Tolbert’s Restaurant

This restaurant had been recommended by a gent in the tourist office for «good Texas food.» We ordered the torpedoes as an appetizer, and both hubby and I ordered the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes; he had his with beans and I had mine with a dinner salad.
The torpedoes were okay — not great, but not completely lousy. However, the mashed potatoes were dry and tasteless. The gravy on the chicken fried steak tasted as though it had been made with souring milk — it had a very odd, unpleasant taste. The chicken fried steak — when you could get a bite that had some meat in it, not just coating — was gummy/​chewy and flavorless. There must have been a ¼ cup of water resting in the bottom of my salad bowl. Neither of us could manage more than a few bites. The waiter never questioned why we ate so little of our food. With an iced tea for hubby and one domestic beer for me, it was $ 42 for mostly inedible food.

I can’t comment on the food since I just popped in for drinks but service is exceptional. It was triple digits out and my party needed to stay hydrated, so I dropped in for some sodas. To my surprise the hostess refused payment and was such a sweetheart warning me that the lids were not sitting flush and I should be careful of spillage. Wow talk about southern hospitality! A kind gesture like that made my day! Thank you Tolbert’s!

Had today off so we thought We’d venture to Tolbert’s to try the tasty «Five Alarm» chili as seen on the Food or Travel Network. It’s supposed to be one of the hottest foods in America. I should’ve known not everything on TV is true bc the chili was neither hot nor tasty. I’ve had better chili at Texas Road House. We also ordered chicken strip for the kids, burgers and breaded wings for us. Wings and burgers weren’t terrible but not worth the 40 minutes drive from Plano. The chicken strips could have used more meat.

Best. Chili. Ever. Hearty, meaty, flavorful, just darn good. Has a bit of a kick but not a lot, but served with a fresh jalapeño in case you want to add more (or you can order the 5-​alarm version). I was also impressed with three kinds of potatoes (one of my favorite food groups): mashed potatoes that were not drowned in butter, perfect consistency, not too thick or too mushy; great fries which, like the mashed, actually taste like potatoes; and sweet potato fries that for once were great without added sugar or other nonsense. This is real food done well. Service was also excellent. Austin wisely brought my young daughter’s food ASAP, kept drinks filled, was helpful but low-​key (I’m not a fan of some of the overzealous over– engaging wait staff thank you). I am not in Texas often but I will be back at Tolbert’s every single time. Maybe more than once per trip. I look forward to trying their Mex fare, which I have heard is also great authentic food.

While their good is good, they have live music the 7 days. We had good service and cold beers. If you want to listen to live music and eat good, I definitely recommend this place but try to come early because I have seen it packed full.

Friendly Texas atmosphere in the laid-​back stroll way of Grapevine. this restaurant seems to be a hometown favorite.

Loud, loud, loud. When restaurant want the historic look with the industrial ceilings they sacrifice a pleasant eating experience. If I’m at a bar with a band I don’t expect to visit, but if I’m in a restaurant at 7 pm, I don’t want to yell to talk to person next to me.

The driest beef I’ve ever had in a bowl of chili. Someone’s daughter is resting on their laurels and Frank has to be rolling in his grave. If someone served a bowl of this in Terlingua they would be tarred and feathered and run out of the state. Similar to serving dry brisket in Texas and calling it barbecue. I was generous with one star. Have never written a review but as bad as the food and service was, I had to speak up. Now you know. There are better choices in downtown. If you’re just drinking at the bar not bad. Ok bands at night.

My family and I dined at Tolbert’s for dinner while staying in Grapevine.
My wife and I enjoy drinking local brews, and asked our waitress Kimmy for recommendations. She suggested several, and I chose an IPA from Noble Rey Brewing called «Vertigo». It was tasty and rich, and was very good.
This was our first time at Tolbert’s so when it came time to order our entrees, I asked for recommendations here as well. I had narrowed my list to a possibility of four items: a bowl of Original Texas Red chili, a bowl of North of the Border chili, the Terlingua Burger, or the Boquillas Burrito. Kimmy suggested this item because it came with some of Tolbert’s famous chili inside of the burrito. The entrée consisted of Tolbert’s chili, lettuce and onions wrapped in 2 flour tortillas and topped with chili con queso served with rice and refried beans. Each bite of the burrito was very unique because you tasted the chili, lettuce and onions. It was delicious! Much different from any of the other burritos that I’ve ever had, but just as good if not better!
My wife ordered the Frito Pie, our daughter had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich, and our son had the Kiddie Burger, but there wasn’t anything kiddie about it! It was just as big as the regular burgers at most other restaurants. I sampled a bit of my wife’s Frito Pie and it was very good! The chicken on the Grilled Chicken Sandwich was very tender and juicy, grilled to perfection.
As I mentioned earlier this was our first time to Tolbert’s, but definitely not our last!

I hate giving 3 star reviews. Something about this place bugs me, but I don’t live around the corner so maybe it’s the fact I’ve never been here for a jam band night to experience that, or maybe I was expecting more for the drive. In any case, no specific complaints on the food, just meh experience for me. Nice staff, decent beer selection. Sorry Tolbert’s, you’re my first 3 star review in a while, but you deserve it (no more, no less).

The Chili really is awesome! Great place for live music in town too. Service can be a little inconsistent at times but everyone is always friendly and the food never disappoints.

