Bar to be ‘heart’ of new food hall opening soon in Dayton

W. Social Tap & Table, located at 1100 W. Third St., is a joint venture between Wright Dunbar Inc. and Dillin Corp. The $2.1 million project will transform a former conference center into a food hall with a bar and six other independent businesses including De’Lish, Grind House Coffee & Tea Co., The Lumpia Queen, SOCA, ILLYS Fire Pizza and Taco Street Co.

Dillin Corp. owns the bar.

“It’s just as important to us that everything works well, as a tenant, as it is to all the other restaurants,” Dillin said. “We’re invested in the real estate, but we’re also invested in the operations.”

Rob Barry, general manager of W. Social Tap & Table, told Dayton.com the bar will feature 16 taps of domestic and craft beer, wine and cocktails.

Each food tenant will have a specialty cocktail at the bar. This includes Cajun Lemonade, Gin Pom, Trinidad Sour Riff, New York Sour and Strawberry Margarita. Barry explained he worked with the restaurant owners and Toledo Spirits to come up with the specialty cocktail recipes.

Barry said bartenders will be available to help guests choose other drink pairings with their meals.

The bar will be a work in progress, Barry explained. He said as they get to know the community and find out their favorite drinks, the bar will be flexible.

“At the end of the day, my goal is to just make sure every guest that comes in here is going to leave in a better mood and have a great experience,” Barry said.

Barry previously worked at Archer’s Tavern for 12 years as a manager and general manager at the company’s Centerville and Kettering locations.

The bar will be the “heart of the restaurant,” Barry said.

Him and Dillin explained that customers will be able sit down, scan a QR code and order drinks from the bar or coffee shop and food from the other tenants at the same time. Customers will then get a text when their food is ready and they will never have to physically wait in a line if they don’t want to.

W. Social Tap & Table is expected to open this summer. Dillin said they are doing everything they can to get the food hall open as soon as possible.

She described the Wright-Dunbar District as being at the tipping point of revitalization.

“Place-making is what Dillin does and in Wright-Dunbar we are doing that very differently,” Dillin said. “It’s really fun and it feels really good to do in a place that believes in itself already and wants the help.”

For more information on W. Social Tap & Table, visit the food hall’s Facebook page.

**Please note this is one of seven stories featuring tenants in W. Social Tap & Table**