The Top Steakhouse

We found The Top for restaurant week and decided to give it a try. We arrived early and did not know the restaurant did not open until 5:00 pm. We stood at the entrance for several minutes before anyone even acknowledged we were there. We ordered the onion ring appetizer, 2 prime rib and 1 lobster tails meal from the restaurant week menu. The onion rings were very good and stayed crispy the entire time. When the prime rib came out on both meals, it was more than ½ fat. It tasted good, but it was not worth it, plus they ran out of fresh horseradish, just the creamy kind. The server did ask how everything was and we really should have returned the prime rib. When we placed the order, the server gave us the choice of cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake and crème Brule, but other tables we also given addition choices of tiramisu and lemon Italian cake. When we asked the waiter, he argued and said he did mention them. We have been taking my Father out every Friday and he said this was the worst meal he has had. I have never been to The Top and was very disappointed. I don’t think I would ever go back. I emailed them on January 25^th and have yet to hear back from them.

This was my first visit and I loved it! We had intimate dining for two with a couples menu selection (French Onion Soup, Prime Rib w/​asparagus and scalloped potatoes and Crème Brûlée).
The food was impeccable. We had just enough for the two of us and were satisfied by the flavors, variety and portion size. French Onio Soup — melty cheese with slightly crisp bread under it and the broth had a savory full body flavor. Prime Rib — the cut was bigger than my hand, cooked to my specification and tender as can be. I could cut the asparagus easily and the scalloped potatoes were cheesy with crusty edges. Crème Brûlée — the caramelized top had the perfect brittle crunch and the custard was not too thick or heavy. I was thoroughly pleased with my meal!
I adored the atmosphere with its nostalgic décor. It wasn’t just period design, it was preserved with the elegance of yesteryear. Think of Frank Sinatra and where he would have dined with the ladies or even sang at the piano. For those of you with military background I can best equate it to The Officer’s Club. It is worth dressing the part and coming for the full experience!

Tried this place for restaurant week! Yum is all I can say! We did have to wait 45 mins even with reservations… that was the only downside. We were on top of people waiting but the piano was a great distraction! The food was worth it! The lobster bisque was just ok. However the prime rib, potato, and cheesecake were amazing!!! The meat was cooked perfect to order, tender, great seasoning! The server brought around butter and sour cream in large serving dishes and scooped up generous portions of each and put it on our potato – pretty sure this is why it tasted so good haha! The lighting was very dim to dark which created a lovely date night ambiance (might need to use a flashlight to see the bill!) I definitely want to go back on a less crowded night for a bit of more relaxed dining. The food was just so outstanding this didn’t really matter!!! This place is way better than other expensive steakhouses!

We dined here for Christmas Eve, 12/​24/​2015. Attentive service is an understatement. It was truly a pampered dining experience and the owners and team are to be commended on their great service and execution of each course. Everyone we interacted with represent the Top as if it were their families’ restaurant. The thick cut bacon with granny smith slaw was an awesome starter. We had the rack of lamb and filet for dinner, both very nicely done. Received the yummiest complimentary dessert for our anniversary /​birthday, nice touch — hats off to the chef, it was great! We will be back to check out the entertainment, maybe a night of appetizers and dirty martinis. Thank you for a great evening.

«Poetry…Plated! My mew secret stache.»
The Top (c)
By Stuart Long
1÷23÷16
Enter, blink and wait to see
The hall reflecting, steps to be
Your journey from the outside passing
A secret room, on right, where fasting
Is never welcome, the feast is here!
Plethoras of plenteous wines and beers
Reflect the dimly lighted sparkling
Ambience for love or partners
Charbroiled Pittsburgh ribeyes crispy
Crunching outsides salted woo me
And wafting waves of flavors soak me
As each scent passes on waiter’s loadings
Give the girl the steak and let me
Sample bisque, shrimp iced, i’m betting
The sautéed crispy scallops bedded
On risotto, sauced with sausage vetted
Beg my compliments tomorrow later
For now i’m drunk in delicious temptation.

The worst steak I have ever eaten or been served. The service was marginal the ambience was worse than grand central station at rush hour. It was difficult to read the menu due to the lack of light in the room. The food was over salted and poorly prepared. The onion rings were room temperature (cold). My overall experience was negative. If you have forty dollars to spend on a steak go somewhere else. The retro atmosphere may have been cool in 1955 but now just seems dingy and dated.

Our favorite steakhouse ever. Been there many times — never disappointed. Love the retro atmosphere, great manhattans, and terrific wait staff. Might also mention the steaks are fantastic! Tender — no nasty gristle surprises.

