Double Tap (written on their sign as TapTap) is a newer bar, located in the Ped Mall in downtown Iowa City. It opened in the space where the old Union bar was. It was a part of a massive renovation project that took place over the course of a year and a half that saw a massive 11 story apartment high rise built on top of the old properties on the ped mall, while preserving the store fronts themselves as historic sites to protect them from total demolition. The conglomerate behind the project, the Tailwind Group, initiated the project hoping to turn what were two of the biggest college bars in the area into a series of bars and shops that would attract a more diverse clientele to the area. Double Tap, along with the Stuffed Olive and Roxxy, were brought in as second locations to already successful bars located in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to try and fulfill that vision.

As the aesthetic and name give away, Double Tap itself is an arcade dive bar, where you can walk up to the bar and order a drink and game tokens simultaneously. $10 worth of game tokens is a great deal that gives you enough tokens to sustain your entire visit and then some. They have many different cabinets to choose from, with the classics like Galaga, Dig Dug, and Pacman, classic fighting games, ski ball and arcade basketball, several pinball machines, and even a full digital table dedicated to a modern adaption of pong. There’s a little something for everyone looking for that nostalgia of an arcade, whatever that means to you, even if that’s sitting on your friend’s couch playing Guitar Hero. My biggest criticism of the arcade is that the cabinets themselves don’t seem to receive regular maintenance. Each time I’ve been, there are multiple cabinets that are turned off and unavailable, which can be a bit of a bummer if you’re looking to just explore a bit.

Double Tap’s whiskey selection surprised me. Most arcade bars I’ve been to are mostly cocktail focused, leaning into the retro themes to create wild, funky, and colorful drinks along with fancy craft beers. This arcade bar, however, balances their alcohol selection well. They have a good selection of on tap beers and cocktails, along with a decent whiskey selection. Let’s hit Start on this review.

WHISKEY SELECTION

Variety: Bourbon, Rye, Scotch, Irish, Canadian, Flavored

Range: Average. They have 15 bottles. There’s a lack of consistency to the bottle selection between visits, which indicates to me that they probably don’t regularly replace bottles. The first time I visited, they had Templeton as a Rye, but the second time there was no Rye bottle at all. They did add an Irish in between visits so that they have more than just Jameson behind the bar and now also have a blended scotch with the addition of Johnnie Walker Black. Their best selection is definitely Bourbon, with several solid bottles of that variety. They have several different flavors of Crown for those looking for some good flavored mixers, as well.

Price Point: Shots range from $6 to $8 depending on the pour. Some good bottles are available for cheaper than expected prices even within that limited price range, such as the Cedar Ridge Bourbon.

Wells: They use Mr. Boston as their well whiskey and charge $4.5 per shot. However, there are multiple deals throughout the week that bring down that price to $3 and even $2 depending on the day.

Best Bottle: Their best bottle is either the Cedar Ridge Bourbon or Basil Hayden. I’d include Templeton Rye in that range as well when they have it. Johnnie Walker Black is a good blended Scotch as well.

Grade: C

Overall Thoughts: Double Tap is a great little arcade dive bar nestled right downtown that doesn’t seem to get too crowded and is perfect for an escape if you want to miss the larger college crowds at nearby bars. Their whiskey selection isn’t exactly inspired, but it has some solid Bourbons and they covers their bases so that there’s something for everyone, from the friend group doing shots on a birthday bar hop or someone that wants to sip on a nice bourbon while shooting some pinball.

Postsctipt: On my first visit, I had given Double Tap a D+/C- and had originally adjusted to a clear C- after my latest visit. However, upon looking back over some of my other reviews, I determined that an adjustment was needed, so I bumped TapTap up to a full C and brought DC’s down to a C-.