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Ruby Tap opens in Mequon Town Center
By Jeff Rumage
Mequon - Sarah Nelson and Brooke Boomer won over Wauwatosa wine-lovers when they opened Ruby Tap more than three years ago.
Now they are hoping to uncork a similar demand at their new Mequon location, which opened Monday, Dec. 14.
Ruby Tap's self-serve wine machines quickly put the two sisters on the map when they opened their Wauwatosa location in August 2012. They are packed four out of six nights per week, Nelson said, which did not go unnoticed by the developers of the Mequon Town Center development at Mequon and Cedarburg roads.
The sisters agreed two years ago to open a second location in the Town Center, and made their plans public last year. The Mequon space has a slightly different design and is about 500 square feet bigger than their Wauwatosa location.
Nelson said she likes the Town Center's walkability, and she is looking forward to establishing a group of Mequon regulars - similar to the neighborhood feel they've established in Wauwatosa."We're excited to meet new people and experience a new neighborhood," she said.Regulars are unlikely to get tired of their variety of 32 wines available in self-serve wine machines. After choosing their wine, self-serve customers choose whether they want a 1.5-ounce, 3-ounce or 6-ounce pour and then swipe their Ruby Tap card to complete the transaction. The machines show the balance on your tab and the amount of wine left in the bottle.
The self-serve option is attractive to those with curious palates.
"We want to make sure we have a lot of fun stuff going in and out of the machines," Nelson said. "If they know a lot about wine, we've got that covered. If they don't, they can play around and taste away without feeling like they have to buy a full glass of something they might not like."
Those who prefer their beverages poured the old-fashioned way by humans can buy a full bottle of wine or choose from a rotating tap list. Right now, Ruby Tap has four red wines, three white wines, two craft beers and a craft cocktail made in-house. Behind the bar, they have another 20 different types of bottled beer, along with sparkling champage.Tap beers and cocktails are a new endeavor for the two sisters. With a kitchen three times larger than their Wauwatosa kitchen, they are also adding flatbreads to their snack selection, which includes seven different types of cheese, seven different types of charcuterie, truffle popcorn, marcona almonds and olives.
Neither Nelson nor Boomer comes from a restaurant background, but they both had a dream of quitting their day job and opening a wine bar. What they lack in industry experience, they made up for with their experience going out to bars and restaurants."All of the restaurants and bars we've been able to go to have gotten us familiar with what we like about going to places," Nelson said. "We wanted to create a space where we would like to go to hang out, drink good wine and not feel rushed."
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