The Top

The Top: 5 thumbs up!

Menu Highlights: Buffalo Tempeh, Pecan Encrusted Tofu, The Top Salad with Blackened Tuna, sweet potato fries, the burgers (veggie and real).

Price Range: Dinner for 2 with drinks will cost you about 40 bucks with tip.

Every town needs that one cool restaurant/bar that helps define it's culture (or counterculture). For us Gainesvillians, The Top is just that. Let's face it, The Top is an old standby, always there for you when you need it. For those of us who have been going there ever since it was just the one smoky room with a one page menu, we can't help but be pleased to see its constant evolution and improvement. Currently, they boast a selection of around 50 beers (craft and common), the menu is a whopping 6 pages with extensive daily specials, and the desserts are pretty outstanding.

Their appetizers are all perfect accompaniments for heavy drinking situations, deep fried tempeh with a vegan buffalo sauce, deep fried breaded creamed corn nuggets, thick cut potato chips covered in a gorgonzola cream sauce, sweet potato fries with creamy garlic dressing. Need I go on? All amazing, all heart attack-inducing. For dinner, try out their burgers (beef and veggie) which can be prepared in a half dozen different ways. The Top knows how to serve tofu and their pecan encrusted tofu is probably the best vegetarian item on the menu. The pecan breading is so flavorful that you don't even really notice or care that what you're eating is tofu. If you don't want to clog an artery, try one of their amazing salads, all served with wonderful ingredients and with the option of adding chicken, blackened tuna, or blackened tofu.

The Top is also famous for their Sunday brunch which features a hearty menu of breakfast favorites. I'm not a big fan of the brunch, however, as the service is always slower on Sundays and the place is just as dark and moody at 11:00 AM as it is at night. I guess it's a welcoming environment for the hungover, and that may be just the point.

To me, it's the restaurant/bar in town that has it all. It can deliver the goods to the meat eaters in your dinner party while making the vegetarians/vegans ecstatic. Now, I know you ain't losing any pounds by eating there on a regular basis, and you may or may not have been able to purchase illicit substances in their bathrooms for a while (Libel disclaimer: i have no proof of this, only rumors), but it's a fun place. Ideal for a date or a big party. You just feel cool when you're in The Top, and you're bound to run into a few friends.

Don't miss out on this legendary Gainesville institution!