Top Hat Deli — Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale

Yet another entry in the "Be Nice" restaurant group. We went on a Sunday morning in the pouring rain, and they had someone helping people out to their cars with an umbrella. That's super nice!

Inside, on the right there's a case full of some of the most delicious desserts, ranging from a gigantic 9 layer cake to really tempting cookies and brownies and other offerings. Next to that is a register with a bunch of candy underneath. I'm not sure if the candy is for sale or just for display but it was a cute touch. Then continuing on there's a long lunch counter which is open seating, and a (surprisingly large) dining room.

Despite the fact that it was a Sunday morning around 11:45, they got us a seat really quickly. One of the servers came over and got us our drinks while we were waiting for our server, who was busy with another table at the moment. I ordered a grapefruit juice... It was pretty good, though I confess that I was surprised to see the tiny glass it came in. Next time, I think I'll go with coffee.

Quickly perusing the menu I saw lots of stuff that sounded pretty amazing, but I was in the mood for breakfast so I got the "Grand Schlam" - 2 Eggs, choice of meat, a latke and your choice of toast or bagel. I got the eggs over easy, and ordered sliced pastrami in place of the traditional breakfast meats (though I once heard a TV chef refer to it as "Jewish bacon"). I didn't really want bread, so I asked if they had anything else I could substitute and I ended up going with sliced tomatoes.

The kitchen was a bit slow, and the food was not out as quickly as we would have liked. There was a combination of hangry and running a bit late in play, but it probably was only an extra 5-10 minutes - which isn't bad for a pouring rain Sunday morning if you think about it.

The Grand Schlam ended up being really good. The latke was super nice and golden brown on the outside and tasty on the inside, the eggs were done just about perfectly, and the pastrami? Oy vey ;) so good! I just wished that I'd ordered the toast. I don't know what I was thinking! My companion was not so happy with her meal, but it was more a case of disappointed expectations rather than poor quality. Pro Tip: The corned beef hash... isn't hash. It's sort of do it yourself. Not what she was expecting.

Our server Greg really came through for us when we mentioned we were in a hurry. He had nice hot cloths out for us along with the check almost immediately after our food was delivered, and cashed us out with the quickness when we were ready. The service experience for us was very on-point.

I did have a couple complaints. As I mentioned before the grapefruit juice came in a tiny glass. It was like a small rocks glass (maybe smaller). The other complaint was the noise level. It was loud enough that we had to raise our voices quite a bit just to have a conversation. It's also a bit on the pricey side, but that comes with the territory, I think.

Definitely a great choice if you're in the...

Plenty of things that need to be cleaned up here.

I went for lunch this afternoon and got a turkey sandwich with fries and matzo ball soup. The matzo ball soup was the only thing that was good.

The fries are 100% frozen checkers fries from Walmart and not the kind that should be and are normally served at a deli. Had I know they would be that quality I would have got something else.

I did the build your own sandwich option for $16 which only let you get one type of meat. I ive never been to a deli when you couldn’t get at least 2. I go to Toojays all the time and am able to get 3 for the same price (turkey ham and roastbeef). I asked for turkey road beef and salami and was told my sandwich would cost $40. 40?????. I asked for the manager and she told me it’s $15 for each type of extra meat that you want. 15 DOLLARS? EXTRA MEAT IS THE SAME PRICE AS A WHOLE SANDWICH WITH SIDE? Doesn’t make any sense at all!

I was forced to get turkey only and couldn’t believe the quality. Was not the quality of turkey you find in other delis and I got 2 slabs on each half- I was probably served about $4 worth of turkey.

I asked for no veggies only turkey cheese and thousand island. They brought veggies, didn’t give me cheese , and didn’t give me thousand island. Additionally, didn’t bend bring me ketchup for the fries. I had to send my sandwich back to get the cheese added that I asked for.

The cheesecake here is more expensive then the Cheesecake Factory

On top of all of this, it was impossible to enjoy my lunch there as it felt like it was around 60 degrees. Cold air kept blowing on me my 2 friends that were with me at the table. The customers next to me even said it’s always cold in there. I asked the manager if she can do something about the vent that was in front of me and she said something along the lines of it was spread out through the whole restaurant.

In summary, the fries are cheap fries from Walmart, it’s freezing in the whole restaurant and impossible to enjoy a meal here and stay for long with how cold it is, the prices are high, extra meat is the same price as the entree itself, you can’t get a multiple meat combo unless you want to pay the same price as a steak, and the meat quality isn’t up to true deli standards unless it’s just a...

Had heard countless great things about Top Hat, and finally got around to trying them. While I was really eyeing up the liver and onions on the menu, I had to go with one of the things that I consider a benchmark to judge a "deli" by, and went with the pastrami. Ordered "The Original" with a side of fries, and also got the matzo ball soup, which I heard rave reviews of.

Soup was phenomenal. Possibly the best matzo ball soup I've ever had. Large portion, and plenty of chicken and veggies. The matzo balls were large, flavorful, and really tender. Definitely recommend it.

The sandwich was pretty good. Pastrami was nicely seasoned, and had a perfect amount of fatiness. They were generous with the Swiss, which I love. Most places skimp out on cheese. I was hesitant about caramelized onions, as they're not part of a "traditional" pastrami sandwich, but they complimented it well, without taking about from the other ingredients.

A friend for the chicken pot pie, which I'd also heard fave reviews about. But when it came to the table, while the top was warm, the inside was just kinda room temp. The waitress apologized profusely, and had the kitchen fire up a fresh one (all they really had to do was toss the original back in the oven for a few minutes, but they insisted on remaking it). The replacement came out piping hot. And the pie lived up to the hype. Plenty of tender chicken, lots of other fillings, flaky crust, and the gravy was spot on.

Also got a couple of the doughnut croissants to go, and they were very good. Flaky with good flavor.

In addition, the waitress and other staff were phenomenal. Very friendly, attentive and professional. They quickly addressed any "issues", and made for a more than pleasant experience.

While the food and staff was overall very good, my only "gripe" was the pricing. I don't mind paying for something if it's worth the price, but I personally feel it's priced a bit high for what it is. That being said, the friendliness of the staff more than balanced it out. I wouldn't make them a regular stop, but I will definitely be back numerous times in the future (and the liver and onions will be my best order!).

p.s.- didn't get pics of the pot pie or...