Great food and Great Service. Never had a Bad Meal There. Ambiance Ia Great. It's been there forever.

Food was excellent freshly prepared homestyle recipes. I had liver and onions that was excellent. Good service nice old-fashioned location.

This is a San Antonio legend. Yet I've never eaten here but I know why it's so highly rated. First, it's like stepping backwards in time! I'm not sure they've changed their decor in 40 years down to the booths and counter seating. Gloria took our order without writing a thing down. You won't find that in your every day restaurant, ever. I ordered the Jalapeño mushroom cheeseburger. Amazing! Their fries are crispy too perfection. They even have a "jukebox" at some booths read more

See all

Apparently, this place made an appearance on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives", I like the show and often use their website to find new places - especially when traveling. So, it's entirely possible that's how this place landed in my bookmarks. Honestly don't remember. Having said that, I walked in on Friday right around lunch time. I loved the feel - old school diner with wooden paneling throughout and even an old school counter. Epic nostalgia. I was curious as to why it wasn't more crowded... Upon entering, I was hollered at to sit anywhere I'd like. That, too, felt old school. Didn't mind it. Although my waiter came over promptly, he was all business and not very personable. Like, guy, you're obviously not crowded, where's the urgency? The second he brought me my drink, he asked for my order. I'd barely even opened the damn menu. Went with what should have been easy. Bacon cheeseburger. Found the burger overcooked and on the smaller side. The fries were unseasoned. Like, not even a pinch of salt. The good? I found the cost about right given our current economy and rising prices. Bottom line: loved the feel, but this strikes me as the kind of place doing business with regulars or those who live/work in the area, because I'm not going out of my way to go back. read more

I haven't been here is soooo long so, I was excited when my mom suggested our family meet here for dinner. What a disappointment Our party of 10 was big but there was only one other table of 2 so, 12 people in a restaurant shouldn't be a problem. We started out with the half order of onion rings. Terrific!! The onion rings were perfect 8 of us ordered burgers, 1 ordered chicken fried chicken and I ordered the chicken fried steak (I had been thinking about this all week ) Unfortunately, all of the buns on the burgers were burnt and the orders (no onions, add bacon, etc) were wrong. One burger order didn't arrive until 20 minutes after we all had our food. Everything on my chicken fried steak plate was cold; mashed potatoes, the gravy and the steak. Very disappointing especially when this used to be such an epic place to eat. read more

Everything went well, from the nostalgia when I walked in, to the friendliness of the waitress, why even the person in the next both, when my cousin & I asked what she would recommend... It was amazing . Great food good place to meet new people... read more

I had to check this place off my list... Friendly atmosphere, great service, and big portions (ordered their signature chicken fried steak and a side of onion rings). Honestly, the food was nothing special, meh at best. Side of onion rings was huge but a mixture of hot, freshly made and cold/recycled rings. The place is really run down. Overall, not going back anytime soon. read more

Love this little dive. Great onions rings and pie! Have taken out of town/state company there and it's always a hit. Friendly service by adults. Nice break from fancy restaurants! read more

Unfortunately, this was a bad experience from start to finish. When I visited recently my friend's first visit there... I was excited for him to try the food & onion rings as my family has been going there for many years & always enjoyed the food there til now!! The only thing that was good was their onion rings.... We ordered the onion rings & the lunch specials, which clearly included tea. I ordered the chicken fried chicken, and my companion ordered the pork chop special. That pork chop was the worst ever. When the bill came, I was charged regular price instead of the lunch special price and charged for two teas, even though they were supposed to be included. The food itself was just as disappointing. The pork chop was extremely tough, barely edible. Shortly after eating, my companion felt sick and had stomach issues, which was concerning. I also felt nauseous, though thankfully it passed. My salad looked old and tasted like it had been covered in plain mayo instead of dressing. It came in a tiny bowl, was completely unappetizing, and I couldn't even finish it. When I questioned the bill, the situation got even worse. The manager actually questioned whether I knew what I was eating, insisting it couldn't have been chicken fried chicken because it was "too big and too white." I've ordered chicken fried chicken many times before -- I know what I ordered. Being spoken to that way was extremely disappointing and frustrating. The manager eventually took $5 off and removed one tea, but the mistake was the waiter's, not mine. Even the waiter later acknowledged hearing me say we were ordering the lunch specials. $37 down the drain.. I left with a very, very bad taste in my mouth -- not just from the food, but from being questioned and made to feel at fault for their errors. I won't be returning read more

