Tope La has been in Hammond for about 10 years and is one of the "nicer" restaurants in town. The food is generally very good. I have eaten their about 10 times for various occasions. This time a group of colleagues and I met for an early dinner after work. I ordered off of the special "rustic Italian" menu they were featuring. A generous friend in the group ordered a couple of appetizers to share. One was the fried olives. (This just lends credence to the idea that we fry anything in the south.) They were pretty good. Since they were green olives they had a strong olive flavor. I like olives so that was OK for me. The other appetizer was outstanding. It was fried eggplant topped with a lump crab meat sauce (picture on right). The crab meat was excellent and so was the sauce. For an entree, I ordered the chicken parmigiana (pictured at bottom). Not sure why, because I try to avoid pasta. It was just OK - nothing special. A couple in our group ordered the sugar cane salmon - it looked delicious. I always want what other people ordered instead of what I order. The service is always good as well - this time no different. Looking for a special occasion in Hammond - try Tope La.
Tope La has been in Hammond for about 10 years and is one of the "nicer" restaurants in town. The food is generally very good. I have eaten their about 10 times for various occasions. This time a group of colleagues and I met for an early dinner after work. I ordered off of the special "rustic Italian" menu they were featuring. A generous friend in the group ordered a couple of appetizers to share. One was the fried olives. (This just lends credence to the idea that we fry anything in the south.) They were pretty good. Since they were green olives they had a strong olive flavor. I like olives so that was OK for me. The other appetizer was outstanding. It was fried eggplant topped with a lump crab meat sauce (picture on right). The crab meat was excellent and so was the sauce. For an entree, I ordered the chicken parmigiana (pictured at bottom). Not sure why, because I try to avoid pasta. It was just OK - nothing special. A couple in our group ordered the sugar cane salmon - it looked delicious. I always want what other people ordered instead of what I order. The service is always good as well - this time no different. Looking for a special occasion in Hammond - try Tope La. 
Glad you love Tope La, Danny! My former classmate, Tommy Masaracchia, co-owns and cooks there. It is where we will be having the HHS Class of '81 30 year reunion. They have a wonderful brunch on Sunday you should try sometime!
ReplyDelete