Went last night. Service was terrible. Had to ask 2 different people for our waiter. I asked one waitress if she had seen our waiter and she said «well he is really busy right now…» Apparently asking to order dinner isn’t acceptable there. Didn’t order for over and hour after arriving. Steak was over done. Nobody was overly impressed with their dinner. This was my first visit. Why does everyone make such a big deal about this place?

I have been to every single steakhouse in central Ohio and I just went back to the top for my wife’s BD dinner. It remains the best steakhouse in Columbus. It’s margin of difference between others (Eddie Merlots, Ruth Chris, Mitchell’s, Ocean Club, Smith and Wollensky, etc.) may have slid a bit, but it still is the best. The «rat pack» atmosphere, dark wood, piano player is a thing of beauty and a reverence to a time long gone to the glitz and glimmer or the modern day steakhouse.
All that said, the Top is still the best steak in town and the food, service, and atmosphere can’t be beat. A rare 5 of 5 star rating.

Been meaning to come here forever for a date night and finally did on Friday. I thought it was really awesome. I love the throwback ambiance. They even have «classic» steak entrees and cocktails. On a Friday night at 6:45 the place was packed and I could tell that it was full of regulars as everyone seemed to know everyone. I think to come here you have to know in advance that you are going to experience a trip back in time to the 50s/​60s. The place seems like Don Draper would have brought clients here for dinner if he worked in Cbus :) For this reason I could see how some people would wonder why they are dropping over $ 200 on dinner here since it looks like it hasn’t been redecorated in 50 years, but you pay for this experience and the food is pretty good too. The service was very professional, although I felt like our server was just going through the motions. Very nice and attentive, but no extra oomph. On to the food: We ordered the Oysters Rockefeller. Tasty. I had the KC strip which is bone-​in. I’ve never ordered this cut before, so could have been that I don’t prefer this cut. I found it pretty fatty and tough and hard to work around the bone since they take their dim lighting pretty seriously at The Top and I could barely see my food… haha. When you order a baked potato the server comes around with butter and sour cream on a silver serving dish and a big old spoon and puts about a ½ cup of each on your potato unless you object first :) Overall, I had a great time. I would definitely come back, but before you go, you must know that you’ll be paying close or equal to what you would pay at Refectory or G. Michael’s or other 5 star restaurants around Cbus that, to me, have top notch service and flawless food. I would opt to go to these places over The Top for a date night, but I think it would be super fun to come back with a big group of people.
Tip: the host stand is not obviously visible. When you walk through the lobby, turn right when you see the bar. The host stand is the touchscreen in the wall that someone may or may not be standing next to.

We just went there tonight for my Dad’s birthday. He was so excited. He hadn’t been here in years. It was very disappointing.
Our waitress was very nice, & gave us good service. We ordered 4 steaks, 3 Medium Plus, & 1 Medium Rare. When our steaks arrived all 4 were cooked Well Done. How do you mess up all 4 steaks when you’re a steak place?! Also, on their menu, they say that they’re not ‘responsible for well done steaks’, which I would take to mean that anyone dumb enough to want well done steaks, they’re not promising good results.
We regrettably sent 3 steaks back to be redone. Our server immediately noticed as we did that all the steaks were super overcooked. She was great, she immediately took them back. We apologized, said we weren’t trying to be difficult, & tried to focus on eating our other sides & food in the meantime.
They brought 3 new steaks, which was great — except that all 3 steaks were Still Not Cooked Correctly. However, we were exhausted & did not send these back. Mine was supposed to be Medium Plus, but it was Well Done again, No Pink, but it was less hard than the first steak they have me & more juicy. My steak did taste okay, but it was never correctly prepared to my liking.
The manager /​no other person except our server ever came over to apologize for ⁴⁄₄ steaks being cooked improperly. And no one offered any kind of price break for these huge mistakes. Our bill was $ 220. Unbelievable. There is no excuse for this. Horrible experience. If it had not been my Dad’s birthday & his birthday choice restaurant, I would have demanded to see the manager & be comped something.

