Pop A Top is one of those classic Gainesville convenience stops that somehow manages to feel like a…read moreneighborhood hangout. The beer selection is surprisingly broad for a small shop, with plenty of local brews and rotating options that make it easy to grab something new each visit. Prices are fair, and the staff keeps the place running smoothly even when it gets busy. What really sets it apart is the vibe -- relaxed, unfussy, and very Gainesville. Whether you're picking up a quick drink before heading downtown or stocking up for a low‑key night, Pop A Top is reliable, friendly, and exactly what you want from a local corner store.

I was in the area for lunch after my nail appointment and have had my eye on Pop A Top for a while…read more It's on the corner of Main Street and University Ave and I was able to park on the street. Walking in, it gives a corner store/bodega vibes. They are known for their vegan and vegetarian sandwich options. While I had my eyes on the hot dogs, I decided to go with the smoked tofu sandwich - which the staff said was highly recommend due to the vegan chipotle mayo sauce. I waited for about 5 minutes or so for my sandwich which was about $13. The standouts were the smoked tofu and the chipotle sauce. The tofu was flavorful almost like smoked paprika and some spicy. The chipotle was very creamy and great component to the sandwich. I wish they would've toasted the sandwich as the vegan cheese is just an afterthought. I do want to come back for the hot dogs and other sandwiches here. Vegans and vegetarians in the Gainesville here, this is the spot for you.

We were looking for a quick lunch spot and found this deli on yelp. I didn't read the reviews so I…read moredidn't know it was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. I ordered a veal spare rib meal with salad from the specials menu, my wife ordered the salmon sandwich. Both meals were fantastic and everything was very fresh. I would consider it to revile far fancier restaurants in terms of quality and presentation. If you are looking for a great place and don't mind sitting outside on a patio and busing your own table this is for you!

Finally tried this awesome spot located in the 4th Ave Food Park! I had heard so much about this…read moreplace and it was even featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives". Their menu consists of some staple sandwiches, wraps, sausage dogs, and salads, along with daily specials. They also have a meat counter where you can buy a variety of very unique flavored/seasoned meats that are all made in house. The shop isn't super big and there is limited indoor seating. Although the food park offers plenty of coveted outdoor seating options. Service was great and pretty quick. The guy who took my order was helpful in answering my questions too. Everything is made fresh to order with higher quality ingredients. This is very evident in the taste of the sandwiches, they are truly next level! I ended up ordering a Muffuletta sandwich and a walking taco. Both of these were on the daily special menu. The muffuletta was loaded with ham, salami, mortadella, Swiss cheese, provolone, olives, Dijon aioli, lettuce, tomato, and onion on ciabatta. This sandwich was huge! The meat was super flavorful and you could really taste each one of them in each bite. I loved the ciabatta, especially because it wasn't too thick and didn't take away from the sandwich. The cheeses were mild melted perfectly on the sandwich. The fresh tomato's, lettuce, and onion complimented the other components nicely as well. I will say I wish the olives and aioli had been more prominent, as this is what truly makes a muffuletta of muffuletta. So I wouldn't really classify this as a traditional muffuletta sandwich and it reminded me more of an Italian sandwich. The walking taco included Fritos, chilli, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, banana peppers, and house-made ranch. I thought these were decent. This wasn't the most impressive thing, but it was still tasty. I wish there had been more meat in the chilli and the cheese was melted on top of the Fritos. The onions were simply chopped red onions and seemed too strong for the dish. While this was good, it isn't something I'd go out of the way to order. I would probably stick to the sandwiches and such as that is what truly shines here! Overall, I was more than impressed with this place. I love that it is located in the food park too! Ordering is easy and the service is welcoming. They offer a nice variety of deli options and there is something for everyone. You can taste the difference in the food here compared to other places. They use high quality ingredients and put a lot of passion into their work. I also love that they have fun switching up parts of the menu daily with unique options. While my muffuletta reminded me more of an Italian sando, it was still one of the best sandwiches I've had in the area by far. The sandwich was absolutely packed with meat and made the price completely justifiable. The bread was really fresh and not too thick, which I really appreciated. The walking taco was decent, but nothing to ride home about. If you are in the area and want a good sandwich, I HIGHLY recommend stopping by.

Visiting from out of town, saw positive reviews so we dropped in for lunch…read more I had the "The Saprano" hot Italian: lots of meat and the chibatta bread was delicious. My wife had "The Man in the Black Hat," essentially two different sandwich halves. Don't miss this place for a great meal. BTW, had a hard time deciding what to get as the options were varied and plentiful!

We drove from Jacksonville to Gainesville for a day of exploring and lunch. Our middle daughter and…read moreher husband said "next time you're in Gainesville you MUST eat at The Paper Bag!" We had some long time friends come down with us as well. Our first stop on our Gainesville Adventure was here! I ordered the #9. Tony Montana Cubano. I have to say I've had many Cuban sandwich's before but this Cuban sandwich was the BEST! I love the flavor of seasoned pork they use as well as the Boars Head Meat. I do believe all those makes the difference. If you like Cuban sandwich's you must try this one. Also our friends with us ordered the #12 Uncle Drew Monte Cristo and shared and they loved it! All the staff were super friendly! It took about 10 minutes for us to get our sandwich's. Everything was clean and well kept. Definitely recommend The Paper Bag!

Great deli, I ordered the Rachel (pastrami Rueben) with extra meat, and 2 sides. Only $12! I was…read moreworried it wouldn't be a great sandwich with that low price point, luckily I was wrong it was great. Both the coleslaw and potato salad were delicious too. Old fashioned beer pub in back made for solid dinner when all I wanted was to eat then sleep. Cash only, though there is an ATM in the deli. I will be back.

