Topo's 403 Private Events Venue — Local services in Bloomington

So a bit of background before I dive into the review. We made a reservation for a party of 10 for 6:30 on a Saturday night. Right in the middle of dinner rush and a big party for a smaller place. Props to them for fitting us in a small area. We definitely understood that it was a bad time to have a big group in a smaller restaurant, but we got a reservation ahead of time to try and account for that. Two of our group came in to get the table at 6:30 and the rest of the group came in at 6:45. The majority of us were late but not super late. The hostess asked the two of us when the rest of the party was coming in and we told her that they were on there way and shouldn't be much longer. The hostess said ok and then explained to us that we were interrupting the flow of dinner service that night. That was probably true but that sort of rubbed us the wrong way. We felt bad about it but I felt like our situation was reasonable. We weren't terribly late and we got our order for food in at 7:10. I think the food took about 40 minutes to arrive. We ordered appetizers for the table which came first.

The octopus appetizer was good. Nothing special and the octopus was seemed pretty fresh. The devils on horseback was interesting as well but I would have wanted a little more in terms of portion size. Good for two people to split. Spanakopita was good as well. Nice and crisp and a good amount of filling. Probably my second favorite appetizer. The best appetizer was the Fritto Miso. The calimari was pretty good but the star of the show was that genius lemon caper aioli. Our waiter Matt asked us if we wanted some pita to finish off the sauces and we said yes. The pita plus that lemon caper aioli was the highlight of the night for me. Grilled pita with black sesame seeds was served warm on a plate. If you get an app, go for the pita and go for that aioli.

The food. I'm only going to comment on the 2 dishes that I tried. I ordered the 403 burger. Honestly, I was underwhelmed. The spices in the burger seemed inconsistently mixed. The bun seemed like it was housemade, but that wasn't a good thing. The bun was too small for the burger and flavor and texture of the bread was off somehow. The onions on the burger were good and the sauce tasted good as well but there was too much on the burger for me. I ordered the burger medium but it came medium well. The meat was all gray. Fries were ok. If they had been served hot, I would have enjoyed them a lot more. The cook on the burger and temp of the fries seem like a product of us having a party of 10.

I tried the Harissa Salmon that my date ordered. The skin had a really nice texture and taste to it but the actual salmon filet was a bit overdone. The fish had an overpowering garlic taste from the skordalia. I think skordalia is a potato and garlic puree of sorts but it really overpowered the fish. The garlic taste combined with the pink peppercorns meant that my date only finished half of her portion. I agreed with her that the fish tasted too much like raw garlic. The plating was really pretty but everything else suffered from the overpowering garlic. For $26, I think you would be better spending your money on another dish.

Bottom line: Topos 403 is probably not the place to come with a big group. The wine and cocktail selection was pretty darn good for a higher end Bloomington restaurant but the food was expensive for the quality and the service was slower than I would have wanted. Topos 403 is probably the place to come for some shared appetizers and a couple of cocktails. I can't recommend the food for a larger group, but I can recommend the awesome grilled pita and that delicious lemon...

Excellent meal all around, plan to go again. I dined at Topo's recently when visiting Bloomington. Definitely more upscale than the college-town restaurants and their typical fare in B-town.

I started with the Spanikopita, which was excellent. The phillo dough was crispy but not dried out, and the filling was creamy and rich (not the typical pasty or just dry spinach). I ordered one of the signature drinks from the bar, a Rye whisky with what tasted like a hint of ouzo and had an orange zest floating. Very smooth. Next I tried Topo's Fritto Misto - which is the best calamari I've had in a few years. As above, it wasn't over done and rubbery or dried out, and they didn't kill it by loading it with salt and lemon. What they did do was set it over a really nice aoli with lemon olive oil and capers. I was tempted to skip the main course and order more appetizers. Instead, I tried the Moussaka since it is a signature greek dish. They get the texture and flavor right. A nice mix of lamb and eggplant, and the bechamel was crispy on top and still soft below. For dessert I had their signature donuts with salted carmel sauce. Wow. Really, one not to miss when I come back.

Overall, I think this is an excellent restaurant for Bloomington. I anticipate this will be a good spot for visiting alumni, and for students wanting to impress their...

Beautiful building, that's really what the two stars are for. Otherwise, the food left something to be desired from top to botyom. I went with my husband and another couple; we all left unsatisfied. The entered were not all small but The lamb chops were surprisngly petite for the price while the pasta dishes were quite large. We all commented on the unique flavors of the whole meal. I really love Greek cuisine and wanted to like this place but portion to price ratio was a little off putting. All that aside, the dessert we received, hoping to atleast finish on a high note, was the worst part of the whole meal. The flourless chocolate cake was dry and bitter, not like any other similar cake I've encountered and being gluten free, I eat this cake a lot when I'm out. Conclusion, I'm definitely...