Rustic Taps

Rustic Taps is all about providing a memorable catering experience that reflects your style and ambiance, with high-quality food and beverages served with rustic elegance. 

Don’t let the fact that their vintage bar trucks and pizza ovens are mobile fool you. This is a catering company that provides top-shelf service, creative beverage options, and pizzas with appetizers and desserts leaving you craving more! 

“The clients who hire us don’t want a plated meal served at the table,” said owner Jess Golden. “They want an interactive experience. Their guests come up to the truck and see the wood-fired pizza oven. People are in awe looking at the vintage trucks along with the handmade live-edge bar tops that rest on aged wine or bourbon barrels.” The nostalgia of the 30s, 40s, and 50s trucks has people talking about what they remember about that time or just how cool it is that we have repurposed the truck into what it is today!

Golden said everything they serve is fresh, and most produce is organic – much grown locally at Bumbleroot Farm in Windham or on their own Rustic Farm in Gorham. That includes the farm-fresh salads and crudite. Their pizzas can be simple cheese with their house-made sauce or clients can try more sophisticated combinations.  They offer many toppings such as their own house-smoked BBQ brisket, caramelized onions, fresh mozzarella cheese, imported prosciutto, pesto, and don’t forget about the spectacular pepperoni. “A lot of love goes into our pizza,” said Dave Golden, owner and Jess’s husband.

Just as much care goes into creating the spectacular charcuterie boards that wow guests.

“We’re supporting our local specialty stores and farms by sourcing specialty cheeses, unique crackers, fresh-baked baguettes, preserves, honey, and fruit, just to name a few.”

That same care goes into stocking the bar trucks and airstream bar.

“We provide both draft beer and wine in our initial package and a full bar with a variety of top-shelf spirits, some from local distilleries. We focus on local breweries first,” said Jess Golden, adding that they carry just about any beer distributed in Maine as well as ciders and seltzers on tap. “We also create signature cocktails, something more elegant. We don’t batch them, so they can be mocktails or cocktails.”

She said the most popular drink is their blueberry vodka lemonade, made with fresh Maine blueberries, organic lemonade, blueberry vodka, and organic garnishes from the garden.

“Everything is fresh, fresh, fresh,” she said.

While the focus is on the thin-crust artisan pizza (their super-fast pizza ovens can feed 125 people in 45 minutes), if the client wants their guests to taste a little of Maine, they offer an oyster bar with oysters harvested locally. Guests get to enjoy seeing the oysters, shucked and served on ice with a mignonette or cocktail sauce.

“We will make lobster rolls and lobster skewers, or other wood-fired cuisine,” Dave Golden said, adding that every ingredient has a story, and they want to keep it simple. “We just want to share our love of great food and drinks to add to the memorable occasion.”

Rustic Taps has experienced staff that put on great weddings, they are also popular for rehearsal dinners, parties, and corporate events. Since their catering vehicles are mobile, they can work at any number of venues, both outdoors and indoors, throughout southern Maine.

“We always do a site walk at any new facility, private or public,” said Dave Golden.

For an ideal environment for an event, he said they’ll request a level space of either 20 by 20 or 20 by 30, and a source of electricity for refrigeration, though they can bring a quiet Honda generator if needed. Catering outdoors in Maine can be challenging, so they are always prepared for the worst weather and hope for the best. We never let inclement weather get in the way of the fun.

Our clients and venues refer us as they know we take safety as a top priority. “We pride ourselves in knowing the state laws for serving alcohol and go above and beyond to ensure that our staff provide a friendly but safe bartending experience. We pull permits from both the town and state and carry all the necessary insurance,” he said, as well as employing bartenders who have completed their tips certification and displaying their liquor reseller’s license.

It’s all part of the level of service Rustic Taps offers its clients for their special day.

There are so many great providers of food and beverage here in Maine, but when you want to make a memorable impression by serving great food and beverages, Rustic Taps wants to help create that relaxed atmosphere that caters to the social fun and excitement at your next celebration.