Best of 2000: Best Deli Lunch In The County

Tip Top Meats
6118 Paseo del Norte, Carlsbad
(760) 438-2620

When Big John decided to become a boxer back in East Germany, he became an Olympic heavyweight. When he decided to become a butcher, he got a master's degree in butchering. When he came to America, he decided to create the best German-style deli he could give America. And at his deli in Carlsbad, Tip Top Meats, you're just not allowed to leave hungry. A $3.98 breakfast of two eggs, home-fried potatoes, and toast includes all you can eat of his own smokehouse bacon, or pork link sausage, bratwurst, or ham. No limits. Overstuffed lunch plates like "braised short ribs served with mashed potatoes and gravy, green salad or soup, and red-cabbage, sauerkraut, or broccoli" cost $6.98. You can buy a raw steak from the meat department and have them cook it right there. But what everybody says is the "must-eat" is the end-of-week prime rib roast. "A massive portion of prime rib, served with mashed potatoes and gravy, baked potato or french fries, red cabbage, sauerkraut, or broccoli, soup or salad, and a dinner roll," for $7.98. This garlicky, sausagey, cabbagey generous place has been Carlsbad's secret too long.