Last week I made the trek up to the great white north Allen to attend a Ladies Happy Hour at Topgolf Allen. I mean … it was a drive, but it was so worth it. If you’re not familiar with the Topgolf concept (where the hell have you been?), it’s a tech-forward driving range dreamt up by the Jolliffe brothers in Watfotd, England. Topgolf (Target Oriented Practice Golf) takes a traditional driving range and adds microchips to the golf balls and targets to the pins. The closer your ball gets to the pin, the more points you’ll get. You can find some extra background on Topgolf Allen in Brian’s recap of his visit.
Top Golf has really upped its game … not just its literal game (which it has), but its food, drink, and hospitality game, too. To start off our happy hour (hosted by me, Staci from 7onashoestring, McKinney Moms Blog, and the Dallas Blogger Collective). After introductions and a few words from some of the Topgolf peeps, we were treated to a “speed” wine tasting lead by a very knowledgable teacher. We tasted fives wines–(some seriously grapefruit forward) whites, roses, and a Layer Cake red (one of my favorite budget-friendly wines).
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Char-Grilled Steak Flatbread (Marinated steak, roasted corn, grilled red onion, chimichurri & red Fresno peppers)
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Mushi (Cilantro sticky rice, drunken beans, spiced chicken & Cheddar cheese rolled in a jalapeño tortilla. Garnished with sour cream, avocado & sriracha hot sauce)
After the wine tasting, they opened up the floor to ceiling glass doors and let us take over the range. (Ok, not the whole thing … but we had room to spread out.) Even though I don’t know much about golf, I could tell this was an impressive driving range with modern facilities, Ace Driving Range Netting and plenty of golf balls to go around! Our group all had some natural ability (some more than others), so we grabbed the drivers and started the game. (I’d like to note that Brittany (pictured below) and I were neck-and-neck … though she did win. It really made me think about getting a golf simulator so I could get some practice in before our next golf outing.)
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The gracious Topgolf team plied us with more of their delicious offerings–chicken & waffle sliders, s’more sandwiches, Green chili mac & cheese, and more. I like to think I’m more qualified than most Texans to identify good green chili menu items from bad (my sister and her husband live in Albuquerque and EVERYTHING is green chili-flavored), Topgolf’s Green Chili Mac & Cheese is damn good–just enough flavor to make it distinct, but not enough to smoke your taste buds. Everything was fresh and delicious with some seriously fun flavors and unique offerings. (I mean … who doesn’t want a chicken and waffle slider?)
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Chicken & Waffle Sliders (house-made Belgian waffles with crispy chicken tenders, served with maple syrup & spicy jalapeño gravy)
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Pickle Fried Chicken Sandwich (Spicy marinated fried chicken breast served on a brioche bun with cilantro slaw)
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Injectable Donut Holes
(24 cinnamon-sugar dusted donut holes served with 2 injectable flavors (chocolate, raspberry jelly or Bavarian cream))
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Sensational S’mores (marshmallow-filled chocolate chip cookie sandwiches)
Beyond delicious food, great service, a fun atmosphere, and a great game, what more could you want? Well … beyond live music and fun contests from time to time, they have Golf Bags. (And what driving range isn’t more fun after 30oz. of booze in a light-up novelty cup with crazy straws for just $15? I went with the Pineapple Express (Malibu Coconut Rum, 99 Bananas, DeKuyper Peachtree, orange juice & pineapple juice) and it wasn’t a mistake.
They’ll be hosting two similar events later this summer, one for moms and another catered to couples. My advice? Go to one (or both) of them. Stay tuned to their channels to find out about these FREE events!
TOPGOLF – ALLEN
www.topgolf.com/us/ALLEN
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1500 Andrews Parkway, Allen, TX 75002
(469) 675-9730
HOURS OF OPERATION
Monday – Thursday: 9:00am – 12:00am
Friday: 9:00am – 1:00am
Saturday: 8:00am – 1:00am
Sunday: 9:00am – 12:00am
