Race fans and sports enthusiasts, start your engines! NASCAR legend and two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip has opened a new sports bar in Race City USA, and it’s a one-of-a-kind fan experience.
Michael Waltrip (MW) Taproom opened this past week at 128 Argus Lane in The Village at Byers Creek in Mooresville. Tomorrow, Sat. Sept. 14, Waltrip, himself, will be on-site from 6-9 p.m. for a meet-and-greet at the new taproom and restaurant.
Whether you love NASCAR, sports, live music and outdoor dining, cold craft beer and scrumptious bites or you simply love being around fun company, MW Taproom will be your new favorite spot.
The menu boasts 100 percent Wagyu beef burgers produced with sustainable ranching from W8 Ranch, a family-owned homestead in Ennis N.C. “That’s the one thing that sets our food apart: it’s not necessarily about what we offer but the quality of what we offer,” said Michael Waltrip Taproom President Jena Henderson.
Whatever you do, order the pretzels. Soft and warm on the inside and crispy, buttery and salty on the outside, Henderson said, “It’s like a pretzel and a donut had a baby!” The pretzels are served with pimento cheese, honey mustard and warm beer cheese for dunkin’, and it all pairs beautifully with a cold MW Octoberfest beer.
Another strong pairing with Octoberfest: Right now MW Taproom has a Brisket Blitz special, featuring a brisket sandwich, flatbread, nachos and tacos.
In addition to the burgers, pretzels and specials, the 5,000-square-foot Taproom has TVs everywhere showing “all the games from all the sports all the time” — including NFL Sunday Ticket — and serves wings, sandwiches, flatbreads and salads with 20 beers on tap, including 10 MW craft brews.
For those who perhaps can’t make up their minds about which craft beer to order, or maybe you’re curious to try a MW Keylime Pie Sour, Bristol Sunshine Tangerine Ale, Talledega Light, Wheelman Brown Ale and MW Huckleberry Selzer, you can sample all with a beer flight or two!
The new MW Taproom location west of Mooresville is the third of Waltrip’s brewing-and-restaurant ventures, joining another Taproom location in Concord and Michael Waltrip Brewing Co. in Bristol, Va.
The brewery component of the business started when Waltrip and two of his partners were golfing about four years ago, Henderson said: “They were playing golf and weren’t crazy about the beer offerings they could get, so they thought, ‘Let’s do this ourselves!’”
They opened the Bristol brewery, which is where they brew a lot of their specialty beers. Then, they joined with Ken McAllister, combining the brewery concept with McAllister and Henderson’s experience in franchising restaurants.
The result was the 2023 opening of the Concord MW Taproom, located less than two miles from the Charlotte Motor Speedway. “It is super fun and nuts during race weekends,” Henderson said. “Michael Waltrip carries so much weight in that area. He hangs out there all the time, especially on race weekends, and he loves the consumer so much. People come in hoping to catch a glimpse of him.”
Race City USA seemed the obvious next spot for a Michael Waltrip Taproom location. “I can’t tell you the number of people who came to our front door (before opening), and they walked in and were so excited to have this as part of the community,” Henderson said.
“We don’t want to be just another restaurant. We want to be a vital part of the community and give back,” she added. “We want to be a part of what makes this community tick and the place people come for private events and to celebrate their 40th birthday parties and see their favorite band before Friday night football games.”
The MW Taproom team will always put a special emphasis on quality and customer service, Henderson said, adding: “Beer and smiles — that’s why Michael Waltrip does this.”
