New Top Dog Pizza & Pub in Machesney Park strives to provide top quality bar food under its roof
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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MACHESNEY PARK — The owners of the village’s newest pizza pub set out to create a bar where the food wasn’t an afterthought but part of the draw.
For the team behind Top Dog Pizza & Pub, at 8638 N. Second St. in front of the former Machesney Park Mall, that starts with a crave-worthy crust that they say is healthier and tastier than your average pie. The eatery’s pizza features the light, airy, hand-pressed and lower gluten pinsa Romana crust from Burlington, Wisconsin-based Pedone Pinsa.
“It’s a higher-quality crust. We wanted everything to be above average from your typical bar menu,” said Bader Badran, one of the trio of business partners behind the pub. “Everything we brought in here want to be of a higher quality. The food is very, very important to this place to make it successful.”
Top Dog opened late last month after the owners overhauled nearly every aspect of the former Baking Grounds North site, which was originally a Taco Bell. Now, the space is nearly unrecognizable from its initial form inside and out. Renovations have been in the works for months after the property was purchased in October 2022.
The business is operated in partnership by Badran, Scott Warner and Danny Dalip. The logo is a nod to the owners’ other businesses. It features the roof dog from Warner Roofing & Restoration and the T in Top Dog draws from Badran’s Top Notch Roofing & Exteriors.
“We all like really good food, but we don’t really like bar food,” Warner said of the business partners. “We wanted to create a spot that was a bar that has top-quality bar food and top-quality pizza.”
While Warner and Badran both have backgrounds in the roofing industry, Dalip has spent decades working in the hospitality industry from neighborhood bars and diners to high-end restaurants.
Dalip said Warner introduced him to the pinsa Romana crust that has been a hit with customers so far.
“I was hooked immediately,” he said. “The testing is done now, we don’t have to do any more samples. This is literally it.
“Then (Bader) whipped up a mean sauce, and I was like you boys nailed it.”
The restaurant also serves bone-in chicken wings, soup, burgers with fries or tater tots and has kids’ meals with hot dogs and cheeseburgers.
“We want people to feel comfortable coming in with their entire family,” Badran said.
The menu will expand after the grand opening next week.
One item they didn’t initially plan for was the Chicago style hot dogs, but when customers saw the name Top Dog on Google listing they started calling in hopes the restaurant would offer a good dog.
“We had no intention of selling any hot dogs,” Dalip said. “Then my phone was nonstop with people calling: Do you have a chili dog? Do you have a Chicago-style dog?”
The drink menu includes locally brewed Urban Forest beer on tap as well as liquor from locally owned Rock’n Vodka and Harvard-based Rush Creek Distillery.
Top Dog also plans to show appreciation to first responders by providing one free meal per week to any on-duty and in-uniform first responder.
“We truly want to celebrate the first responders,” Warner said. “That’s just a standing offer, they have a free meal once a week in perpetuity.”
They eventually plan to expand onto the property west of the pub to add volleyball courts and space for outdoor events.
They hope the restaurant will become a family-friendly hangout spot, and they expect the pizza will be a draw.
“We were very nervous about it because it’s not your every day, Winnebago County crust,” Warner said. “We were nervous about how the community would react to it and it’s been overwhelmingly positive.”
About | Top Dog Pizza & Pub
Where: 8638 N. Second St., Machesney Park
Hours: 10 a.m. to midnight (kitchen closes at 10 p.m.) seven days a week
Online: topdogpizzapub.com
Social: On Facebook HERE; on Instagram HERE
Contact: topdogpizzapub@hotmail.com; 779-368-2253
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
