Topekan checking in here...
Topeka is a Wal-mart community happy with chains and it pisses me off. I would move, but my wife and I (both undergrads from KSTATE) both have good jobs here. Anything good coming to the area, originates in KC, Manhattan, or Lawrence, and then branches to Topeka. If you are in the area, I recommend the following.
The burger stand here is very good. I will say that the one in Lawrence is a bit better (they seem to cook their burgers better and they have more sauces for their fries). They have a good selection of beer. I would recommend the Kobe burger (comes with truffle butter) and the truffle fries.
The Blind Tiger makes some of the best beer I have had, bar none. If you are in the area, give it a try. It is right off of 37th and Kansas ave. They make some great burnt ends too. IMO, Boss Hawgs is complete garbage in comparison to Blind Tiger and Grovers. Grovers is a less sweet BBQ.
As far as other places, Paisanos for Italian is good. El Mezcal is probably on the better end for Mexican. Tuesday/Thurs/Saturday, they have 0.99 margaritas. Their white cheese dip is pretty dang good.
There are some other decent places, but these are where we like to eat when we go out. It took all of a few months to get tired of chains.