Brian's Top Notch Cafe

This place is authentic. It’s not capturing or replicating another style or taste. It’s unapologetically casual and simple. My food was delicious. The service was great. Everyone was friendly. It was like I popped in at Brian’s home, and even though I was not expected, he provided me the most earnest effort at hospitality and yummy food from his own pantry.

Had the chicken fried steak with eggs, hash browns and toast. Generous portions. Amazing food everytime!

The lady was nice and kind in her service and the food was delicious! The cool sun outside and patiently waiting created a wonderful food truck experience! (Philly sandwich w/ fries)

Don’t be fooled by the decor and the old man behind the counter. Old time Norman Rockwell diner. One of the best omelette I’ve had with fresh vegetables and eggs cooked perfectly. Fresh hash browns and cooked bacon. I’ll be here in Great Falls for a month or 2 and need to come back and have lunch. The help is fantastic!

Food and service was great. The restaurant was could use some upgrades. Typical old fashion café. I recommend it.

This is a cool place! Dad, daughter, and 4yr old grandson. Small town feel. Large portions.

Probably the best breakfast I have had in Great Falls! Brian is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet and it feels like home. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

I stopped at this restaurant on my way back from glacier national park and I was very happy that I did. The restaurant has the perfect small cafe atmosphere that I was hoping for. There was only one man working as the chef and waiter and he was very helpful and quick with our order. There was no fuss with our food and he gives very reasonable portions for a good price. I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant if you love big pancakes and great breakfast food in general.

Not clean and food I could make At home. Friendly service but otherwise not somewhere I'd regularly visit.

To be fair, I haven't had the pleasure of eating here in awhile, though I am hoping to make a trip back home soon and to be certain, stopping at Brian's is an absolute must do for me. I used to get the Mountain Man breakfast to go as it was enough food for my household of 3 with leftovers. I can't wait to taste Brian's cooking again, Top Notch simply tastes like home to me. It's cozy, like visiting a family member and the conversation with staff was always fun. I hope things are still going strong come spring when we can go visit again!

Great place to eat. Good service amazing food. It's an old time diner flair. Brian the cook, owner, dishwasher and what ever else he can do is a funny guy who really cares about putting the best food out to people. When you come here your not a customer your Brian's family coming to his table to eat. Great coffee! Omelettes are my go to. There done with care, always amazing. Brian takes care of the community! He does what he can to give back to his community. Need more people like him in this world. May God bless him and his great eatery!

3 1/2 out of 5. Fits the "Mom & Pop" definition to a T. Not bright and shiny new, but warm and friendly service in a "seen better days" environment. Nothing fancy, just home cookin'. The Chicken Fried Steak Breakfast was large enough to split and we did. If your tank is empty, this is the place to fill'er up.

Yummy - here's the menu too! Nice local diner Had omelettes and burritos and all the fixings. Good cups of coffee too!

Great Omelet! Plentiful portions and excellent fresh ingredients. Jokes are lame but well intentioned.

They are still open! Sister drove by and noticed they were open so we got there as soon as we could. Brian did not disappoint. The portions are massive and you can see the love Brian puts into cooking his food.

This is an "american diner" in Great Falls of the "un ironic" category- i.e. unchanged since the 50s or 60s when it opened. So... uh... we were driving back from Glacier National Park and we decided to check out Great Falls for an afternoon (you can totally "do" Great Falls in a single afternoon, FYI). This was the place we selected for lunch based on... the sign? Great Falls has totally awesome signage and a downtown that looks like it was used for the town in Back to the Future- when Michael J. Fox went back in time? The hours are 8- 2PM and the amiable old woman behind the counter would like us all to know that Top Notch serves breakfast right till close, that the burgers are great and that you just can't get meals like the ones they serve at Top Notch. With the exception of the french fries- which were "fresh cut" and deliciously greasy as all hell, she was wrong about the food, which was nothing spech- straight up american dinner fare- where adventurous is jalapeno on your cheesburger. Nothing wrong with that , mind you, nothing wrong with that. CDW has the BLT and she most displeased with tbe bacon which was limp and, again, greasy (sense a trend?). As CDW said at the time, "Can't you at least get the bacon crisp at a place like this." Also featured an amusing conversation between (old, male, white) locals who were talking about how modern women are so "high maintenance"(their phrase!)

Brian's Top Notch catered our Christmas party and the food was very generous in portions and tasted great! He provided the dinnerware, excellent service, and made sure none of us went home hungry. I would recommend them as a center for another event. I am sad I didn't think to take a picture of the food, it disappeared from our plates too soon!