Having been here over a zillion years this place has seen San Antonio through some tough times. It's been here from the moon landing, Kennedy assassination, COVID and even a fantastic review from Captain Flavortown. ( Most restaurants fold after his visit). The menu has streamlined with the times but the portion sizes and quantity is straight out of the 50s. They still have all the classic diner style options from burgers to seafood sandwiches to salads. My Grand got me hooked on the Chicken fried steak as a youngster. Its remained the same for 40 years. Giant, modest crust and gravy underneath. This is an old southern tradition, and it's brilliant! It keeps the steak moist and the crust crunchy. YES!!!. Opted for the side salad and baked potato. Wonderful sides. Although the onion rings are universally famous, I have to say you should order them when your eating with a partner, even the half order is generous. The decor hasn't changed much in a while other than the buck heads are gone and the music is more soft rock. But not to worry since each of the booths have its own mini jukebox. Definitely a conversation started between you and the kids . Remember to save room ( if possible ) for the icebox pie. So many choices, my favorite has to be the banana cream but the chocolate is really good too, so is the .....better get a couple of slices and a bunch of spoons! read more

Tip Top Cafe - Come hungry is my advice. - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Food was ok but hat got me were the roaches crawling on the wall and across the table place needs to be fumigated. Will not return.

Amazing service and amazing food !! Onion rings were fantastic! , I will be going back , lovely vintage cafe read more

Tip Top Cafe - Award Winning Fried Onion Rings!! - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

See all

While the ambiance remains the same, the food and especially the service have gone down hill. I was told the place was indeed under new owners. It shows. read more

Had lunch here on my way through San Antonio specifically because someone had them recommended for chicken fried steak. Their CFS was well tenderized, but crust was a little plentiful for my taste. And was served over gravy! Now, the gravy was very tasty with good consistency, but served beneath the CFS with no question as to preference was different. The service and speed of order fulfillment was great. The ambiance is nothing special, as this is old-school diner complete with juke boxes at the booths. The clientele was mainly older and non-demanding. In conclusion, although I enjoyed the CFS, not sure that it would be on my list of best chicken fried steak in Texas. read more

Tip Top Cafe - CFS and homemade mashed potatoes - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

See all

Ordered the special Meat loaf. Said it came with two sides, I get double mashed potatoes. Was asked if I wanted a salad I said yes, never got it. When I asked about it I was told it was extra and that I didn't order one. The waiter checked his pad and saw that I did. I understand that places change but now it's terrible. read more

Great food. Good service. One of the best hamburgers I have ever had. Amazing onion rings read more

See all

Been there a long time. Excellent burgers, onion rings, basically anything deep fried. Can be crowded during peak meal hours. Highly recommend. read more

Started with the onion rings. Really good and a lot! Good food, super huge portions and great service! Plus the had a car show out front. read more

Tip Top Cafe - Onion rings - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

See all

Loved this place for decades. So disappointed on my recent visit. Ordered the onion rings and iconic chicken fried steak. All of it covered in Cajun seasoning! Rings, fries, steak and gravy Also cooked in to hot oil that left raw tasting flour and burnt oil taste. Should have been a clue when there was only one car in the parking lot that use to be packed front and back. So sad. read more

Wow! I am certainly losing my respect for some reviews. I sat and read through so many not so great reviews for this restaurant that I was a little nervous about going there today with my retirement group for our monthly luncheon. One of our group mentioned it last month and raved about how good it was. I hadn't been in several years, but remembered it fondly. We had a reservation for 15 people at 1:30 PM. My friend Ann and I were the first to arrive at about 1:10. Sure enough, there sat our table in the middle of the dining room taking up a huge chunk of the available seating. The others trickled in over the next 20 - 30 minutes until we had a group of 14 crowded around the table jumping into conversations about anything but school. Our server, Monica, took our orders, answering a plethora of questions as she went. I remember several of them: three chicken fried steaks, 1 chicken salad sandwich, 1 hamburger, 1 tilapia sandwich, two BLT's, 1 pork chop plate, and one frito pie. I don't remember the others. Everyone said their food was very good. I know that my fish sandwich was second only to one I had in Key West a few years back. After reading comments about the salads being stale with yellow or brown soggy lettuce, I ordered a dinner salad to check for myself. It was absolutely fresh and crisp. It was definitely chilled. The blue cheese dressing was very good with huge chunks of blue cheese in it. About half of the people with me took to go boxes home with them. The servings were huge. My fish was so big and thick that I suspected that they might have substituted something for the tilapia. The pork chops were about an inch thick. The two of them filled up the plate to the point that I thought my friend had ordered a huge steak. The chicken fried steaks were hanging off the edges of the plates. I wish I had a ruler to measure them. They looked like they were about one foot long and eight inches wide. Way too much for most people to eat in one sitting. Sadly, I am trying to reduce my food consumption (I'm on a Pre-Pandemic Pushback Plan) so I didn't even consider getting pie. Neither did anyone else. We simply had too much food for that. Please do yourself a favor and look past the negative reviews for Tip Top. Based on our meal today, I truly believe things have been worked out, and the restaurant is back to the quality of its heyday. A lot of places struggled with kitchen staff during the Pandemic. Perhaps that can account for the rough spot mentioned in the bad reviews. read more

