Fried Egg & Cheese Biscuits. Photo | Brandi Naginey

If you weren’t already sold by the colorful selection of wind-up toys on the counter, the friendly staff, the pinball machine or the casually happenin’ atmosphere, then by all means try a bowl of soup and you’ll be back for more.

I honestly couldn’t provide a better suggestion to someone looking to grab a quick bite to eat in Ghent. From fresh, crisp salads to tasty flat-bread pizzas piled with toppings and sandwiches packed with flavor and originality; a lunch, brunch or dinner at Ten Top is always a good choice.

Last week I had brunch at Ten Top for the first time and it was absolutely fabulous. I tried to order the Salmon Cake special but alas, it had already sold out. I settled for a classic, Fried Egg & Cheese Biscuits, which were tremendously tasty and served with some of the best home fries I’ve had in Norfolk. Over brunch, I sat down with Ten Top’s owner Don Lester, to chat about the food, the fun and the frantic side of running a restaurant in Norfolk.

Don’s very first job was at Long John Silvers, where he worked for only a month while he was in high school. “I told my parents I would never work in a restaurant again,” he said. “I didn’t want a job that involved having to stand up for that long.”

Ten Top owner Don Lester. Photo | Hannah Serrano

Despite his protesting, Don went on to work in several other restaurants. He says he enjoyed working as a banquet captain at the Holiday Inn Sunspree in Virginia Beach. Ghent locals may also recall Don as a waiter at Cora. After Cora’s closing, Don got a job in 2004 at Ten Top, which was then owned by Elise Pittman. Elise bought Ten Top from her brother Peter Pittman, who opened the original Ten Top in 1996 on Harrington Avenue. Named for its single round table which seated 10 people, Ten Top was never meant to be a large restaurant in its early days. Elise owned Ten Top in its current location on Shirley Avenue for a decade.

Sometime in 2008, Don began sensing that Elise “wanted to move–not just from the restaurant business, from the area.” He learned that she would be selling Ten Top, but she didn’t want the staff to lose their positions if a new owner came in. Don did not see buying the business himself as a viable option as he knew if would involve lots of money that he did not have at the time. Somehow though, in a flourish of fortunate circumstances (a low price, a particular bidder’s credit not checking out, and a little help from some co-signers on a loan), Don Lester bought himself a restaurant that September.

A crowded "waiting area." Photo | Hannah Serrano

He attributes the ease of running the place to his tight-knit staff, who, for the most part, have been “with [him] since day one. I’ve only had to let two people go in a year and a half. We’re all friends.” And it shows. The camaraderie among Ten Top’s staff is certainly pleasant to experience as a customer.

I asked Don: if he were any item on the menu, what would he be and why. His answer: “I would be the bread because when you run a small business, the customers are giving you money, but everyone else is trying to take it away. So to take it back to an old ’60s term, I’m kinda like the bread man.” Don certainly is holding it all together just like the bread to any good sandwich. His job has many facets: making the menu, keeping employees happy and productive, and all the while making sure the lights stay on and everything is up to Health Code standards.

Even beyond keeping the health inspector satisfied, there is the issue of zoning laws in Norfolk. Since Ten Top doesn’t have any parking spots of its own, it is–by zoning law–a carryout-only establishment. This means that the tables and chairs you see in Ten Top are solely there for customers waiting on to-go orders…technically. Also, those plastic clam-shall cases your salads come in are only being given to you like that because Don is not supposed to serve you anything on a real plate.

A tempting flatbread pizza. Photo | Brandi Naginey

We talked briefly about how there used to be beer and wine sold in bottles there, and why it’s no longer available: according to Don, the previous owner was losing money on it due to employee consumption combined with the high ABC fees. “It never really caught on.” When Don went downtown to talk about getting an on-site liquor license so that they could pour pints and serve drinks, “an anonymous city official told me, ‘You don’t want to open that can of worms, son, there’s enough places to drink on Colley Avenue as there is.’” Thus, one plan Don has for the future is to open a larger-scale restaurant with a couple of his pals from Ten Top. “Somewhere with more of a bar atmosphere.”

As for Ten Top’s current affairs, the brand new summer menu should be “hittin’ the streets,” as Don says, around June 1. Here’s a few new menu items for you to salivate over and dream about until then:

• Vegan Veggie Fajitas with the option of adding SOY CHEESE! (Don says they will carry Soy Cheese “as much as possible,” but that it can be a hard item to secure with their supplier.)
• Tasty Ground Turkey Bolognese over Linguine
• Crunchy California Cobb Salad with Avocado, Bacon and Bleu Cheese

By all means though, don’t wait ’til June. They’re open seven days a week, 11 am 9 pm Monday through Saturday and 11 am to 3 pm on Sun. I should mention that I am an extreme advocate for the Warm Goat Cheese, Caramelized Walnut and Spinach Salad.

Editor’s Note: Ten Top is an AltDaily advertiser, but this story was Skye’s idea and she wrote this all on her own. (God bless her!)