Two prominent businesses within the Greencastle restaurant scene will soon close their doors. Tap House 24 will serve customers for the final time on Oct. 21 and Charlie’s will close its doors on Nov. 11.
Tap House is located near the downtown square at the corner of Walnut St. and south Indiana St. The restaurant is known for its specialty beers and burgers. Reports have suggested that while Tap House 24 will close, a restaurant will not disappear from the space. Comments on the restaurant’s Facebook post speculated the restaurant has been acquired by the management of Bridge’s Craft Pizza and Wine Bar. Manager of Bridges, Damion Wallace, said he was not at liberty to comment on this at this time.
“Tap House will always be remembered as the fun-loving place to go for a good beer and even better company,” the restaurant’s Facebook post on Oct. 4 noted. “We will be having a block party on Saturday, October 20th from 6-10 p.m. with live music from a few local bands along with drink and food specials all day.”
Charlie’s publicly announced the burger joint will be permanently closing its doors on Nov. 11, noting the increased competition in the restaurant scene since their opening in March 2013. Charlie’s employs individuals with disabilities and their Facebook post noted that Putnam County Comprehensive Services will work to ensure those individuals will be placed with other employers.
“You are losing the best burger in town,” Charlie’s Assistant Manager, Mark Benassi said. “Of course, they [DePauw students] have been a pretty good supporter of the restaurant. I know that I’m going to miss their smiling faces.”
The restaurant is visited by both students and Greencastle residents.
“They have some of the best burgers in town,” Greencastle resident John Savage said.
Charlie’s is one of six locations where students can use their Tiger Express dollars on their student ID. Benassi confirmed that the restaurant’s closure is primarily due to increased competition within the Greencastle restaurant scene.
“In a community of 9,000 and when you’re only getting an influx of students only 8 months out of the year there’s not just enough foot traffic sort of speak,” Benassi said.
Benassi said the restaurant noticed decrease in traffic when the KFC located across from the restaurant on Bloomington St. closed on Nov. 30, 2017.
“People forget what the south side of Greencastle is anymore. There’s really nothing on this side of town,” Benassi said.
The Banner Graphic reported on Monday, Oct. 9 that a new KFC, not in affiliation with the KFC franchise formerly located across from Charlie’s, is set to open at 46 Putnam Plaza in December. In the past year, three restaurants have opened in the Greencastle community, including Taco Wapo, Scoops Ice Cream, and Bridges Craft Pizza and Wine Bar.
