November 14, 2024
News - Joliet and Will County

Embers Tap House in Lockport adds home-style choices to menu, accepts cash

Deliveries, curbside pickup and family meals are firsts at Embers Tap House in Lockport, which also has a new manager partner.

By Denise M. Baran-Unland

But one element during the pandemic will remain constant, at least for now. Ember Tap House will continue accepting cash payments for meals, a boon to seniors who may not use online banking and low income people who may only carry cash. “We are here for the whole community as much as we possible can be,” said Aaron Mace, who came on as general manager 10 days ago. “We’ve adjusted to some degree. But it’s not a terrible adjustment. … We had to close the door to the public. That’s the biggest adjustment.” Another adjust was hours for take-out service. Embers tap House is currently open 4 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant rolled out the new process on St. Patrick's Day and Mace said it went well for a first day.

But one element during the pandemic will remain constant, at least for now. Ember Tap House will continue accepting cash payments for meals, a boon to seniors who may not use online banking and low income people who may only carry cash. “We are here for the whole community as much as we possible can be,” said Aaron Mace, who came on as general manager 10 days ago. “We’ve adjusted to some degree. But it’s not a terrible adjustment. … We had to close the door to the public. That’s the biggest adjustment.” Another adjust was hours for take-out service. Embers tap House is currently open 4 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The restaurant rolled out the new process on St. Patrick's Day and Mace said it went well for a first day.

"We had an order about every 10 minutes," Mace said. The menu was tweaked to include foods that could be prepared quickly and “travel well” as carryout. Home-style options were added, too. “You pick your protein, such as salmon or corned beef. Then you pick three items from the sides list. And then you end up with a complete meal for everybody.” All food is prepared fresh and can be ready soon after ordering. Even though St. Patrick's Day has past, Mace is planning to order more corned beef because customers really enjoyed the way Embers Tap House prepared it on Tuesday, Mace said. Mace said the process for ordering a meal is also low-tech.

No ordering through a website (which is being redesigned), although the entire menu is pinned to the top of the restaurant’s Facebook page. “You call and we’ll answer the phone and take your order,” Mace said. “You can pay over the phone with a credit or debit card or pay cash. It’s pretty straightforward and old-fashioned.” Customers can either “pop in through the door” to pick up their meals or staff will bring it out to the car, Mace said. Delivery is available for Lockport residents only, Mace said.

"But the goal is to make the meals appear as if someone in the family had gone to the store and hand-selected all the ingredients," Mace said. “It’s presented like a little meal that you cooked for your family at home. You take it out of the package and set the table, and it feels like the home-cooked deal.” Embers Tap House is located at 933 S. State St. in Lockport. To order, call 815-552-3031.

LockportRestaurantFood
Denise Unland

Denise M. Baran-Unland

Denise M. Baran-Unland is the features editor for The Herald-News in Joliet. She covers a variety of human interest stories. She also writes the long-time weekly tribute feature “An Extraordinary Life about local people who have died. She studied journalism at the College of St. Francis in Joliet, now the University of St. Francis.