The Original Tops

Very impressed, fast service, food was hot and fresh. «Small» sides could easily feed two people. Bean burrito was good and the garden burger was to die for! Defiantly a new favorite place to get a quick bite to eat in Pasadena!

Would be less if I could. We used to go here for the road fries. Went there tonight and the girl taking the drive thru orders first didn’t know what road fries were, second once she asked someone what they were she said we don’t have those on the menu. We asked if they still make them and she no even bitchier that it’s not on the menu. I definitely won’t be going to this place anymore if the employees have such a shitty attitude.

It was an early Saturday morning when we found ourselves traveling east on the 210 towards Pasadena for a 5 year old’s Birthday party. As always we were running late and did not have time for a proper sit down/​table service kind of breakfast. As luck would have it Tops presented itself at the bottom of the freeway off-​ramp like a beacon in the night. We found parking on the street right away, and hurriedly scampered inside for our quick breakfast stop. The place was nice and had a huge drive-​thru line (always a good sign) we ordered a couple breakfast burritos and drinks and found a booth in the quaint looking dining room. For a fast food kind of place, Tops was nice and clean with a real mix of people enjoying their breakfast meals. Our order came quick, Chili and egg burrito for me and a custom Ham and egg burrito for my wife (she likes her eggs over easy) Burrito’s were big, A real plus with me to start, and at first bite I was in love! The tortilla that our burritos were wrapped in was soft and chewy with just enough elasticity to keep our breakfast burrito’s shape long enough for me to plow through mine without saying more than two words to my family. Chili was good lots of egg and potatoes in it, my wife was happy with hers as well, with everything cooked exactly the way she ordered it. I was lucky when her burrito was too big for her to finish so I happily agreed to help her out. As amazing as the burrito was the green tomatillo salsa was spectacular that came with it. At first I didn’t use mine since I got chili and egg and salsa just did not make sense anywhere on my burrito, but after my wife insisted I try it, I found myself licking the bowl after scarfing all of mine in two bite fulls. Overall though our experience was limited, it was a very good one. Service was good and fast, there are many people behind the scenes to handle the volume and nobody missed a step. The place was nice and clean and the prices were very good with portions appearing to be better than average, a definite hit in my book.
Next time I will try their famous pastrami, but for now I will just dream of those burritos, Aloha

Let me say this place is AMAZING. Great bang for your buck and you get FULL. I had their bacon avocado burger and it was delicious! I also had their chili cheese fries, definitely would recommend. I got the small with my boyfriend and it was too much for us. We could easily get one burger and the small fries and still get full. Their food gets you super full. GO THERE YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT! :)

Just got a ¼ lb cheeseburger and zucchini sticks. The burger was flavorful but pretty messy. The sauce kinda dripped everywhere so make sure you have lots of napkins. I have definitely had better zucchini fries and probably won’t get it again. Stick with some kinder of burger and fries.

As it was National Burger month, I had the mamba burger. Really good with the avocado and fried egg, but not too spicy with the jalapeño. The BF had the ribeye sandwich. While it was decent, he said he wouldn’t get it again (the flavors weren’t very exciting). We both really liked the fries and couldn’t stop munching on them the whole time. I also love that they had a chili bar with roasted and pickled peppers. Yum. They were busy, busy throughout, so be prepared. We’ll come back for their breakfast burrito!

First time here and last time. Went here because the «road fries» looked delicious, turns out they do not offer that anymore. Ordered an avocado and bacon cheeseburger with swiss and one small order of sweet potato fries. They charged me an extra dollar for swiss cheese rather than replacing the current cheese and then forgot my sweet potato fries when my order came out.
Overall I think this place seems overpriced for what they offer and the food was mediocre at best, do not expect anything special. The only good thing I noticed was how clean the restaurant was.

Horrible service!!! Stuck up cash register employees who throws your receipt at you and can’t properly hand you your food.
I used to come here weekly, but not anymore. Management needs to retrain their employees for their customer service based positions.

Been wanting to try this place for a while and glad I finally did!
It has a great location and it’s own parking lot!
We ordered first, got a number, and waited for our food!
We ordered:
SMALL CHILI CHEESE FRIES
— it’s pretty big for a small
— I would say it can feed 2 hungry people and 4 people that just want to try it out
— the chili is so good!
— the cheese just melts as you’re eating it!
— the fries are buried deep in the chili
— very filling, very big, very heavy
¼ CHEESEBURGER
— Comes with pickles, lettuce, tomato, cheese
— the bun is super fluffy
— the meat is pretty good
— a good solid burger
CHICKEN TOSTADA SALAD
— pretty big!
— comes with avocados and all the regular salad fixings
The staff was extremely friendly and helpful! They are quick and efficient! One saw me struggling to carry all my trash on the way out and offered assistance!

The place is an institution. The food is pretty good for fast food and the menu is diverse. Unfortunately the prices are about twice what they should be for the value received.
My friend and I dropped almost $ 30 on dinner for two that included nothing exotic.
The fries are more than enough to share.

