Dacey’s Taphouse
11177 E. Michigan AvenueIt’s been quite a while since we’ve been to Firekeeper’s Casino in Battle Creek. I can actually tell you exactly when it was..because it’s the only time I’ve ever been there and I blogged about it. October of 2009.
J and I aren’t gamblers. It’s fun to play every so often but the thing that will always keep us away from casinos is the smoke. There’s really no reason this should be an issue in 2019.
A few months ago, I saw an ad for Dennis Miller performing at Firekeeper’s. I was a little surprised J said she’d like to see him so I decided to get tickets. We’ve never been to a show there, it was a Friday night, and it would get us out of the house for a few hours.
We decided just to eat at the casino. J had been back to the casino a few times for various work events and when I brought up Dacey’s Taphouse, she thought that was a fabulous idea.
Dacey’s Taphouse is the sports bar located inside the casino. There’s a parking lot and outside entrance but we decided to park in the ramp just in case it was raining. That means we had to walk through most of the gaming floor to find the bar tucked in to a corner surrounded by slot machines.
The pub is kind of a free-for-all where you find your own table. There are quite a few packed in to the small space with TV’s hanging throughout to keep that sports bar theme going. There is no protection from the gaming floor so the pub is pretty loud and the flashing lights and thick layer of smoke are noticeable.
There’s a pretty large bar with giant monitors hanging over it with their pretty large craft beer selection. Some of those are on tap while others are in bottles/cans. The bar also has games built in to it so you can even spend you’re money while grabbing something to eat.
We were kind of hanging out waiting for a table when I spotted a friend of ours sitting by himself. We just went over to say hi but he invited us to join him for dinner. He was grabbing something to eat and a quick beer before going to play in the Mid-States Poker Tour.
The waitress saw us sit down and asked if wanted menus. She brought back a couple of tablets with the menus on them so we could swipe through and find something that looked good while she was getting our drinks.
I got Northwest Hero by Revolution Brewing out of Chicago. It’s part of their “Hero” IPA series and one I hadn’t had yet. I ended up getting two before heading in to the show.
J ordered herself a margarita which was served in a pint glass to make it easy to carry had we left the bar area. I believe it was a strawberry margarita garnished with lemon, lime, orange, and a cherry.
The menu isn’t very big but they have most of the classic pub staples. I ordered the Taphouse Burger which they say is a special grind of beef with candied bacon, burnt onions (I left those off), gruyere cheese and garlic mayo. The sandwich was really tasty and the garlic mayo was just a light spread so it didn’t overpower the salty beef and sweet crunchy bacon. The sandwich came with Taphouse Fries which are seasoned battered fries. They were delicious and the seasoned salt liberally covered each of the fried potato sticks.
J ordered the Chicken Tacos. The order is three with choice of tortilla. She chose flour and in addition to the marinated grilled chicken, each is filled with cheddar cheese and lettuce. Sour cream, salsa, and guac come served on the side. She said the tacos were quite delicious and better than she expected coming from a casino bar. They were simple but very filling and very flavorful.
Our bill came out to exactly $50 which I paid for on my card.
Dacey’s Taphouse surprised both of us. We’ve eaten casino food before and it’s usually pretty bland…just something to get you and back out on to the gaming floor. That’s not the case at Dacey’s Taphouse. The menu is pretty limited…there’s not a huge choice of burger options or various sandwiches, but what they put on their menu is done pretty well.
SW Michigan Dining 