First time here so here goes all the good news first. We were looking for an old style lunch diner with comfort food. We would definitely come back. There were a few flaws but not enough to scratch this place off of our foodie road trip list. It's very clean, the decor is simple diner style, the staff is super friendly and efficient, the portions are huge, and the prices are very reasonable. It's a typical fairly limited diner lunch menu with daily specials (can you believe liver and onions - haven't seen that in years), and the ingredients for the most part were fresh done old school style. The roast beef was a REAL roast cooked in the oven for hours - so tender it just fell apart on your fork. I could eat that every day. The chicken fried steak was from scratch as were the amazing thick sliced huge onion rings. Almost every table had them. The breading for both looked like it had a little cornmeal mixed in. The gravy for the CFS was not the typical cream gravy. More on that later. The dinner salad was the usual diner salad but so crispy fresh and cold. The chunky thick blue cheese dressing looked and tasted like scratch made. The fluffy dinner rolls are made every morning and so are the scratch pies. You have to wait til the pies cool enough to slice. Some are a mile high. So there were a few minor issues but not enough to keep us from coming back when we're in San Antonio. First and foremost, the coffee was weak. That's a crime at a diner, and another customer was ticked off, but oh well. This isn't a coffeehouse. Overall, the food lacked salt. I'm ok with that because I'm cutting back and prefer to add more if needed, but some people want their food seasoned during cooking. Here, it's all very flat from lack of salt (except the salty packaged brown gravy mix on the roast). That included the bland thin yellow gravy that is served under the CFS. Never saw that before, but it kept the steak batter crispy. The mashed potatoes were a huge disappointment, the main reason for the 4 stars. To me and other diners at the table next to us, they were horrible. They were straight up russet potatoes mashed plain as if they just baked then smashed into a hard, dry lump that looked like it was scooped out of a big pan - no salt, milk, seasoning, or butter - just pure literal solid mashed potatoes. But the worst thing was the cold roast beef on the open face sandwich. The next table over's was cold, too. We sent it back to be microwaved, and then it was hot. And still delicious enough to order every day. Even so, with such a shortage of good diners serving comfort food these days, we were happy to find this place, and we will be back. We'll just avoid the pitfalls we learned from this trip. read more

My barber told me about this place. Built in 1938, and known for chicken fried steak. Now I'm not an expert but this was the best chicken fried steak I've had in memory. Crispy, flakey, great white pepper gravy. The sampler of pickles, onion rings and tenders was done well too. The server was fast though it took a little time to get the food but it was worth it. We got applied pie to go and it was great, not too sweet, made in house. I can't wait to come back! read more

Tip Top Cafe - "Our Signature Chicken Fried Steak" - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

See all

This staple restaurant never lets me down. I've been coming here for years. Food is always delicious great small town diner feeling. Our server was great. Oh and the onion rings are fire!!! read more

Tip Top Cafe - Hamburger Steak Fried Chicken Tenders Award Winning Fried Onion Rings - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

First off I have been there several times and I have never had any complaints so these reviews I'm reading just wonder about these people. The food is great and I love their onion rings and everything else falls into place. read more

Amazing chicken, fried steak and onion rings with scratch pies and cakes... this place is absolutely Amazing From the food and to the service, I definitely recommend this place! read more

The chicken fried steak was excellent. Don't know what was better the pie or chicken fried steak. Got to meet the baker best of all! Service was just as good. Clean, quiet and peaceful. Will return soon...ooohhhrrraaahhh! read more

Superb menu, known for their chicken fried steak and onion rings. Really good food. Older folks vibe, vintage ambiance but well worth your money. read more

