Top of the Hill

5/1/2008 7:57:31 PM, thursday, may 01, 2008
Had lunch here too. I’ve had a few of theirs canned and wasn’t impressed. The service was nice and the food was tasty and reasonably priced. Its a must visit landmark for Chapel Hill though.

1/8/2008 9:52:56 AM, tuesday, january 08, 2008
Whenever my wife and I return to the Triangle, we make a point of visiting Top of the Hill for dinner and brews. They brew all of their offerings on-site (in fact, the large fermenters provide enticing eye-candy from the main dining room), so don’t come here looking for 20 taps or something. After all, you can only drink one beer at a time, and each of their draughts is high-quality. The food is delicious, in good serving sizes, and reasonably priced. Best creme brulee in NC, as far as I’m concerned. The pizzas, pasta dishes, and entree specials are mouth-watering even as I sit here reminiscing. The ambiance is nice without being stuffy, trendy without being coldly industrial. And there’s a fantastic outdoor porch (with heaters) overlooking Franklin Street. Be warned, though this nice date-spot restaurant changes into a college bar pretty quickly after 9:00 or so. For the best experience, go early-ish for dinner. Or mid-week. Highly recommended.

8/19/2007 5:22:03 PM, sunday, august 19, 2007
Great site, good food, ok beer. Sit on top of franklin street and watch the scenery. Great to people watch. I’m sure it’s great on game day too. The beer is drinkable but nothing to write home to mom about. I had the black and blue burger which was spicy and nice. Everyone else had salads which looked really good. Must see if nothing else to check out the scene.

7/31/2007 9:46:38 PM, tuesday, july 31, 2007
Wow, this place is quite a bit fancier than suits my tastes. Strangely curvilinear bar inside; third story patio outside. The food is pricey, but awesome. The beer is middle of the road. I would have enjoyed it more had I not had a headache while we were there.

2/1/2007 11:11:15 AM, thursday, february 01, 2007
I hear some locals slam the beer here, but I think it was pretty decent. Just a small notch above standard brewpub stuff, but definitely enjoyable. This seems to be the place were all the upper economic class frat kids come to hang out, but it wasn’t as irritating as that situation could potentially be. I love the view from the wide windows. We had just eaten and didn’t get to try some of the very appealing items on the menu. Service was okay and the place is very clean and well laid out. I think though, Carolina Brewery was simply more fun.

10/16/2006 6:23:32 PM, monday, october 16, 2006
The service is slow, the clientel are mainly rich, conservative frat boys, and sorority hotties and the beer is watery and boring. They brew it themselves. They do have a very nice patio overlooking East Franklin Street. This is their only selling point. Good selection of top-shelf liquors. Tasty eye candy.

4/8/2006 10:02:28 PM, saturday, april 08, 2006
This is a pretty classy bar. It’s packed with Fraternity and Sorority folk from UNC most nights of the week tho (kind of annoying) There is often nice local live music, though there is no real stage to speak of. The house brews at Top of the Hill are easily the best beers in chapel hill. There’s also a great porch that overlooks Franklin St. (the main drag through the university town). It’s not a bad place to spend the evening if you’re in town. I’ve never tried the food there, so I can’t say anything about that.

10/10/2005 5:42:36 PM, monday, october 10, 2005
Haven’t been here in awhile. It’s okay when UNC is out.

9/3/2005 2:46:12 PM, saturday, september 03, 2005 [ Updated saturday, september 03, 2005 ]
beautiful wrap around bar. full service bar menu. incredible appetizer food (bruschetta and crap dip plate), amazing key lime martinis. the bartenders were super nice and when they heard I was rating their beers they game me the tasting menu for free! outdoor patio part of restaurant with pretty hanging flower pots and overlook of main street. salad great. dinner entrees only ok. you can take a six can pack of the lager and/or a six can pack of the IPA home with you. I bought both! this restaurant-brewery is the first micro-cannery in North Carolina. And their beers aren’t half bad (except for th porter). I would definetely stop in again if I make the drive there.

7/30/2005 5:03:39 PM, saturday, july 30, 2005 [ Updated wednesday, may 10, 2006 ]
Brewpub/rstaurant on the 3rd floor of a building on Franklin St. Nice view of the main drag in Chapel Hill. Pretty happening place on weekends. Great outdoor patio that looks out over the city. Food is good. Their house brews are decent, too, but don’t rotate very often.