I don’t care much for steakhouses. They normally just don’t impress me much. You applied some heat to meat and plopped it on a plate? $ 45 for that? Tastes like what I just grilled in my backyard last week for $ 10. Thanks.
So why 5 stars for heat on meat? Well, The Top truly served up probably the best steak I’ve had in C-​bus. It was seasoned, and cooked, just perfectly. Days later, my mouth is watering as I write this review.
While I wipe away the drool, a few more words about The Top:
–Décor — Yes, the décor is «old school» black leather booths, lots of wood and VERY DARK. I love the Dean Martin feel, but they really ought to shine it up a bit — I mean, it looks like a place that’s been open since the 50s (it has been), not a place recently remodeled to look like a 50s steakhouse. From old, run down restrooms to wires from long ago upgrades remaining un-​hidden along the ceiling. .c’mon folks — polish it up a bit!
–Service — fantastic. Top notch.
–Cheesecake — holy hell that was good.
–Side dishes — just garden variety (baked potato, broccoli, side salad etc. — you won’t find some of the more creative side dishes like Hyde Park has).
Bottom line on the The Top — five stars for that damn steak and the service and the bizarrely interesting atmosphere. Great dining experience.

I grew up in the neighborhood and have eaten at The Top over the last 35 years. I arrived tonight at 4:45 meeting my 91 yr old father and 89 yr old mother for A birthday drink and appetizers to celebrate my dad. It is a Tuesday the restaurant is ¾ empty and we were told we could not sit at a table in the bar and must sit at the bar. It would of been impossible to sit my elderly parents on the bar stools. They were rude and said we had to leave. Six waiters were standing around doing nothing along with the managers. I am so disappointed in their policy and their rudeness. Bye bye The Top… there are too many other places to spend our money. Disappointed Eastsider…

Been coming to The Top for many years.
I’ve had many, many great meals, many good meals, some not so good meals. Tonight was not so good when I chose the prime rib. It was overcooked from my requested rare and the cut was very tough. I should have sent it back, but it was busy and we had too move on to the next event that night.
We’ll try again for sure, but I’ll remember this night.
Service was attentive, but he was a rookie server.

If Dean Martin’s memory could be built into a steakhouse, this is it. Literally old world charm. (Well, old mid-​20^th century American charm.) This place has been open since the Fifties. Black leatherette seating, piano bar with brandy snifter for tips, long bar serving cocktails and beers, and a dark dining room so your eyes must adjust to the ambiance.
Food. Great steaks, chops, lobsters, wedge salad, etc… If Frank and Sammy ate it while talking about dames, it’s here. When eating a baked potato, they bring around a caddy of butter, sour cream, and cheese. I just hope I don’t spill any on my trousers — it will mess up the seats in my DeSoto.
Seriously, great steak and martini place. Reservations recommended. For those that gripe about slow service, sometimes that happens when a popular, one of a kind restaurant is packed to the rafters with diners looking for the best meal they’ve ever had in a yesteryear setting that can’t be beat.
I love steaks, and Columbus has a boatload of fine steakeries. This is my favorite. If I knew that wasn’t Sputnik on the radar and we really did only have a few hours of civilization left, I’d take the family to the Top and go out in style. Think about that. This is a last meal on Earth kind of place. That sums it up.
(Side note, my mom ate here in the early Sixties when you could smoke inside. She said it was her favorite restaurant even then. No indoor smoking now, though Sterling Cooper, so take it outside.)

I LOVE this place. I can’t believe its overall low Unilocal rating. It might be a disconnect between the kind of restaurant The Top is, and Unilocal dining culture? It is definitely not a gastropub, a hip eatery, or a local-​sourced-​organic-​farm-​to-​table sort of joint. It’s not new, it’s not modern, but it is fantastic.
The Top is an old-​school steakhouse. Their décor, while impeccably maintained, is super 1960s supper-​club aesthetic, which I was wild about. You walk in and expect to see Frank and Dean chilling in a corner with vodka gimlets or Manhattans. The menu is full of classic restaurant fare like oysters Rockefeller, shrimp cocktail, surf-​and-​turf and all manner of steaks. They have a cocktails menu full of bar classics. No «modern twists» on these classic dishes and drinks — they are classic, full stop. Almost vintage. I love it.
The food is delicious. We had two appetizers, one of which was this amazing bacon thing that I can’t put into words. And caviar deviled eggs, wow. I was with three friends and I think we all got steak — because that’s what you do here. I got a petite filet and it was delectable. The sides were also delicious.
One word of warning: check the prices on the daily specials. One of my companions got a special and it ended up being a $ 60 dollar steak! Most of the menu entrees are in the $ 25 – 35 range, so that was a surprise!

