Topgolf is full of surprises

95% of entertainment complex’s offerings are farm-fresh
1748
Injectable donut holes

Courtesy of Topgolf

Topgolf, a 65,000-square-foot entertainment complex centered around computerized golf games, opened at 10900 Westside Parkway in Alpharetta last week. But it’s culinary offerings go far beyond the traditional pizza and hot dogs of most gaming establishments. With executive chef Mark Nelson and 80 workers in the kitchen, Topgolf is stepping things up a notch.

Guests can expect items like the prosciutto, artichoke, and olive flatbread; curried chicken salad sandwich; Thanksgiving burger; and for brunch, caramelized French toast. At the bar, cocktails like the Mexi-Gin Martini—with jalapeno syrup—and Tito’s Strawberry Mule—with fresh mint—bypass the traditional. The menu is a lengthy one. We spoke to Nelson to learn more.

Tell me about your background.
I started in the restaurant business at age 15. I was a banquet manager with Hilton in 1989. I opened my own restaurant in Lake Oconee eight years ago: Filet Steak & Seafood. For the last two-and-a-half years, I’ve been consulting with other chefs on food and beverage menus. I worked on the Woodland Country Club menus in Texas.

Why’d you decide to come to Atlanta and Topgolf in particular?
I wanted to get back to Atlanta to be near my girlfriend and my daughter, so I started putting out feelers. I was looking for something interesting and different and a company that did things the right away—a from scratch kitchen, essentially. Several of my friends said to check out Topgolf, said that they were doing some really cool stuff.

Topgolf had a Chopped-style competition for the culinary management positions, and that’s how I got my job. I did a sliced strip steak with white truffle and shitake mushroom topping, and braised kale; and beer-braised mussels with red and yellow peppers, ginger, fresh cilantro, and lime juice. We had about forty-five minutes to do an appetizer and an entrée.

How is the menu at the Alpharetta Topgolf similar or different to that at other Topgolf locations?
We have a corporate chef team that does the menu design. Each individual chef has some input into their menu. We’ll probably have three or four unique items on our menu and three to four new ones that we’ll contribute to the national menu. We redo the menus once a year. This menu is a brand new one, and Atlanta is the first site to launch it. I helped them work out some of the specifics of some of the menu items to get the flavor profile and plating right. It’s a very collaborative effort between the corporate chef team and the executive chef at each site.

Tell me about the food.
Ninety-five percent of everything is made from scratch. We use products that come from the earth–not a factory or a freezer somewhere. For example, for our nachos, instead of opening a can of pinto bean paste, we do drunken beans—soak them, cook them, add onions and fat, and then puree them. We make the cheese blend and chimichurri from scratch, we smoke the chicken, we marinate and grill the beef, and we even make the nachos themselves from scratch.

What’s the restaurant like? Do you consider it a destination in itself or is it more for golfers?
Every seat in the place is a dining seat. Guests can order food at the bar or when they’re playing a game. We can have as many as 1,200 people at one time. It’s not a golf facility with a restaurant but a restaurant with a golf facility. We have some event space but there is no dining room. There are booth and high-tops at the bar that will hold more people.

A large percentage of people come just to eat and drink and for the live entertainment Thursday through Saturday on the rooftop terrace. There’s so much more to do than just the game, but the game is part of the draw.

What’s the focus of the bar?
We have several local craft beers that we’ve selected from the market – some from Jekyll Brewing in Alpharetta, a couple from other Atlanta and Georgia outlets. The wine list is mostly domestic. [Topgolf also offers numerous cocktails].

What’s the one item guests simply must try?
My personal favorite is the brisket nachos. We smoke the brisket in house, pull it ourselves, buy whole jalapenos and Fresno peppers and slice them ourselves. It explodes with flavor. If the components are right, the dish is right. That’s our company standard.

Anything else I should know?
People come expecting bar food and what they get surprises them. I’d call it chefed-up bar food. [Topgolf] is the kind of place that will change the scene for both lunch and nightlife in the Alpharetta area. People come from the office, with a date, with friends, or bring their family.

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