Tip Top Food & Spirits

The best food I’ve tasted in Soulard so far! Being from England, I ordered the Fish & Chips. Delicious and authentic enough to make me homesick! Wonderful batter on the cod and the owner whipped up a great tartar sauce for me! My wife ordered a porterhouse steak which was seared and seasoned to absolute perfection and was bigger than her head! This is where I’ll be taking my out of town guests to eat. Can’t wait to go back and taste some of the other items on the menu!

I was cruising through Unilocal one night, and since I’m all about getting familiar with South City… Tip Top was the move for the night. Came in late, notice a few other customers…1 regular at the bar, a couple of others on the outdoor patio. ½ a fried chicken dinner, with fries & green beans… not bad at all. Seasoned very well, great crust, served straight from the fryer… for $ 6.99, it was definitely worth the trip, and I’ll have to get back soon to try out their ribs, cevapi, and a few other menu items that got my attention.

Went to this place on a whim — some friends of mine are on a quest to try out the best fried chicken places in town and this place showed up on some list they found. I took a look at the menu online before we went to see what I was getting in to. The menu looked interesting — in addition to typical bar fare they also had some Serbian dishes.
The chicken did not disappoint! The half chicken meal comes with slaw and fries — they have sweet potato fries which I subbed. The chicken is amazing!!! It is nice and lightly bread with some peppery spice mixed in. Unlike many of the places around town, this was not overly greasy — by using the breading instead of battering, there is not huge chunks of fried batter surrounding the chicken — you can get right to the chicken. The chicken was very nice, not dried out at all, even on the breast which can tend to get dry in the center when overcooked. The chicken came with a side of house made sauce — a honey mustard variation with some spice which was really good and a lot tastier than typical out of the jar sauces. The serbian slaw was basic — a vinegar slaw with may some extra pepper — not a standout item but solid for cooling down my mouth while eating the chicken! The sweet potato fries were good — nothing craxy but solid and nice that they have this option at a basic corner bar. THey have the usual crinkle cut fries too for the traditionalists.
Overall this place is really solid if you like to find a good hole in the wall value joint. I can attest only to the chicken but the rest of the menu looked solid and based on the quality, I’m intrigued to try some other items next time. The price is right and the waitress was really nice. I’ll definetly be back.

At first glance, Tip Top might seem somewhat unappealing. Remnants of the last restaurant’s name still exists on the black awning above the front window. The cliental can at times look a little hard around the edges. If you’re looking for ambiance, then Tip Top is not your place.
However, one of those rough and tumble guys hanging out on the patio is George, the owner of Top Top, and he might be one of the best cooks in town. I don’t say this lightly. His fried chicken is my favorite in the StL. I love Sweetie Pie’s and truly enjoy Hodak’s, but Tip Top’s chicken is the perfect mix of spices and freshness.
However, the flavors don’t end there. Every weekend George cooks up BBQ. Sometimes he does ribs; other times he smokes some pork shoulder. The pulled pork is very good, but the ribs are absolutely wonderful! My wife and I shared an order last night, and we were blown away. George had mentioned his ribs fairly confidently in passing one day, and I had my doubts. NO MORE DOUBTS, PEOPLE!
Get past the rough and tumbles and go get yourself some Tip Top!

It might be a decent bar, but it’s definitely not a good lunch spot. 5 of us spend more than 45 minutes waiting for food.
The chicken was decent. I’d rather go to KFC.

Tip Top is a bar, a small dive bar, with AMAZING food. In fact, they have the best dive bar food in all of St. Louis. YES I SAID IT, COME AT ME BRO
When I went in last week the banner was falling off the front of the building and the façade of the place suggests that the inside is dimly lit, smokey, and possibly full of creepy old men. Fortunately, it’s smoke free.
You’re going to get a/​b products here, hipsters can get Busch. They have all your basic liquors. I’m not sure how much high end stuff they have, but if you’ve come to Tip Top looking for high end, you done lost yo’ mind.
Prices are good (cheap)
But let’s talk about the food:
Soo…when you look at their menu, you see a lot of things you’ll see at a Greek restaurant. Hummus/​Pita/​Gyros/​Cucumbers/​Feta/​Tzatziki/​etc etc.
You’ll also see super standard bar fare. Wings, Ravs, Poppers, Shrooms.
You’ll also see just random this and that. Fried chicken dinners, fried fish, Ceasar salad, steak sandwich, etc.
The star of the show is the Cevapcici. They are these small spiced sausages that I haven’t seen anywhere other than here. You can get a platter served with the sausages, a couple of kabobs, some pita, feta, and all the fixins, and you will die of happiness. I was reading that Serbian food is extremely flavorful and I think the Cevapcici definitely represents that. Not necessarily «spicy,» but definitely flavorful. Ugh I’m drooling just thinking about it.
Everything is reasonably priced, especially considering the level of satisfaction you get upon ingesting this stuff.
The people who work here are really nice, but will DEFINITELY joke around with you, so make sure you have a sense of humor upon going in. I won’t tell you what they said about the Busch beer I was drinking…
If you have not been there, go immediately. Thank me later ok.