IMO, Unilocal really gets it wrong for The Top.
99% of the time, my opinion is within a half star of the overall rating, but 3.5 stars for this Eastmooor gem? Nope. Sorry, I’m not buying it.
Speaking of buying, let’s go ahead and talk about the pink elephant in the room: The Top is expensive as effff. The Mister and I ate (and drank) extremely well, and our bill reflected that – $ 160 before tip. We certainly could have shaved off $ 40-​$ 50 off that if we hadn’t both had two manhattans each and if Keith hadn’t ordered the $ 60 special steak. But since it was our first time, we wanted the full experience.
And that experience – man, it was perfect.
The Top isn’t stuck in the ‘50s; it embodies the ‘50s. I’ve never been anywhere like this before, so I was mesmerized from the second I walked in. The interior is beautiful with its dim lighting, warm wood, and rich, tufted leather. It’s a mid-​century mod wonderland.
Our server, Emily, was spectacular. She was everything I want in a server: laid-​back, yet professional; confident, but not cocky; knowledgeable, but very kind to newbies. She was like the captain of our ship, and she navigated us smoothly through our first (but certainly not last) experience at The Top. She was even so kind to entertain my silliness when I asked if the «whore door» was a really a thing or just an urban myth. It’s totally real, btw. [Side story: Back in the day, politicians and wealthy men would bring their mistresses to dinner here. If their wives showed up, the mistresses would sneak out through the secret door.]
Now let’s talk about the food and drinks. The Top rocks an old-​school steak house menu with all its glitzy glory. They have loads of delicious-​sounding specials, but for my first trip, I had to get a steak. In fact, my party of four all ordered steaks, and they were all perfect. We also tried: deviled eggs with caviar, double-​cut bacon with tart apple slaw, and perfectly-​crafted manhattans. Everything was a ‘gasm – foodgasms, drinkgasms, and sensorygasms.
I think the trick with The Top is having your head in the right place. If you’re not up for an expensive, throwback night of glam – then simply don’t come here. But if you’re down for an adventure through the ‘50s, this is the place for you.
I won’t be able to come here often, but when the stars (and my pocketbook) align, I’ll most certainly return.

Love love love the Porterhouse. It doesn’t need salt or pepper. Delicious from the first bite to the last.

It’s been a long while since I have eaten here and let me say what the hell took me sooooo long to get my butt back here. We took my Mom here for her first visit and can I get a hell yeah we all loved it. Sure I read the reviews and I was surprised my the negative ones but I’m going by what my experience was. We started out with adult beverages and appetizers. Mom and me got Cosmos and hubby ordered a Vespa. Otis our server commented we ordered the classics. I ordered a shrimp cocktail, hubby got the French onion soup and Mom got the famous onion rings. Mmmmmm oh yeah peeps the cocktail sauce had the awesome amount of horseradish yessss made my nose tingle and the shrimp were fresh! Moms onion rings were nice not greasy but breaded well and fresh and crisp. Hubby’s soup was on point and delicious. Next up entrees and I ordered the filet medium with baked potato and broccoli yummm are you kidding perfectly cooked no complaints. My moms ribeye was also perfect along with her fresh green beans and potato. Hubby got the porterhouse with baked potato and broccoli. His wasn’t cooked to the medium rare he ordered said it was more medium to medium well but he still loved it said one if the best cuts ever. Ok no our server Otis did not tell us about the sixtieth anniversary special but I’m guessing it’s because we were three? All in all we loved it gastronomically speaking and yup we will be back!

Probably the best meal I’ve had in Columbus. I love this place. When I go to a steakhouse, I want an old school place, and The Top delivers. It’s dark – practically windowless in the main dining area. Dark wood paneling. Little lamps on the table. Tony Bennett in the background. Everything in the place, with the exception of the TVs at the bar, looks like it’s straight out of the 50s and 60s, but yet still in very good condition. You could film Mad Men here if you lost those TVs.
On to the food. The bread, for starters, was great. You usually don’t think much about the bread, but this bread is kind of unique because it has a very salty crust, which pairs nicely with the slightly sweet butter. My salad was also great – best Caesar dressing around. Obviously homemade and not out of a bottle. The shrimp cocktail was fantastic. Five gigantic shrimp with fairly potent cocktail sauce. The NY strip was perfectly cooked, flavorful, and delicious. The au gratin potatoes were among the best I’ve ever had. The baked potato was good, and the server brought out a butter and sour cream server and slathered our potatoes with heaping portions. I love a good buttery potato, so it was perfect. I washed it all down with a couple of stiff Manhattans.
Our meal was on the pricey side, but that’s what you expect from an upper echelon steakhouse. Definitely a place we’d save for special occasions, but in the future, I will look forward to those occasions.