This was the first place to eat at in Cali, and I’m happy!
We were greeted right away by a friendly cashier/​order-​taker. She was even honest about the size of an order of large fries. LOL. Thank you! Ended up with a small that we didn’t even finish because of the yummy burgers, and we shared that XD What else??? Friendly and fast/​efficient staff in general. The guy that bused tables was also nice from what I observed — talking to other regular patrons that were possibly on lunch breaks.
I ordered the Avocado & Bacon Cheeseburger, and the boyfriend had the Bacon Cheeseburger. Oh my gah… The amount of avocado was equivalent to the burger patty in the burger! The fries are also cooked correctly. By that, I mean they weren’t overly or salted at all, and they were fried in Canola Oil for a good crisp.
LOL. Screw fast food and gas station snacks! I’ll hold my appetite for this place en route to LA or any other Southern Cali city any future time!

Drive thru review: Long wait, but good service. And well the food is undeniably good. You may be better off parking and getting out to get your food to go. ⁴⁄₅ stars
If they can improve drive thru service I would give a 5

I liked my char broiled double cheeseburger today, but it had way too much dressing.
A light dab of thousand island dressing on the bun would have been fine, but my lettuce was dripping with dressing, the small pickle chips were swimming in sauce, way too much.
I wiped off as much as I could with a couple of napkins.
I would prefer a sesame seed bun, Tops buns are plain. I like the taste and texture sesame seeds ad to a hamburger bun, they look good too.
We enjoyed our lunch out in the open air patio in front.
Service was pleasant, prices were reasonable.
Just too much dressing!

I ordered a pastrami burger and zucchini fries and my bf ordered the pastrami sandwich with sweet potato fries. Our order weighed a ton. We shared and halfway through my burger i was full. Next time we’ll probably share a burger and fries LOL. Overall, good food, huge portions. :)

As good as I remembered from 25 years ago, it was a delight to bring my girls here for a pastrami sandwich, even if it may have ruined them for the pastrami we get in Dallas.
Tops sandwiches are loads of pastrami on fresh Italian style bread with tangy mayo and pickles — über hot peppers on the side. Pastrami is hot, tender, flavorful, and juicy — WORTH A TRIP TO PASADENA FOR!
Small fries are big enough to feed 3 — REALLY! And they are prefect fried and greaseless.
An order of loaded baked potato soup was a delicious blend of all the good stuff on a baked potato, and was big enough to share.
Service is fast and efficient, the place is clean and on a Wednesday we had no trouble parking. 5 stars!

Who doesn’t love Tops? From their fine Kobe burgers to the even more amazing taquitos, this place rules. Be prepared to have your face smeared in sauce when you order the burgers because they’re juicy, messy, and worth it. I got turned on to the taquitos by JL and they’ve never failed for a great bite off the 210. So good! If you need a traffic break on your commute, roll on through. Plus, the staff is great!

This is a must go-​to local fast food place if you are around the Arcadia/​Pasadena area. It’s right off the I-​210 east freeway, off Michillenda Ave.
Service is 5 stars, food (quality and quantity) is 5 stars, and speed is 5 stars. Parking is convenient as there is a private lot behind the restaurant and there is also a drive-​thru. All the workers and chefs work with passion, and it shows. Couple of my favorites here are breakfast burrito (served only until 10:30am!!), tuna melt, steak quesadilla, avocado burger, and chili cheese fries (huge portion).
If you are looking for a place for a quick bite, this is the place to go.

Goodness gracious! Tops… Where have you been all my life? I probably can eat here all the time, but that won’t be good for the waistline and wallet.
Location: 2 Locations (2 different owners) to choose from to get your fill. One on Colorado and the other one on Walnut and Allen. Can’t compare them because I haven’t gone back to the Walnut location ever since I was a youngin’. Easy to spot both of them because they’re located next to the 210 freeway.
Parking: Small parking lot with a drive thru. Might take you multiple tries to get out of the parking space. Try parking along Colorado or residential area.
Ambiance/​Décor: Resembles a lot like Jim’s Burgers, the Hat, Lucky Boy, and Oinksters to name a few!
Service: Love the service. The staffers looks so happy working and they give the best recommendations. Food doesn’t take long to be sent out to hungry patrons. Very gooood!
Food: Stick with Kobe Bistro Burger (½ lb American Kobe Beef, Smoked Mozzarella, Caramelized Onions, Tomato, and Herb Mayonnaise). So big for $ 8 something. So much flavor. So much tenderness and juicyness in the patty, and most importantly, it’s a two handed job! :-P! Great for sharing or being greedy and save the other half for later on in the day. Might make you fall asleep after eating it also! Almost forgot, use many napkins because it’s a beautiful mess to eat. Also, you can eat it civilized with a fork and knife.
–Tip tip hooray: Make sure you get their sriracha sauce! It’ll spice up your eating experience! :)
Would definitely encourage others to try this place!

Nothing really stands out to me about this burger joint. Located close the 210, the sign for Tops can be seen a startling one block away.
The parking lot in the back is fairly tiny, and I’m almost always finding the last spot. Upon walking in the front, the menu is listed in that old diner style on the top, except in really small font. I almost need some glasses to read that.
Anyway I’ve gotten the avocado burger before. I’ve also just gotten their regular burger. My friends also usually get the fries and share it with me. The fries come in huge portions and are definitely shareable. Otherwise you should probably just keep it at the burger.

Very Good inexpensive breakfast. This place was recommended by the car wash workers at Lucky Car Wash. Three eggs, ham, hash browns and toast for $ 7.95. Wow… such a deal. I could see one of the cooks making a mountain of hash browns. The food I thought was really good, I could see why it was crowded on a Sunday morning. Maybe next time a burger.
I wish I had an Original Tops in my neighborhood.