A food and travel writer devoted much of his regular USA Today column on the growth of the golf-oriented entertainment venues to the full-service menu and beverage program that he cited as a “key to [Topgolf’s] success.” Food that includes “shareable specialty items that take a creative twist,” such as a Jumbo Pretzel Board charcuterie platter concept, was cited as “reminiscent of fast-casual chains, but with far better quality.”
An article published in USA Today as one of food and travel writer Larry Olmsted’s regular columns for the national newspaper devoted much of a review of Topgolf to its full-service menu and beverage program, which Olmsted cited as a “key to [the] success” of the entertainment venue’s growth to “40-plus U.S. locations, with many more on the way, in more than half the states, plus international locations.”
“While menus vary slightly by location and some have local specialties,” Olmstead wrote, “the constant is a lot of shareable comfort food good enough to keep fans coming back. Full service is offered by “Bay Hosts” [for those using the golf driving-range bays] and most locations also have full bars or dining areas throughout, often with lots of TVs and doubling as sports bars—some people come for the food and scene and don’t even bother with the golf.”
Many guests at Topgolf’s largest, flagship location in Las Vegas, which is attached to the MGM casino resort, eat at one of its five bars with full food service while they wait for an available hitting bay, Olmsted noted—a wait that can stretch two to three hours on busy weekends.
Olmsted’s review compared Topgolf’s multi-page menu as “reminiscent of fast-casual chains like Chili’s or Applebee’s—but the quality of food is far better, and the concept more fun.”
“For example, there are lots of shareable foods, but they take a creative twist,” Olmsted wrote. “One of the most memorable and popular is the Jumbo Pretzel Board, a charcuterie platter concept that foregoes bread for an enormous, foot-and-a-half across soft pretzel, piled with sliced kielbasa, sopressata, porchetta, cheese cubes, sliced apple, blackberries, grapes and candied pecans, with a side bowl of Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) cheese sauce for dipping.
“It’s hardly the best thing ever, but it is impossible not to smile at it, and the salty-cheesy-meaty combination and dip is addictive, while the quality of the sliced meats is surprisingly good,” Olmstead wrote.
Olmsted’s review also singled out the signature grilled “Backyard” version of wings on the Topgolf menu, “which taste meatier and more homemade than the fried hot wings (in four sauce options) with nice char marks and a smokiness that elevates them above most bar wings. These are brined for 24 hours before cooking, then dry rubbed, and after grilling, served with a garlic vinaigrette, and they are really tasty.”
Another appetizer singled out in Olmsted’s review was the house-marinated steak strips with grilled shishito peppers. “The beef was a bit bland, but the peppers were great,” he wrote.
“In general, there is also a lot of care taken on presentation,” Olmstead added. “The menu stretches on for many pages, but the main courses break into three main categories: flatbreads, burgers and sliders. The flatbreads are also aimed at sharing, and as pizza goes they are good but not great, though the best seller is the salumi, and the quality of the three meat toppings is high, with near-perfect toppings.
“The burgers have been a favorite for as long as Topgolf has been in business, and in some markets fans consider them among the best in town,” Olmsted continued. “They are made from a blend of ground chuck, short rib and brisket, and served on standout brioche buns. They are definitely way above average, but what really makes them fun and special is the array of options, such as the popular Mac Daddy, topped with beloved comfort food favorite macaroni and cheese; the Sunrise, with smoked bacon, cheddar and fried egg; or in Vegas, the Memphis, an ode to Elvis, with peanut butter, raspberry jalapeño jelly, smoked pork belly and cheddar.
“But it is the slider trios that really shine, and these are a better fit for the group aesthetic than a big burger,” Olmstead wrote. “I was surprised when the Bay Host told me that one of the most popular items on the entire menu was the Crispy Sea Bass Sliders, but once I tried them I understood why—these were my favorite, with perfectly crunchy breading surrounding light fish meat, topped with tomato jam and slightly spicy remoulade. It was a perfect combo of flavor and texture, and while it is optionally available grilled, this would forgo the pleasing crunch.
“On the other hand, another fried seafood effort, the Asian crispy shrimp, was a bit of a fail, crunchy and with good sauce, but the actual protein was lost in the shuffle and there was little shrimp taste,” Olmstead wrote. ?”Another fun and creative favorite slider is the chicken and waffles, a mini-fried chicken cutlet between two slider-sized round waffles. Other cool slider variants include Greek steak pitas with tzatziki sauce and feta cheese, and hot ham and cheese. The recurring theme is fun and creative riffs on sliders.”
Of the several signature dishes on the Topgolf national menu, Olmstead wrote that “none is as much a standout must-try as the Injectable Donut Holes.
“This is a decadent plate of two dozen cinnamon sugar-dusted doughnut holes, served warm and accompanied by needles containing your choice of two fillings, such as chocolate sauce, Bavarian cream or raspberry jelly. You shoot them up and then you shoot them down. These are also offered in an ‘adult’ version with booze-infused sauces,” he wrote.
“In that vein,” he added, “drinking is a big part of the Topgolf scene, and the bar menu is equally broad, with a slate of local draughts, cans and bottles of beer for each location, plus tons of national selections, and a very full cocktail menu that includes ‘Golfbags,’ shareable (for two or more) punches served in light-up souvenir plastic glasses shaped like classic golf bags that you get to keep.
“There are separate full-page menus for mules, margaritas, Bloody Marys and so on, an extensive wine list, and in Vegas, nightclub-style ‘bottle service’ with several top-shelf champagnes such as Dom Perignon running $595-$1,195 at the higher end,” Olmsted wrote. “On the other hand, the rest of the menu, for both food and booze, is quite reasonably priced, especially given the pleasantly surprising quality of most items.”
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