taphouse will bring something that can’t be found elsewhere in the area.

“Truly an experience they aren’t going to have anywhere else in State College,” he said. “It’s the same with the hotel. The quality of the hotel right when you walk in the door is special, and I think we’re going to be a separate arm and a great entity to build that entire package.”

Chubb added that the location in the Fraser Centre and relationship with the adjacent Hyatt Place make for an ideal venue, one that he expects will be particularly appealing to the non-student crowd.

“This location and the partnership with the hotel and the new build here looked like a natural fit,” he said. “We understand college kids do tend to take over downtown a little bit and the locals deserve something downtown that’s kind of geared toward them.”