October 12, 2023
Maggie Mancini/PhillyVoice
The Brass Tap, a craft beer chain with locations in 14 states, is set to open its first Pennsylvania location in Manayunk this December. Pictured above are owners and investors Danielle and Izak Du Plooy.
Restaurant franchises tend to open locations near major roadways or in shopping centers — highly visible spots easily accessible to locals and passersby, alike. Manayunk doesn't fit that description perfectly, but Main Street certainly is bustling with foot and vehicular traffic, and it has an established food and bar scene.
So when news emerged that Florida-based, bar-and-restaurant chain Brass Tap would open it's first location in Philadelphia, thoughts immediately go to the neighborhood's popular business corridor. But instead the new bar with its 30 craft beers on tap will be located several blocks off of Main Street, up the hill in a residential section of Manayunk in a property that for years housed another popular neighborhood bar.
The Brass Tap is set to open at 177 Markle St. – the former site of Old Eagle Tavern – in December, though its pending liquor license may delay the first day until early 2024, franchise owners Danielle and Izak Du Plooy said. The couple purchased the property in late 2021.
"We're mostly investors," Danielle said. "We don't have a background in restaurants, so we were excited when a friend suggested franchising. We weren't set on a franchise until we found The Brass Tap. With the craft beer and the bar food and the sporting events, we think it'll be a great fit for Manayunk."
The Brass Tap, started in Wesley Chapel, Florida, in 2007, and now has 42 locations in the U.S. The closest is Vineland, Cumberland County. After that, its nearest restaurants to Philadelphia are in Baltimore and some of that city's surrounding suburbs.
The chain is known for its beer selection and it encourages franchisees to create their own beer lists local options on tap. The Du Plooys have been traveling to taprooms around the region for tastings, working to finalize the beer menu for their Manayunk location.
The bar will serve tacos, burgers, quesadillas, pretzels and wings. It will seat 60 people, and the indoor dining space will have 18 televisions to watch sports, including rugby and soccer. The Du Plooys also hope to host trivia, live music and sports-themed special events.
Though they've never owned restaurant, Danielle and Izak each have worked in the food industry and said they aren't worried about running their own space. The mix-and-match options for food and drink encouraged by The Brass Tap made the franchise an easy sell.
"We'd owned the bar building for a while and weren't thinking about running it ourselves at first, but when the opportunity presented itself, we had to take it," Izak said. "We love the neighborhood, and we want to be a part of it. Given the other craft beer bars in the area, we think it'll be a great addition and will hopefully bring in a neighborhood crowd."
The Old Eagle Tavern closed in late 2019 after 15 years. The corner property at Markle and Terrace streets was sold to an investor who opened the short-lived cocktail bar Taps & Bourbon in early 2020 that was doomed by the pandemic. The building was sold to the Du Plooys, who let a tenant open 3rd World Sports Bar & Grill, and when that business closed, the Du Plooys saw an opportunity.
The Du Plooys have never lived in Manayunk, though they've gotten familiar with the neighborhood since purchasing the property nearly two years ago. Danielle, who has lived in Philly for more than two decades, said the atmosphere of the neighborhood is what led them to seek out the property as an investment.
To secure a Brass Tap franchise, the couple had to pitch the idea to the company's corporate executives in Florida, Danielle said. The execs ran demographic studies to determine whether the location would make sense for their business model. The space is significantly smaller than other Brass Tap models, but the company's leaders were impressed by the community, the Du Plooys said. Some of them traveled to visit the space and to see how the Du Plooys were planning to introduce the bar to the community.
The Manayunk location is the only Brass Tap planned for the Philly region, though the company's director of franchise operations, has said the Brass Tap sees the potential for growth in the area. The bar is hiring a management team and is looking to hire about 30 staff members before it opens. The Du Plooys will share updates on Instagram as the open date gets closer.