We live ½ a mile from this place and walk here often. The ambiance is great family/​casual atmosphere. They have quirky decorations, live music usually after 8:30pm.
They have and excellent draught beer menu – Franconia Dunkel (McKinney TX) is one of the best dark beers locally brewed. They also have some local Grapevine Craft Brewery beers. Food is always consistent and very good. Teacher’s salad is a very fresh, tasty salad topped with excellent sirloin steak. Burgers are good, as is their steak quesadilla. Also Lacuna’s (sp?) Chicken platter is always an excellent grilled chicken platter.
Sometimes it’s busy and their is a wait – usually not more than 15 minutes. Service is usually above average and helpful. What are you waiting for – go!

Came here for a birthday dinner for the hubs coworker. The place over all was nice and had a live band, it was super dark though like the kind where you have to pull out your cell phone to see the menu. I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak and it wasn’t the best but wasn’t the worst. Hubs got the chili dog and he loved it whatever came on the side that was the spicy chili, was not playing around he couldn’t even handle it with out a glass of water.

We’d been craving the experience we first had at The Battle of Tolbert’s and had been working on our spice level leading up to lunch. Maybe, we’re too used to spicy food or maybe it was just a lackluster batch of chili. Either way, not worth the drive to get what we got.
We both order the 5 alarm chili, north of the border with beans. As our friendly wait person sat the bowls down they looked promising. Topped with cheese, onions and a whole Serrano. We dumped the side of 5 alarm «sauce» into the bowl and dug in.
The chili was very watery so the homemade fritos that circled the bowl were terrific to throw into the bowl as we ate. The Serrano was okay, not spicy, and could have done with a char over a burner to add some heat. The 5 alarm sauce seemed nothing more than a lot of cayenne pepper mixed with water.
For a Main Street mainstay, Tolbert’s certainly has it’s following of regulars. But for someone who’s on the hunt for truly, one of the hottest dishes in ‘Murica, it misses it’s mark. Though the bowl did make me cry, it just did not have any complexity. The french fries were terrific as was the fried zucchini. But, I wouldn’t order the chili again.

I love pretty much anything on Grapevine Main Street. Im just a little old fashioned town loving girl, what can I say! And Tolbert’s is one of those good old fashioned restaurants and bars. You go in for some loud honky tonk, or blues music, a selection of home cooked type foods and a bunch of beers on draft. Now i’ve only been twice in my all my years of residing in the metroplex, but its one of those places i’ve herd about for years. So when I went it, it didn’t really disappoint! Its just what you would expect. A bunch of chipper hostesses and waitresses, chummy regulars supporting their local music artists (on Thursday, Friday and Saturday), and a rowdy good time! Good grub, and good company! Definitely not the place for a date, or an intimate conversation (it can get super loud) but definitely a place for a great time on a weekend. Love it!

Frank X, Tolbert’s legacy, now run by his daughter, stands on historic Main Street in Grapevine. The building is impressive and the layout is nice, but it takes a little more than that.
We ordered nachos and torpedoes (fried stuffed jalapenos). The nachos were a little pricey for what you got. The jalapenos were ok.
Let’s start with the chili. The bowl of red can be ordered «5 alarm», which means a liquid spice container will accompany the bowl. You can add as much as you please, and if you add it all, it will be plenty hot for most people — too hot for some people. The bowl is accompanied by onions, cheese, and a pile of tortilla chips. I recommend ordering the onions on the side, as it’s served with a heavy hand. The chips are really good. The meat is ground, somewhere between a hamburger grind and a chili grind, and broken up fine.
The problem is consistency. It’s too soupy for my taste, at least 50% broth. It would take ten crumbled crackers to even begin to soak up all that liquid. The price is pretty cheap, but I would rather pay a little more and load it up with meat.
Service was friendly, but a little uninformed, as she had no clue what the Sunday drink specials were. It took 15 – 20 minutes to get our food, apparently because of a hamburger that was ordered. Bowls to go came in less than 5 minutes.
WIGB? I don’t think so. Sorry Frank, I loved your book.

Came here for the chili after everyone raved about it, got the original red (1 extra hot 1 regular). It was good chili.
Now, it has no beans (which I like), and a decent spice amount. The Serrano chili as a side garnish will knock your socks off! Good flavor throughout.
But it wasn’t the best I think I’ve had, the meat was a little grainy for my liking and $ 10 for a bowl was a little extravagant for what you get.

This place is a local favorite and I can see why. The menu isn’t huge, but it has just a little bit of everything and the atmosphere just begs you to drink a nice cold beer. I decided to go with the beef fajitas, but wish I had chosen something else. The fajitas were just okay for me and I wouldn’t recommend it. The meat was a bit dried by the time it got to me and it overall tasted like an average fajita plate except more expensive. What I would recommend are the chili cheese fries which was not only delicious but big enough to share with a few people. Although our waitress was nice, the service was extremely slow and the people in our party were constantly out of drinks. If I were to come back, I’d get the CFS, which looked amazing.

My friend loved her Chili. Mine was a little on the soupy side, I like my chili a little more on the stewy side. The chips they serve were great tasting. I also had the blood and Honey beer which I recommend if you like wheat beers. Service was just so-​so. Only saw our waiter 3 times and had to ask for for the check. If you like chili you have to give this restaurant a try.

Tolberts has wonderful beers on tap. Over a dozen local Texas beers and some «Foreign» beers including my favorite (Grapefruit Sculpin — San Diego Love Baby!). Service was very prompt and helpful. Food was good too.
The Thursday night band was a little cheezy. I could get over the monkeys all over the stage (actual stuffed monkeys). But when their saxaphone player sang «All about that base» with two balloons blown up and stuffed in her skirt, I had to throw up a little in my mouth. Not that I have any issues with a larger woman, but watching a size 2 woman make fun of larger women while singing was unfortunate. The male lead seemed to enjoy speaking instead of singing.