The Old Place Tap House and Bar

Pelham’s newest neighborhood bar opened its doors on Bowling Lane in the summer of 2026 with a simple ambition: become the kind of place regulars call by name, the local answer to a hometown Cheers, a comparison the Shelby County Reporter used directly when covering the opening. The Old Place Tap House and Bar sits just off Pelham’s main commercial corridor, in a spot easy to miss unless you already know it is there, which is exactly the point for the community-minded owners behind it. The bar describes its own goal on its website as redefining the tap house experience through rustic decor, communal tables, and a warm, inviting atmosphere built for regulars to settle in.

The concept centers on roughly 32 rotating draft beers alongside a strong lineup of high-end spirits and crafted cocktails, giving it more range than a straightforward beer bar without tipping into cocktail-lounge pretension. Regulars gather around a square bar built for conversation, and the room leans into an Irish-pub sensibility both in decor and in a few menu callbacks, without losing the loose, come-as-you-are feel that a town like Pelham wants from its local watering hole. Untappd’s tracking of the tap list shows a mix that runs from Guinness to smaller craft names like Founders Brewing Co., Urban South Brewery, and Parish Brewing Co., spanning IPAs, stouts, sours, and lagers. Regulars who check in enough drinks on the app can unlock an exclusive badge called The Old Regular, a small nod to how quickly the bar has built a base of repeat visitors since opening.

Food is built for sharing over a few rounds rather than a formal sit-down meal. The Irish Specialties section covers pretzel bites with hearty beer cheese and brown mustard for eight fifty, a jumbo pretzel with the same beer cheese and mustard for seven dollars, artichoke and spinach dip topped with parmesan and served with toast for eight, and bruschetta, five toasted French bread slices topped with tomato, garlic, and mozzarella pearls and drizzled with balsamic reduction, also for eight dollars. From the sandwich side, The Old Place Cuban layers marinated pulled pork, ham, and Swiss on a toasted Cuban roll for eleven fifty, matched by a Chipotle Chicken Sandwich on toasted ciabatta with spicy pepper jack, both served with Miss Vickie’s chips. Hand-made pork or beef tamales, four to an order with salsa verde and salsa rojo, run ten dollars, and Irish Nachos, kettle chips loaded with bacon, beer cheese, spring onion, and jalapeno, run ten fifty.

Dessert closes things out with sticky toffee pudding served with vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzle, and a molten lava cake filled with liquid chocolate and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, both nine dollars, a nod again to the pub’s Irish-leaning identity. What sets The Old Place apart in its early months is the deliberate focus on community programming. The bar has already hosted live trivia nights through Challenge Entertainment, positioning itself as a regular gathering spot rather than a pass-through stop.

Local coverage from the Shelby County Reporter described the goal explicitly: to build a community-focused atmosphere where familiar faces become the backbone of the business, not just the beer list. Because it is so new, The Old Place does not yet carry the years of history that some Pelham institutions do, but the early buzz, an active social media presence, and a steady trivia crowd suggest it is settling in as a genuine local hangout rather than a passing novelty.

The bar stays closed on Mondays but opens most other afternoons and evenings, running from four to ten on Tuesday through Thursday, expanding to noon until eleven on Friday and Saturday, and settling into a shorter Sunday window from two to nine. For anyone exploring Pelham’s small but growing bar scene, it is worth a stop both for the tap list and for the sense that this is a bar being built, night by night, around its regulars.