University of Texas at Dallas students get their own craft beer pub with American Tap Room, opening near the UTD campus in spring 2017. It describes itself as a place to find convivial conversation and a "democratic" assortment of beers, from Bud to Dogfish Head.

The Tap Room comes from Virginia, where it has three branches in the area, including one in Bethesda, Maryland.

Nick Norris, who will be manager in Dallas, says they'll have a strong craft beer program, but also a serious lunch offering for the many area businesses.

"We're near the campus, but we're open for everyone, including businesses and residents in the area," he says. "We have a big lunch and also Sunday brunch."

The menu is large and consists of contemporary American pub dishes, including burgers, pasta, flatbreads, sliders, and comfort-food favorites like chicken and waffles: buttermilk-marinated chicken thighs atop a Belgian waffle.

Locals find it to be a reliable place with good, generously portioned food at affordable prices, with a comfortable atmosphere and enchanting cocktails such as the blackberry bubbly, made with champagne, pineapple juice, raspberry liqueur, and blackberries.

The Dallas branch will go into the Northside complex at the University of Texas at Dallas, a mixed-use development featuring apartments plus campus-oriented and mainstream retail services to serve the college and surrounding community. It's a big project being built on university property near the intersection of Synergy Park Boulevard and Floyd Road, adjacent to a future regional rail station site on DART’s Cotton Belt Corridor.

The development will include housing for 600 students plus retail space. UTD spokeswoman Chase York notes that the enrollment at the university has climbed significantly in the past 10 years, from 14,000 students in 2007 to the current enrollment of more than 26,000.

Norris says they're aiming to be open by March to April.