I’ve only been here once, but I had chicken strips that were really good and a HUGE basket of sweet potato fries, which are worth coming for all by themselves. It’s a hole in the wall place, it’s open late, and it’s small and crowded and friendly — the perfect place for an impromptu nosh on the way home from an event that didn’t have enough food.
I’ll be back to try the patio when it’s warm.

well, i wish i had the chance to experience the Tip Top. Sadly, we sat at a table for 10 minutes during lunchtime and no one emerged from the back to greet us or take our order.
i would have loved to belly up to the bar and ordered a big sloppy obscene amount of yumminess, but the bar was strewn with purses, old sodas, and shopping bags.
the one occupied table was obviously full of friends bc their kid was climbing over everything. which is fine, but i was half tempted to ask the toddler to go to the kitchen and grab me the first thing she found.
instead, we just left. maybe next time?

I had to try this place after reading a recent review in Stltoday about the best fried chicken in St.Louis. They weren’t kidding. Not only was the chicken phenomenal the cole slaw served with it was the best I have ever had. Everything was fresh and served hot for 6.99 you got to try it you won’t be disappointed.

Went here the other night about 8pm on a Monday. Couldn’t think of anywhere else to go that wouldn’t be too expensive and wanted to go somewhere new.
My friend told me about this place and that she heads over there every Friday night w/​her hubby.
This is a small neighborhood bar… borderline «Hoosier» bar if it was further South. Don’t let that scare you away though… they are VERY friendly there and they had a nice mix of customers there.
We went in and picked a table… usually small bar décor, nothing fancy.
The bartender was also our waitress and even though it was a little busy for her at the time, she was right on the ball with our drinks and food.
We ordered the garlic mushroom appetizer (delicious) and the pork chop special which was 2 grilled chops (seasoned perfect and not dry at all) w/​steak fries (also seasoned) and a small salad.
Everything was awesome and we split it between the both of us. I will recommend to ask for the dressing on the side… a little much for me.
Oh and BTW… the special was only about 9 bucks!
I’m sure this is mostly a «word of mouth» place since you might not be so tempted to come in judging from how small it looks.
There is a really nice patio on the side too .
If you’re in the area… make sure to give it a try. My friend says to try the chicken or the steak next time.

Tip Top is a newer restaurant that opened in the space where Lagniappe’s used to be. Its owned by a crazy (in a good way?) Serbian man named George.
I actually met him a few months before the restaurant opened. He was wearing what I’ve now come to find is his standard daily uniform of dark clothing, gold jewelry and a bandana. When I told him that I’ve been a magazine editor, and even a food critic for years, he looked me dead in the eye (he’s a big guy – it scared me) and said, «I make the best steaks and fried chicken in the city.»
After a few uncomfortable seconds where I thought he was going to eat my face (he was literally waiting for me to challenge his boast), I promised him that I’d come in to eat once the place opened.
Fulfilling that promise I found Tip Top to be… eh. Its definitely a hole in the wall, neighborhood place, but I think George was a bit off his mark in his bragging. The steak I ordered was good, but only because I judge it in relation to its price (around $ 15). The chicken was seasoned better than any other fried chicken I’ve had in Saint Louis, but it was way over cooked (friends who have visited since have told me he’s remedied that, and that the chicken is awesome). The best part of the meal was that they have a aspiring amateur wine sommelier there that loves to show off (again, in a good way), and once she realized that I knew a little something about wine (I don’t, but I’m really good at bullshitting when I smell free booze coming), she quickly drowned me in some free samples.
Overall, Tip Top is a decent place. Its exactly the kind of place you want to go when you’re too tired/​lazy to cook, and too tired/​lazy to get dressed up.