After months of teasing, The Packard Taphouse has opened their doors at 3401 Fairfield Ave., across from Wunderkammer Company in the space previously occupied by Billy’s Dugout and Bob Inn.

The new-look space at the corner of Fairfield and Kinsmoor avenues is brainchild of Melissa Kurten and Holly Munoz.

“Melissa and I have been local neighborhood leaders for years and years and years while living adjacent to this bar,” Munoz said during the bar’s opening day Oct. 30. “When it became for sale, it was an immediate reaction as both of us realized it could potentially become something. We wanted it to remain a community location for neighbors to gather.”

With their backgrounds as program directors and coordinating major projects, Munoz said the two took about a year to form a business plan, get financing, and secure the business. After that, it was about a year of renovations.

“We’ve been working on this almost two years to the day,” Munoz said.

Their work in sprucing up the area does not stop with the taphouse since they’ve also played a major role in the Packard Park redevelopment, which is set to break ground this month.

“We’re highly invested in the neighborhood and community,” Munoz said. “We just really didn’t want this to be anything but what it is. We wanted to showcase what neighborhoods could do together. A lot of what we’ve done with this space is local residents putting their hands in and getting dirty with us. It’s really community built.”

And that unity extends to their offerings. The tavern features 20 rotating taps, which are predominately Fort Wayne brewers like 2Toms, Mad Anthony, and Fortlandia. They will also have snacks, and welcome you to bring in food from their neighbors.

“We’re a beer bar, and we want to feature a lot of local and support local,” Munoz said. “Bravas is doing food, Zeb’s is doing food, Chance Bar. There’s no reason for us to have the competitive market with our neighbors. So, why not just build a stronger relationship to serve one another and build it together? We really want to be a cohesive corridor.”

The Packard Taphouse is open 2-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 2 p.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday, and 2-10 p.m. on Sunday.

1,000th Culver’s opening near New Haven

Culver’s is scheduled to open its newest local restaurant Dec. 9 at 6244 State Road 930 just outside New Haven, marking the chain’s 1,000th franchise. 

With the milestone, the first 1,000 customers to place an order at the location will receive a coupon for one free double butter burger for 12 months. 

2 Amigos Taquería trucks closing for season

It’s the last few days of the season for 2 Amigos Taquería food trucks in Auburn and Waterloo as they close for the season Saturday, Nov. 9. 

As they work to open a restaurant, owners say the food trucks will return in the spring.

Vegan Restaurant Week becomes a month

Thanks to enthusiasm for Fort Wayne Vegan Restaurant Week, it has now become Fort Wayne Vegan Restaurant Month and will run through Nov. 30. 

More than two dozen local restaurants are offering special vegan menus and discounts for the event. 

To find participating restaurants, recipes, and other resources, go to fortwayneveg.com.

New leader at Cahoots in Angola

Cahoots Coffee Cafe, 218 W. Maumee St. in Angola, has new leadership with Lyle Baker taking over as executive director.

The mission of the coffee shop is to provide an alternative for young people. When it was started more than a decade ago by Angola United Methodist Church, the idea was to provide coffee, games, music, free wifi, snacks, and drinks and keep idle hands occupied. 

Baker had served as an interim director while the former director was on a mission trip. Baker wants to add new adult programs like art, fitness, financial literacy, and cooking classes. They’ve already begun Friday night open mic nights and will soon host the Kra-Tib Thai food truck on Friday and Saturday.  

Pence’s Carmel Corn pops up in Auburn

Pence’s Carmel Corn Shoppe is hosting a holiday pop-up shop through Christmas from their food truck at 104. E. Seventh St. in Auburn, just across the street from the DeKalb County Courthouse. 

They’ll be open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday.  

Besides their caramel corn, they offer peanut caramel corn, sugar-free, kettle corn, and cheese corn. They also have fudge, flavored popcorn, and other treats.

Off the Eaten Path is the Whatzup weekly column that covers Northeast Indiana’s restaurant and food news. Send your news items to info@whatzup.com.