Great local place for subs with a pub atmosphere. I've only gotten the sandwiches here but they…read morestand out from the crowd of your usual suspect chain sub places like subway and Jimmy John's. This would also be a great place to grab a beer and watch and game if you're in the middle for that. The sandwiches are fresh with the meat sliced when you order the sandwich. This is a cash only place so be aware of that. There is an atm if you don't have cash on hand. Definitely worth a try if you're in the area for lunch and in the mode for a sandwich. I recommend getting the sandwich toasted, but there is an option to get it cold.

Sidecar is one of our favorite date spots, lunch or dinner. We are especially fond of many of the…read moremasters of mixology behind the bar who we knew from other establishments like Fluid. We can always know that if we are consistently looking for a good cocktail, I mean a real drink, not just some rum and coke, that Sidecar won't disappoint. I would always recommend whatever the drink of the week is and asking anyone behind the bar what they would recommend or if they are mixing up some new concoction you could try! I will say they are reasonably priced and it's a very low key atmosphere with high tops and their bar. It's a great spot!

We had time to kill, waiting for graduation and sat at the bar and had an appetizer and a couple…read morebeers. The bartender was very personable. We got the Caprese appetizer with prosciutto. It was good. Uneventful and could've used another piece of prosciutto. Cozy, dark wood bar. Old-school look, which is nice.

Following a visit to the sprawling UF campus, my wife and I decided to try out The Spot for lunch…read more Located in a building housing other eateries and with limited "free" parking, we parked in the parking structure in the same building. As it was summer break, a lot of the other businesses in the building were closed (Vietnamese and Italian restaurant as well as a boba place). The place looks like it was being run by a hardworking couple. We checked out the menu and my wife ordered the Gyro Platter and I ordered the Souvlaki Platter. We also ordered a couple of fountain drinks. The gyro meat was well seasoned and tender. The Greek salad was quite good. The chicken souvlaki, however, seemed to lack flavor and a bit dry. Portions were quite generous and the value was there. We actually packed our leftovers for some quesadillas later. If we do go back, I would order the gyro instead of the chicken souvlaki. NOTE: They don't validate parking which was $3 for an hour

I hate to leave bad reviews, but I think want to be honest. I came to The Spot recently for lunch…read moreand was not happy with my experience. Located in midtown, this appears to a fast casual place that caters towards college students. They serve "Greek" street food, salads, quesadillas, burgers, and more. The food is relatively inexpensive. Service is fine, actually the people working there are friendly. Food is made to order and comes out quickly. There is some seating available inside (it's limited) but there are plenty of tables in the hall. I ordered the Street Chicken Souvlaki which included grilled chicken with tomato, onion, fries inside a pita, topped with ketchup and mustard. This was a very large portion. The pita was good, but pretty much fell apart the second I picked it up. While I liked the chicken, it was over seasoned and I didn't care for the "sauced" quality of it. I'm not sure if they marinated it or tossed it in some sauce, but it was too much. The fries were decent, but not super crispy. I felt that they were not necessarily and a little over-the-top. The tomato was fresh and but the red onion slices were very thick. The mustard and ketchup didn't work with the seasonings on the chicken. The dish was just all over the place and I couldn't even finish half of it before I started feeling sick. I ordered a side of onion rings as well. This was a large order and the size was great. But these onion rings were over-battered and were fresh, but not crispy at all. I bit into one and ended up pulling out the whole onion rings. Not good. Overall, I was very disappointed with my experience. The food was so heavy and overly salted I couldn't even eat half of it. I ended up giving it to a homeless person on the way out. The food left my stomach in shambles the rest of the day. Service is fine. But the food is not desirable. It is safe to say I will not be returning, which is unfortunate.

Friday night , we stopped into Flaco's for some late night eats after listening to our friend's…read moreband play at the bar/lounge next door. My first time at Flaco's but definitely NOT my last The person (who I assume must be the owner) working the register, taking the orders,and making the food was so kind, suggesting options for me given it was my first time there. I got the beef arepas and a cheese pastry cause I was not too hungry. The food was piping hot and delicious. Others in our group got their empanadas, Cuban sandwich, cheese arepas, quesitos, loaded nachos, and guava cheese pastry. As we sat there eating, the line was growing longer and longer, and out the door by the time we left. It was not due to slow service but volume of last night revelers. The one person working that night was incredibly efficient. Kudos to him. Clean bathroom is a good sign of a clean establishment. Flaco's bathroom was clean. I will be back for more tasty eats!

This was my first time at Flaco's and I enjoyed it! It's a very small place with some seating and a…read morecute atmosphere. The prices are not bad for the amount of food you get and they have a lot of options. I got the sunshine burrito, which includes a variety of mixed vegetables in place of a meat. The burrito was huge and loaded with fillings, though the fillings were a bit unevenly distributed so some bites were dry and others were loaded with sauce. It was tasty though, I just wish it was a bit better mixed. The service was alright, the guy working was super nice but the food took a long time to come out. However it was definitely super fresh and hot when it came out, so can't complain too much!

My husband is from NY and said the Everything Bagel with onion/chive cream cheese is better than…read morethe NY bagels we got 2 years ago in NY when we visited. Go early they sell out!

Food truck, blink and you'll miss!…read more While the size of the bagels were nice, they were more of a bread consistency (airy) than a bagel (substance)... if that makes sense. I had the little bacon, egg and cheese which had less egg than I thought I would have (like 1/2 an egg). Usually places give two thick pieces, which is why I decided to get a smaller one. But it was far less than expected. We have a lot of bagels around Tampa, and it honestly wasn't what we thought. It is highly recommended in Gainesville, so I would try for yourself!