Tip Top Kitchen- Downtown

Since starting this whole blog thing I frequently get people asking for restaurant recommendations and one of the places I always tell them to add to their list is Tip Top Kitchen in downtown Columbus. Tip Top has become one of my favorite places because of the downtown location, chill atmosphere and great tasting food. Tip Top is one of the few places in the actual downtown area that is casual. I mean how can you not like a place that gives you discount PBR just for riding your bike??? The menu is a unique take on your normal comfort foods. I started this meal off with the Hell Salad made up of mixed greens,  spicy giardinara, shredded mozzarella and housemade buttermilk ranch dressing. I couldn’t pass on this as I have never heard of a salad with giardinara on it. It is usually just served on italian beef sandwiches and is very similar to the hot peppers Potbelly’s uses on their sandwiches. The salad was really good. The giardinara added a nice spiciness and the ranch cooled it down a bit. As you can tell from the picture though there was quite a bit of ranch, so I could have done with a little less. A decent sized portion for just $5 I would definitely recommend trying it. Usually I just throw the piece of bread to the side, but for some reason I decided to try this one and am I glad I did. I think it was just a simple piece of toasted whole wheat bread, but for some reason it tasted really good, so try it don’t toss it. For the main dish I went with one of my favorite dishes around, the Pot Roast Sandwich with sweet potato fries.

The pot roast sandwich is served on a pretzel bun with swiss cheese and yellow mustard and the fries are served with a housemade southwestern sauce. I am a huge fan of this sandwich because it is loaded with lots of slow cooked beef and those flavors combined with the pretzel bun and fresh cheese go great together. The sweet potato fries are also really good and not too overcooked or thick. A lot of the time when I get sweet potato fries they are more like potato wedges and there is just too much sweet potato for me in one bite. The southwestern sauce helps offset some of the fries’ sweetness too with its’ spicy flavor. All of that food for just $15 is a pretty good deal. I definitely left stuffed. I will for sure be back for another visit I just have to convince myself next time to try something new on the menu, but that is tough with the pot roast sandwich being that damn good.

So I will tell you as I tell the people who ask me for restaurant recommendations, get out and try Tip Top Kitchen. You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers!!!

www.tiptopcolumbus.com