Top Notch is greasy, artery clogging, and perfectly tasty! Brian is always so nice and will chat with everyone, he also makes all of the food himself. The portions are MASSIVE. You can watch him make the pancakes right there (which are bigger than the plate) and the French Fries are cut from a potato about 2 seconds after you order them and are sooo good. I love to add gravy to my fries and he always finds some for me. They also have a stand at the State Fair where they sell deep fried pickles, oreos, anything that can be deep fried really- I've only ever tried the pickles but he always has a line!

The place was closed during posted business hours. Yelp apparently won't let me leave this short of a review so now I'm just adding a little more because I hate it when this happens. Luckily, there is another cafe that seems to be just starting out that we can support.

As much as I like to support small business, I won't be giving this grease pit another chance. The portions are probably among the largest in town, so if that's all you care about, go for it. On the other hand, they gave me about 2 lbs of mushy, inedible fries that were still sitting on my place when I left. You can get much better food at Ryan's Station or Bert & Ernie's for the same price.

Closed during business hours, with a sign on door. Bummer, wanted to try on way through great falls, went to another diner nearby. Maybe next time...

Working here for the week, so we figured we better check out the local flavor. Stopped into Top Notch for breakfast and were completely satisfied by what we found!! This place is inexpensive(YAY), super-friendly staff(much appreciated), and the serving portions were huge! With my meal I had 1 blueberry pancake that was bigger than my head and really thick to-boot! I got through about half of it (and I was hungry)! It's your All-American diner and I would definitely recommend going there if you are looking for something tasty and inexpensive!

Love this place when I come to town. If you like the best greasy food in town Brian's the one. Very homemade. Keep up the good work and dont change a thing. I love a dumpy cafe that served good food. You people can take it or leave it. I take it. Scissor man Rob

Wonderful homemade food. Brian is the head cook and bottle washer! His breakfasts are huge, homemade potatoes!! The pancakes run over the side of the plate, all meat is great. Portions are huge. Miss not visiting with him while we're in isolation.

One of the best places in town! I never leave hungry. Brian is funny and friendly and my kids love to eat there.

Zomg. This place is incredible! The food is amazing and everyone was so friendly; the perfect family-run diner experience.

Came to town from 1,500 miles away for a reunion and stopped in the Top Notch for some food with family. This is the real deal. Family run small business providing an excellent service for the price. We had the hamburgers and fries. Fast service and a filling meal surrounded by authentic people and owners. Could not help thinking of the hit TV show Bob Burgers. http://www.fox.com/bobsburgers/ Thanks again for a wonderful memory. I will have dreams of those fresh long french fries for many nights to come!

Greasy Greasy Greasy. If that's what you're in the mood for, this place will suffice. The service was friendly, and the sign out front is super cool, but the food left me feeling a bit queasy.

Olé Brian is about as local as you can get. He loves his customers and genuinely wants to friend any strangers that happen into his place. Brian is Great Falls thru and thru. What I like is his menu. It has whatever you may want and is cooked very well. I never leave hungry. Brian is also very blue collar. He respects the working man/woman. Any profits go to his house or car payment. He is an institution.

Perfect breakfast diner!! Plenty of menu choices. Servings will not leave you wanting Food cooked as requested. Fresh food Prices reasonable. Brian, cook/waiter/color commentator/ owner.....completes the great experience. Worth your time to go and enjoy a great breakfast.

I don't know how anyone leaves a good review for this place. You should feel bad. We were literally served meat that tasted like the smell of the rotten sludge at the bottom of a garbage can. Pancakes were covered in black crusty burnt food from the grill and to top it off they tasted like onions. I had no clue I asked for onion pancakes. The coffee was cloudy and tasted like dirty water. The place was filthy, our table was dirty and the 'waitress' was annoyed she had to wipe it down. She barely had time to take our order because her phone was top priority. She was not listening to anything we said and took our orders incorrectly. Overall.. this place is a train wreck and should feel ashamed to be an establishment.

When I get a craving for cheese burger and fries at 9:00am, this place hits the spot!!! I just call it in and pick it up within 15mins. It's hot, fresh, and I am never told, "We don't serve our lunch menu until 11:00"! Love it!

This restaurant is certainly not for everybody. The moment you walk in you realize it is a small business geese pit. Some would call it a dive. There is enough room to fit maybe 20 people if that. Quite a crammed atmosphere. Everything about the place gives off an unprofessional vibe. For me, it felt as if i was sitting at the table at a Christmas dinner. Kids related to the cook running around. Spomdgebob playing on the tv. A twenty something girl going into the kitchen and taking tomatoes right out of the fridge and jamming them into her mouth. In plain view of the customer. The food makes up for the unprofessional aspect. Large portions, hand cut fries and hearty flavorful burgers. No desert of any kind and breakfast is always serves during the limited hours of 2 pm. Grease and fat is abundant here. Not for healthy eaters or people sensitive to geese. I personally like Brian's Top Notch. But for everybody else... Be prepared.