Topo
In the heart of Gilbert’s Heritage District is Topo. The small gopher-topped building is designed to look like a classic roadside attraction of a bygone era. With a quick look as we pass by, it’s hard to determine what a place topped with a large gopher with glowing eyes and a ten-gallon hat would serve. It doesn’t exactly shout anything in particular, but we definitely wouldn’t have guessed it to be some tasty burritos.
Topo is conveniently located in the heart of Gilbert’s Heritage District between Elliot and Guadalupe. Since Topo is small it can easily be missed, but once you finally spot it, it will stick out like a sore thumb. There’s no parking on the main road, but there is plenty of it behind the row of restaurants on either side of the street.
Topo has a very small menu, but what it does have is very delicious. The main menu items are the burritos. Their basic burritos come with either chicken or pork and are wrapped up in a toasty burrito filled with beans, cheese, and salsa. The basic burritos are great, but we always order the Topo Loco burrito. Just like the normal burrito, the Topo Loco comes with either pork or chicken. These burritos come with beans, elote, fritos, hot sauce, cilantro, cheese, and a tomatillo crema. The Loco burrito is quite spicy and the fritos add a nice crunch as well a textural contrast to the overall creaminess of the burrito and other fillings.
Topo also serves elote which is made with roasted corn, tomatillo crema, cilantro, cotija cheese, and chile powder. The combo makes for a creamy, cheesy, and super sweet corn mixture. Unfortunately, the serving is rather small and always left us wanting more, but it is well worth the cost.
The last menu item is soft serve ice cream. Topo has vanilla but the real star is the prickly pear. It has a tangy yogurt taste, and the flavor is akin to raspberry. The texture is light and airy. This ice cream is so good that everytime we get something to eat in the area, we have to swing by Topo for some prickly pear soft serve dessert. They also have seasonal ice cream throughout the year like the S’mores cone.
There’s plenty of open seating behind Topo, but we prefer the tables next to it along the road. It’s a nice spot for people watching while we eat, and there’s a beautiful mural on the wall as well.
Topo is a fantastic little place with great food and a very unique look to it. We always look forward to stopping by for some burritos or even just some prickly pear ice cream whenever we’re in the area.
Google Maps Link: Topo