Tip Top Restaurant & Oyster

recommended by a local, out of the way but a great place. fantastic menue with good prices. well prepared and presented food. definite go back.

My friend has raved about the Tin Top for a couple months now so I decided that while I was in Pensacola visiting my parents, I would take them out to dinner here to celebrate my Mother's 50th birthday. I called ahead of time to see if I could get a reservation, but they couldn't guarantee anything. No big deal, not everybody does. So, we drove over and waited for about an hour and a half to get in. The place was packed, so I thought it must be a great restaurant. While we were waiting at around 8pm, we heard the hostess say they ran out of prime rib, which was the special that night. We got to our table and ordered a couple of appetizers: fried crab claws and onion rings. Both were very good. The three of us ordered the filet mignon along with a couple of sides. Right before our food was to come out, our server told my mom and I that they had run out of the Gouda Cheese Grits and Sweet Potato so we each had to choose new sides. She also mentioned to my father that she thought they were out of the Garlic Mashed Potatoes but wasn't sure. My mother and I each picked the Creamed Spinach and something else instead. Our food came out and our server informed us that they didn't have Creamed Spinach. So we each picked another new side....this time Collard Greens. Meanwhile, my father had the smallest bit of mashed potatoes you've ever seen, about two spoonfuls, which was obviously scraped from the pan to try and salvage one last order. We finally all got our sides and I cut into my steak, which was ordered medium but there wasn't a bit of pink. It was completely well-done. Fortunately, my parent's steaks were cooked right. At this time, I asked the server to send the manager over. I let him know everything I just wrote here. He told me he would quickly get me a new steak and asked my father if he could get him another side in lieu of his pitiful potatoes. My dad didn't really care for what was left to choose from on the side menu so the manager told us he would buy us a couple of desserts. He also took my steak off the bill, which I thought was fair. As for the food, the steak was very tasty and tender. The fried okra was good but nothing better than I get at the Cracker Barrel. Same for the Collard Greens. We ordered a Creme Brulee and slice of Chess Pie to share for dessert. Both were good but the pie slice was extremely small and certainly not worth the $5, eventhough we weren't paying for it at this point. Maybe they were running out of that too. All in all, this probably would have been a better experience had the restaurant not been so busy. The food is very good, however those that think it is better than Ruth's Chris are out of their minds. When it comes to steaks, service and overall quality, I always use Ruth's Chris as the barometer and The Tin Top comes up WAY short in that regard. The steaks, when finally cooked right, were very good and do compare to Ruth's but that's where the comparisons end. In my opinion, I suggest driving over to Mobile and spending the extra $10-15 a person at Ruth's to enjoy a much better dining experience.

this place a few years ago was hard to find,but more and more people are making the drive to the best food,excellent waitstaff and the most inventive menu you will find.