This Coast spot has cool tapas, game room and a brewery inside. What’s on the menu?

Is it a brewery, a taphouse, a cool bar or a restaurant?

The answer is all of the above.

The Cypress Taphouse in Ocean Springs is as interesting as a place as I have visited in a long time. It proves to be a very cool local hangout.

Hidden behind a barn-like door inside, Ft. Bayou Brewing Company creates delicious beers. The microbrewery is located in the back of the restaurant.

The restaurant has a very cool cypress wood bar that has to be about 30 feet long and a large dining area. The bar always has 30 beers on tap, several of them made by Ft. Bayou Brewing, and a well-stocked liquor selection. If you enter from the east side of the building, you have to walk across a bridge that spans a lovely pond with several fountains. There’s also a patio and horseshoe-shaped bar. As if that Is not enough, the first room you walk through to get to the restaurant is a game room with pool, shuffleboard and ping pong.

It seems to me that almost no matter what you are in the mood for, the Cypress Taphouse is going to have something that will make your day a better one.

One glance at the menu and I knew this was a place I was going to like, and like a lot. The menu is broken down into “bite” categories.

The Small Bites section has teen offerings and includes fried pickles, fried green beans, mozzarella sticks, crab Rangoon, mushrooms, wings or a fried platter.

The next category is Out of the Oven Bites, which includes pizzas and barbecue. There’s also a section for quesadillas, dips, and Cajun offerings like fried green tomatoes and shrimp and grits.

The menu doesn’t end there — there’s also a section of healthy plates and entrees

This menu approaches a true tapas menu, with scores of small bites, small enough that you can try several, getting a good idea what the kitchen is all about, and not getting too full.

I checked out the fried egg rolls, along with a Weisenheimer beer and a shrimp platter with a flight of Old Fashioned drinks, an odd combination, but much better than you might imagine. The menu is wide ranging and has something for everyone.

All in all, this is a very cool place, patching together an odd combination of ideas in a very pleasing way. Look for exceptional food, friendly service and a very pleasant vibe.

If you go

Address: 6616 Rose Farm Road, Ocean Springs

Phone: 228-641-4616

Hours: Wednesday & Thursday, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.