6118 Paseo Del Norte
Carlsbad, CA 92011
We were in Carlsbad, so you know what that means. It means it's time to get Katie a new purse from Coach at the Outlets of Carlsbad for her birthday. This has been our tradition for the last eight years now. First, we do a little shopping, and then I find a place for us to eat. This year we had my parents with us as well, and I decided it was time to cross another restaurant off of my restaurant wishlist. So we headed a couple blocks south of the Outlets to Tip Top Meats.
The man behind this spot is John Haedrich, known to his guests and employees as Big John. He escaped from East Germany in 1949, leaving everything behind to come to West Germany for a better quality of life. While in West Berlin, he got his masters butchers certificate, and when he answered an ad requesting a master sausage maker, it brought him to the US. Not wanting to get stuck in the middle of the country, he ventured out to California, opening Tip Top Meats in Glendale. After a ten-year run there, he was on the move again, relocating his successful business to its present location in Carlsbad.
Tip Top Meats has become a Carlsbad institution. They have been fixtures in this spot since 1967, which is way longer than I've even been alive. Okay, not by much, but still, it's an impressive feat to be in business for 55 years. Not just a restaurant, they are also a full-service European market, butcher shop, and deli counter.
We arrived at half past one on a Sunday and were met with a pretty long line of people ahead of us. The line moved fairly quickly, though, giving us a little bit of extra time to decide what to have. Ordering is done at the register, and then you are given a number to display at your table. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week.
The menu is one of the bigger ones I have seen recently. They have plenty of sandwich options, pork, veal, lamb, chicken, and beef entrees, plus German favorites. They also have an option where you pick out your steak from their butcher counter, and they will prepare a full dinner for you for the price of the steak plus $5.98. Speaking of prices, nothing on their menu is over $15, with most items right about the $10 price point. We were all pretty hungry, and lucky for us our food came out way quicker than I had imagined. Let's take a look.
I went a little out of my comfort zone but embraced my German heritage by trying something I had never had before, the Rouladen ($12.98). This is a round steak stuffed with bacon, mustard, onion, and pickles with brown gravy. Not bad, but I was expecting a little more from the inside ingredients of this dish. The meat was pretty tender, and the gravy added a nice homey feeling. This plate also came with all the fixings, mashed potatoes and gravy, red cabbage, sauerkraut, a roll, and a salad (not pictured). This was enough food for two meals, which I took home and ate later for dinner. The mashed potatoes were fine, and the sauerkraut was one of the most pungent versions I have had. The red cabbage was the best of the three sides, with a slightly sweet and sour flavor.
My mom is not one to try German food, so she went with the Turkey Sandwich ($9.98). This rather large turkey sandwich was parceled into three parts and included a good amount of freshly sliced turkey but no lettuce or tomato. My mom got this on toasted sourdough with light mayo. The fries are your typical frozen variety, but they did the trick for my mom.
Tossing aside his German roots, my dad went with a French Dip Sandwich ($9.98) for his midday meal. This sandwich came on a glossy french roll with swiss cheese and a good amount of sliced roast beef. The roast beef was okay on its own but was much better when dunked in the provided au jus. Next, my dad went with the German potato salad instead of fries. He liked this vinegar-based potato salad better than the American mayo-based version. So maybe his German roots did peek out a bit this afternoon.
Katie was pretty hungry after her birthday shopping excursion, as she got the Reuben ($9.98) and a Side of Spaetzle ($4.49). This traditional Reuben consisted of corned beef, sauerkraut, and swiss cheese on rye. You can see from the picture that they used rye for two sections of the sandwich and swirl bread for the third portion. I'm sure it was a mistake, but Katie did not complain. She might not have even noticed it. I'm not sure if Russian dressing was included here, but it was not mentioned on the menu board, and from the picture, it does not appear like it. None of us were big fans of the spaetzle. It was very bland, and after two bites, I did not really see the point of eating this German pasta. We'd skip it the next time we visited.
Tip Top Meats is much better than any subpar food options at the Carlsbad Outlets. The meals here are moderately priced, and the portion sizes are very generous. Something that is very rarely seen these days. The plates we encountered this afternoon did not blow us away but were still pretty solid. Our experience here does warrant a return visit, maybe to try their sausages, stuffed pork chops, or breakfast plates. Ordering was a pretty slow process, but we might have hit them during a rush. Once we ordered and sat down, our food came out relatively quickly, and the food runners were continuously circulating to ensure our needs were met. Another successful birthday outing to get Katie a new purse and try a new restaurant.
Out of five Big Macs (because, like this restaurant, 1967 was also the year that the famous McDonald's burger debuted), five being best to zero being worst, Tip Top Meats gets 3 Big Macs.
For more information about Tip Top Meats, head to their website by clicking here: https://www.tiptopmeats.com/index.html
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