Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails

Quirky little whiskey bar.  Nice patio area to people-watch. Good date spot. It's been crowded every time i've been, so you may have to wait to get a table inside. Come here for their drinks, not their over-salted food. However, I personally prefer Manifesto if you're looking for a cool whiskey/scotch bar because it feels more polished.

Try the Bottoms Up: RC and Old Crow

Tip Top is my least favorite of the Liz Lessner restaurants.

That's a pretty bold statement, and it's packing a solid three-star review along with it. Why?

First off, this place is a bit pricy. I should have expected it to be pricy with a name like "Tip Top," but the prices didn't mesh up with the food quality, or the atmosphere.

I'd wanted to go to Tip Top for ages, but always wondered if it was a little fancier than, say, Dirty Frank's or Surly Girl. When I finally go, it feels like an upscale dive bar. It's this, and other paradoxes, that confused me every minute I was there.

Speaking of minutes, the best part of this experience was that we were in and out in less than an hour - based on the parking meter - and that's impressive. But, again, a paradox, because when I like a restaurant, I usually hang out, talk, enjoy the atmosphere, take my time eating my food and drinking my cider. It just doesn't make any sense.

On another note, I called the restaurant a few hours before the dinner rush, and spoke with a guy who seemed happy and perky, who told me that there were, indeed, many vegan options. I was psyched, but I expected this, because almost all of the Liz Lessner restaurants have vegan options, and most of the time they are clearly marked on the menu. I called because the menu - available on-line - isn't really as well-marked for vegans.

So we go in, see the "please wait to be seated" sign, but are slightly confused because it's not blocking the way or anything - sort of at an angle, so...do we really wait, or do we seat ourselves? There wasn't really a hostess stand that we could see, at least not near the "please wait" sign, so we just waited at the sign, and eventually someone came up and quickly seated us. Cool, so no wait. I'm liking this, especially seeing as most restaurants get busy around 6:00pm.

So, again, upscale dive bar atmosphere, in a nicer section of town, with a pinball table off in the distance, and some sort of random decor that looked like maybe it was themed but maybe not. There was a theater/movie themed booth, and...I'm not even going to guess about the others. Random. And I'm okay with the whole TGI-Fridays-esk stuff plastered all over the walls, but, again, not what I'd expect a restaurant named "Tip Top" to look like. Maybe my expectations were off?

In fact, the whole trip to Tip Top seemed like a misunderstanding:

* Pricy food that really wasn't worth what we were charged (For two people, I paid way more than double what I would normally pay for four people at Dirty Frank's!)

* Dark atmosphere (the name Tip Top has this feeling like it should be a brighter, whiter, upscale place, not dim and dark).

* Menu wasn't really marked very well for vegans, and server wasn't that helpful.

Oh, and speaking of the vegan situation - after calling, I expected at least one vegan entree - there were exactly zero. We both had to get sandwiches, which were fine, and vegan but, seriously? I called three hours before, and was told there were plenty of options. I'm not a sandwich-for-dinner kind of guy when I go out, as I can easily make sandwiches at home for a tenth of the cost.

Want to know what I got? I had a vegan-beef sandwich, which had tofu crumbles (my least favorite of all the meat analogues), some sort of sauce (which I sure as heck hope wasn't cheese based - I'm trusting you Tip Top!), tasty peppers, and a grilled/toasted/oily bun, with fries on the side. The fries were okay...but, again, not as good as I get with a Dirty Frank's platter. What's up, Tip Top?

Other side of the table had some sort of mushroom-based sandwich on black bread with sweet potato fries. Again...the whole thing was okay, but not worth what we paid. For the price, my brain expected a fancy impressive entree; but I was not impressed. Sandwiches for dinner. Bah!

I do like to throw in a positive or two in any review - because it's not like I hated this place, I'm just very confused and conflicted by it.

Positive 1: They had Original Sin cider, which is my favorite, and it came out in a glass, which is my preferred method of drinking cider. Yum!

Positive 2: Service was really speedy. Quickly seated, drink and food order taken fast, food arrived within the happy window, and the check was dropped off at the appropriate time. I didn't feel rushed, not at all, but - again - car-to-car in less than an hour. Not like me at all.

Positive 3: I did enjoy eating the "Slap Your Bottom Red Bean Hummus" platter as much as I enjoyed saying it to the waitress (who seemed a little nonplussed that evening). But frankly? I would have been just as happy eating just this platter and skipping the (*grumble*) sandwiches and saving $20.

The only thing I'd like to try the next time I go - assuming I ever make it back - is the Ohio Nachos, with the "housemade potato chips." They sound amazing, assuming they're made fresh.

In summary: I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Maybe I went on a bad night?