by abigail l. on Are you a shittastic waitress with attitude? Have you been fired from multiple waitressing jobs? Apply for a job at Johnny Brenda's- apparently these are the prerequisites for hiring. UGH!!!! So why three stars? a. It's close to my house b. I like the feel and look of the place c. A few bartenders are pretty awesome d. The shows here are amazing, I wish I could review the upstairs separately. Now let's get down to why I hate it here: the dining area. I'm not sure that I have ever had a good experience here in the four or so years I've been going but JB's proximity to my house has caused to me to continue trying. This past Friday was the last straw. I was hungry and meeting my husband for an after work beer. It had been a while since we'd eaten here so the memories of shitty service were repressed and buried deep down in my brain. A few of our friends met us and we were seated in a booth- much to my friend Kelly's dismay as she prefers to sit and eat at the bar, a mantra I will now follow. We sat and ordered a second round of drinks. My husband ordered a second Kenzinger. It came and he tasted it proclaiming it did not taste like a Kenzinger or it tasted like the lines were dirty. A friend at the table tasted it and agreed. When our waitress returned he let her know and she argued with him that Kenzinger tastes bad, asking had he ever had one before. We explained that he ordered one at the lower bar and it tasted fine (and that he likes Kenzinger and maybe you shouldn't talk shit on a local beer that you serve in your bar asshole) but since this beer came from the upper bar that maybe the lines were dirty or something else was off. She kept arguing with him even questioning if his first order had been a Lionshead and not a Kenzinger before she finally took it away and got him something different. WHY ARGUE?!? What point are you proving here? Just shut the eff up and take it back. Seriously it's like they train people to be shitty servers here. So on to the food- it was fine but hot damn if it's not expensive and lacking in portion size and taste for the prices. The menu seems to have expanded lately, which makes me really happy save for the fact that the prices are a little ridiculous. The sides board lists collard greens, brussels sprouts and spinach for $5.50 each. What? I was half tempted to order one just to see the portion size. I opted for the vegetable focaccia. It was good, with goat cheese, roasted peppers, eggplant and squash. It was also a pretty big portion for $7. I also ordered the smashed potatoes- very tasty. I got pretty lucky with my crazy people dinner. My husband had an $8 grilled cheese- nothing special and it was served with a tiny little portion of potato chips. The menu is written on a chalk board so there are no explanations for any of the food. I kind of hate this a lot. I know it's better for the environment and it's easy to erase or add something from a board but I just hate that I am required to speak to the wait staff any more than necessary. Ok so to top off our awesome experience my friend ordered dessert to go. She opted for the hazelnut cheesecake. It came out in a large tin container along with the check. We all marveled at it swimming around in the container. It was, with no exaggeration smaller than a post-it note and it was $5. We were all "hell no" and once the waitress returned we requested it be taken back and off of the bill. Another argument ensued. Wow. The waitress "explained" that the cheesecake was very rich and so the portions were smaller. My friend held her debit card next to the slice and showed the waitress how the debit card was larger than the slice. I have no idea how you even get a slice of cheesecake to be that small, seriously, how does one cut a slice so small? Or was it made in a teeny tiny spring form pan? So in summation (sorry it was so long but I do love to bitch!) go here for a pint, upstairs for a show with gorgeous sound or food at the bar only unless you're in the mood for an argument.
by Ivan S. on Though lacking the requisite number of Os in their name, Top Flr will elicit the O-Face from a certain population of intown clientele. "OH, it's so CUTE!" "OH, the food is so DAINTY!" "OH, these drinks are YUMMY!" Unfortunately, I am not one of those intown clientele, reserving my O-Face for more intimate encounters. And in the case of Top Flr, my O-Face was merely an Okay Face. Disclosure: I've only been here twice. Both times, I walked away feeling good, but not especially blown away. The space is small and up a flight of stairs. If stairs vex you, there's SOME room downstairs, but not much. Stephen Hawking, you may have a Nobel Prize in Physics, but you're SOL at Top Flr. The upper room is (and I use this word sparingly in my life) "cozy." Small, mostly black and white with some color splashed in between and patterns to break up the rest. With the small space and acid jazz pumped through the PA, it felt fairly New Yorky, if such an adjective existed. If you're going in a group of 6 or more, go early, go late or don't go at all. The service was efficient if not personable. The food seemed to take a while, though I wasn't in a hurry in either visit so it bothered me none. They need to upgrade to larger water glasses because I think I had like 5 refills as the thimble they provided didn't slake my thirst. I know we're in a drought, but c'mon. This isn't Dune. On to the food. The roasted vegetables were great--probably the best thing on the table. The hummus was a close second. My pork loin, however, was a little dry. They grilled it a tad too long. The prices aren't as reasonable as some would have you believe. They're not bad, but they are higher than the typical T.G. McFunsters out in Norcross. When you factor in the ala carte sides with your entre, they run you around $18-19. However, the ala carte sides are appreciated when you're tackling portion control. It also makes sharing them easier around the table. Overall, take Top Flr out for a spin. It's worth buying a vowel or two, but not the entire alphabet. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could, but I won't round up.
