Frady's Taphouse and Eatery

 

Located at 1345 North Main Street in midtown High Point, Frady’s Taphouse and Eatery offers American cuisine, craft beer, and cocktails. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. until at least 8 p.m. every day except Monday. Patio dining is available.

 

Frady Family Farms built up a reputation during the past few years for selling top-notch smoked meats. Their recently-opened Taphouse in the former Tipsy’z Tacos location has some room for improvement but also a lot of tantalizing potential.

 

Housed in a somewhat compact space, Frady’s offers a casual vibe and amiable service. The menu, for the time being, is limited: a few apps, a few sides, a few sandwiches, a pair of salads, and several quesadillas. Playing to its strengths, Frady’s incorporates smoked brisket, pork, or chicken in most of these dishes though veggie or loaded cheese quesadillas are available for non-meat eaters. There’s also a full bar and an array of cocktails for anyone who wants to grab a drink.

 

For our first visit, my wife and I split a truffle fries starter and went with a grilled chicken salad and a brisket quesadilla, respectively. The food arrived promptly, looked good, and smelled amazing.

Execution offered more hits than misses. The brisket was tender and smoky and paired well with a verde sauce, but I wish there were more than three pieces of quesadilla. The salad balanced a bright vinaigrette, sweet blueberries, and sharp feta. The truffle fries – matchstick cut and seasoned with rosemary and parmesan – were plentiful but blander than expected. Compared to say Big Burger Spot’s equivalent offering, the depth of flavor simply isn’t there. Then again, neither is all the grease.

 

Frady’s pricing is slightly higher than you might think but not outrageously so. The salads, a simple cheeseburger, and most of the quesadilla offerings are $12 while the brisket quesadilla runs $15.

 

Given time to perhaps expand the menu and fine-tune a few offerings, Frady’s can grow into a very solid local option. The Frady family seems like good people, and their grilled and smoked meats are hard to beat.