I love this place.prices are awsome.service is quality.thanks to more adult servers and cooks.the atmousphere is old classy style dinning.made me feel like I was in Odessa in an old country store resteraunt.and with all the antiques and juke boxes at the tables.wows me.portions are more than plenty.the meatloaf is huge.the real steak in chicken fried steak is larger than the 11 inch porcelain plates.dont order the hand made onion rings.that I haven't seen like that since I was a child.because you will never finish them.then the lemon pie.ill let you be surprised.please order it.get your camera ready.parking is ok.its a san antonio gem. read more

Was here about a week ago. Hadn't been in years. Had the chicken fried steak with baked potato and salad with ranch. Also had onions rings. They are great! The person I was with had fish. There was an issue with it, so we traded it for a burger, no issue. The burger was really good. This place is way better than I remember, plus the prices are very reasonable and the staff friendly. I'll be back soon. Tried the chocolate meringue pie, which is very good. read more

This was one of our nicest lunches in a long time. I had the Chicken Fried Steak with brown gravy, mashed potatoes, a garden salad, and unsweet tea. There was nothing to complain about and everything to praise. BTW (by the way, if you don't know what it means) the brown gravy on the CFS comes UNDER the steak, not on top of it. I was curious about that at first, but was happy when i figured out that that was to keep me out of the splash zone when I cut the meat. The diner was cool (summer here), clean, and not overly crowded. We also had a helping of the appetizer award winning onion rings and they were great and they were gigantic. I'd have been happy to get a 12 size, but we loved what we got. Lastly: I never take a doggie bag. Ever. Today. I took a doggie bag and this will be my supper. Note: Oh, Hello Carol B. :) read more

5/17/19 Drove up at 5 pm. No one in the front parking lot. Hmmm. Walk in and there's only one other couple in the place. Should we be worried? I can remember back in the day not being able to get in on a Friday evening. Maybe it was still early. We sit and the server gives us menus and asks if we'd like an appetizer. Not really. She's off to get our teas. When she returns, we cave and opt for a half order of onion rings. A perfect quantity. They are thick, lovely crust and amazingly, not greasy. We order the fish and chips as our entrees. A fairly large cod filet and fries. It had been preceded by a pretty good garden salad with your choice of dressings. Even though moving towards miserably full, we get a slice of coconut meringue pie. A tower of meringue. So good. By the time we were done, the restaurant was filling up. Good deal. Go there. read more

Tip Top Cafe - Seafood platter - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Services - great, waitress was super friendly, patient and sweet Food - burger was great, the fries were OK, next time we have to order their Onion rings. We kept seeing them come out of the kitchen, order after order. An obvious must try there. Ambiance - very old school mom and pop restaurant. I kinda loved it. You can tell there are their regulars, which I love. Only downfall was the wait - it took a really long time for our order but, the burger was almost worth it. Definitely going to come back and try more of the menu ! read more

Loved the chopped sirloin steak special for $10.99! Scrumptious onion rings and fried okra. Really nice servers in a quaint historic setting! read more

Heard so much about the Chicken Fried Steak and had to stop in and try it. It was HUGE!!! Definitely something you would share. It was good. I just felt like it could've used black pepper. We also ordered the Cheese Enchiladas with a taco. It was good. Loved that it was an old place with an old school feeling to it. read more

Tip Top Cafe - Chicken Fried Steak - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

See all

Seven family members came here for a birthday dinner. Let's see, where to start. First the place needs an update. Decor and recipes. Next, our waiter pushed us and rushed us to hurry up and put our orders in. Pissed me off for sure. Didn't give me a chance to look at the menu. He hung over me with impatience so I just said fine and ordered chicken fried steak. Onions rings were bland and breading just fell off. The others that ordered burgers were rushed and didn't really get to make preferable choices. My food arrived warm and got cold fast. Mashed potatoes were horrible, dry, no flavor, the gravy was very thick and tasted like no where near what goes on chicken fried steak . I had to have him microwave it and it came back soggy. My husband's liver and onions was like a child's serving and the gravy was like brown jelly. All burgers had no flavor and just crumbled making them unable to pick up and eat, catfish was decent but no seasoning, was served 1 small filet, all mashed potatoes were like hockey pucks, no one finished their meal, leaving the rest to the trash. We will not return nor recommend. Also heard other folks verbalizing disappointment with their meals. This place desperately needs to get better cooks and/or recipes, or shut the place down permanently. read more

