I've been Tip Topping for many years every Saturday before going to the tailgating lots. Â It's strange smell, awesome chili, dirty bathrooms, and cheap beer make it very popular with locals and alums that prefer to avoid the rampant musk of axe body spray that plagues most bars in Ames.
Dive bars are not for everyone. Â The devout following for Tip Top derives from the people that it offends. Â Here are a few pointers to remember if you plan on attending the Tip Top.
1. Â Don't even think about drinking and driving. Â The bar is at the intersection of the two main drags in Ames, and is heavily patrolled (especially on game days).
2. Â Everyone will talk to you. Â The locals that hang out at Tip-Top enjoy seeing new faces, it takes a certain type of person to venture out from the Welch scene and will be welcomed.
3. Â Do not smell your shot. Â If you or someone else orders you a shot and you try to smell it to see what is in it, the bartenders have been known to replace it with a shot of warm, well-gin.
4. Â Eat the chili.
5. Â Cash Only
Great place to people watch and see some real characters--and I mean that in a good way. I swear I saw Abe Lincoln making out with this crazy woman as they swayed to Lady Gaga. Female bartenders are kinda scary but I am sure they have to be a tad gruff with that crowd. The place looks so gross from the outside but has some vibe that just makes you drawn to it. Strange.
Review Source:This was the first bar my dad ever took me to when I was four or five. Â I remember the pickled eggs and pig's feet on the counter and beat up bar stools. Â I eventually made it back on my own 20 years later, and the place still rules. Â I'm sure that if I lived in Ames, I'd be something of a fixture. Â Thanks Dad!
Review Source:The Tip Top Lounge is football gamedays in Ames, Iowa. Â This place hasn't changed since my father was a student at Iowa State, neither have their traditions. Â Chili and beer at 6 A.M. on a football Saturday is a prerequisite to calling yourself an Iowa State Cyclone. Â
This is not a place that doesn't have to boast about anything. Â It's dirty, it's in a poor location, it's old. Â But it is an establishment that has endured in Ames for years, which is remarkable.
It is interwoven permanently with the tradition, character and fun of being an Iowa State Cyclone. Â Now that People's is in the history books, this is the place to stop in, get a bowl of chili and suds, take some photos and buy a T-Shirt if you are in Ames in the fall. Â It is a landmark.
Great dive bar! If you like Chili come to the Tip Top on Cyclone football game day. I haven't had the Chili but I heard it's da bomb! We went here on our WT Pub Crawl a couple Christmas' ago and we surprisingly had a good time. Some people think this is a white trash bar but it's a pretty good bar. It's not new and fancy but you will get good, cheap beer. It's a good place to go have a drink and then move on. On Cyclone football game days you will find a wide variety of people at the Tip Top for their Chili.
I've only been here once but I will probably go back again sometime when I'm back for a visit. If you are thinking of taking a dive bar pub crawl definitely put this place on your list.
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