We were blessed to be able to have Dining with Dad this week on Alex’s actual birthday. Being his 16th birthday, a bit of a milestone, I wanted to take him somewhere memorable. When I asked him what cuisine he wanted, he told me someplace “fancy” but not too “fancy” that he wouldn’t like the food. I think I’m still not living down the Watershed Distillery DWD! I ended up going with The Top over in Bexley.

They really enjoyed the inside of the restaurant. I wish I took more pictures. The first thing they noted was how short the ceilings were. My kids are NOT tall, so that’s saying something. The next thing they noted was that they thought it smelled like smoke. I don’t know much about the building, but I’m assuming that both are due to the building being very old. I did snap a picture of the little fireplace that was next to our table that they thought was really neat.

We had a reservation at 5pm but again, not sure that eating that early required it. We were seated immediately and our server showed up shortly after. Chloe was hoping that they had Sprite and as we asked, I immediately thought of Shirley Temple’s as I knew the kids loved them. Of course they had them and they brought them out with 3 cherries in each glass. Alex was so excited and said, “Not even the Ocean Club has cherries!!” Our server overheard that and upon refills, she not only filled their glasses with more cherries, but brought an extra glass with just cherries!!

Being a Birthday dinner, I gave Alex full authority to order whatever he wanted. He looked at the prices on the menu and was a little shy to do so but I kept telling him not to look at any prices and just get what he wanted. You could see the sparkle in his eye after that! He looked over the appetizers and after joking about getting some escargot, he ordered the Double Cut Bacon with Maple Glaze. I wasn’t sure what to expect but wow was it good! The slaw that came with it was just as good as the bacon. It was some sort of apple slaw that paired so well with the maple bacon.

I really wasn’t sure what Chloe was going to get. I knew there wasn’t going to be a “kids” menu but there were a few options that I thought she would go for. I really had her pegged for the french fried shrimp, based on what they had. So she surprised me a little when she went with the filet. She wanted the petite filet, so I decided to go ahead and order the petite filet with fried shrimp for her so she could have a little of both. She was very glad I did as she loved the shrimp too. She drank a little too much Shirley Temple’s and couldn’t quite finish the filet, but I was able to have a little as well as bring some home for some leftovers!

I’ll save the birthday boy for last, so I’ll go next. I personally like to go with off-menu specials when they sound good and this one sounded amazing. It was a rainbow trout in a butter sauce with some roasted corn with potatoes. I’m sure that the description was much better than that, but that’s all that I can remember at this point! I know it’s a steakhouse but I figured I’d have some of Alex’s (if he gets steak) and some of Chloe’s so I’m good trying something else. I’m really glad I did because it was very good.

And for the grande finale, we have the birthday boy, Alex. He looked over the menu, high and low. He asked about the porterhouse, and to be honest, I wasn’t sure how to describe it. They had some 20 ounce steak as a special, which I was glad went above his head as I knew that was going to be WAY too much food for him. I had him pegged for the bacon wrapped filet, but he surprised me a little and went with the New York Strip. He went with a Medium Rare, which is obviously the best temperature you can get. He added the roasted garlic butter for a little bit more flavor. I think the bread, Shirley Temples, bacon, and side salad also filled him up so he wasn’t able to finish the entire steak. Again, not only did that allow for leftovers, but also allowed me to try his steak. It was a very good New York strip and the garlic butter was a nice touch. He was very happy with his choice, as we all were.