Since moving to San Antonio I've always heard of the Tip Top Cafe and when I recently found myself craving some down home food finally decided it was time to give it a try. I COULD KICK MYSELF FOR WAITING FIVE YEARS TO COME HERE. I walked in and immediately loved the old timey look of the place. There was even a counter at the front like you see in movies with old school diners in them with pies on display! Despite it being lunch time, our waitress was very attentive and easily available to us. For the appetizer, I was indecisive and went with the sampler. I'm not ashamed to say that as an adult i LOVE chicken tenders and I think I may have just found my new favorites. The breading on the chicken was flavorful and reminded me of my mother's own fried chicken breading. What I loved the most was that these were clearly made using sliced pieces of chicken...not some mishmashed chicken rib-meat byproduct that you often find in a frozen food section or get at other restaurants. The other items on the plate (fried pickles, fried mushrooms, and onion rings) were delicious too but the chicken tenders were the standout item to me. Next up was my chicken fried steak which was literally enough to make three different portions out of. I opted to sub my mashed potatoes with french fries and when my plate came out without them our waitress let me keep the mashed potatoes and had a fresh plate of fries out to me ASAP. The chicken fried steak was delicious and I had more than enough to take home in a to-go box. For the outstanding quality, the super reasonable price, and the overall homey environment I will not be waiting five years for my next visit. read more

See all

De Wese's Tip Top Cafe is straightforward workman-like eatery that filled us up with a smile on our face. It sports an exterior that looks last updated in 1985 and an interior a generation older. It's just inside the 410 on Fredericksburg in Northwest San Antonio. My brother and I stopped in for lunch. The tables were full with the kinds of people you'd want to make friends with (and be on your side in a fight). The walls sported juke boxes and deer heads. For a classic country diner, Tip Top comes out of central casting. We seated ourselves and were soon attended to by an efficient professional waiter. The menu covered all of your diner staples. And their reputation has been built on their chicken fried steak, though that's not what we came for today. We ordered "cheeseburger." They had a few specialty burgers a mushroom one, and what they called a steak burger as well. Our food took a little while to arrive, but was well worth the wait. The burger came speared with a steak knife, with a serving of steak fries on the side. The buttery bun had a sunny crunch on the outside, but combined with the mayo and cheese made for a creamy underside--almost pudding like texture. The most attention-grabbing element of the burger was the bottom bun. Chopped onion and mustard slathered the bottom bun topped with sharp dill pickles, a romaine lettuce cover, and a single overwhelmed tomato slice. The punch of the mustard mix simply stole the show. It's a hamburger flavor I had never encountered before eating at Whataburger. The Tip Top Cheeseburger is the best version of what Whataburger is trying to do. And while many San Antonians will love this, it seems distracting to me. Which is too bad. The beef patty is thick and rough ground, letting the American cheese really sink into the crevices of the meet. This is a greasy burger. But the way the way those juices play with the bun and cheese really contributes to a satisfying whole. The fries, if you care, were perfectly bland, which worked well with a burger that had so much flavor. And I didn't even mention that this burger was $6.50. It would be hard to beat as a go-to lunch destination. Tip Top Cafe knows how to feed people. read more

Tip Top Cafe - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Service was awesome!! Lady serving us was so nice!!! Now the food on the other hand was terrible. Bacon on burger burnt. Chicken fried steak was one of the saltiest steaks ever. Meat in the chicken fried steak was super thin. read more

Tip Top Cafe - American Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

See all

My review is an update to one I posted a few years ago after the DeWese family partnered with the Las Palapas family. At the time it was chaotic as the change for all of us who grew up with TipTop seemed a deadly spiral. However, change is inevitable and time seems to have healed the challenges. I met some old friends at the Tip Top for a late lunch on a Saturday. We had all grown up frequenting the cafe regularly. We begin our time ordering the onion rings and all agreed they were still the best. As fans of their chicken fried steak we placed our order, with mashed potatoes and salads on the side. Their salad has always puzzled me because although they use to cram it in a small bowl they now do the same with a small plate. It still makes it difficult to eat without getting it all over the table. When the main course arrived we were happy and thankful as the steaks were delicious. Tip Top is back and we hope they'll stay that way. Thanks Tip Top!! read more

The food is really good, old school diner food. The portions are HUGE! Try to save room for a slice of pie!! The pies are delicious and HUGE as well! Great value for the money and good food! read more