If you've never been there the Blind Tiger Restaurant & Brewery is fun. It's on the south side of Topeka.
http://www.blindtiger.com/
The better hotels and most accessible are all pretty much on Wannamaker. The ones downtown IMHO are grossly over rated, but that's just me I suppose. I like to stay at the Hyatt Place on the North side of I70 on Wannamaker, but I have perks to stay in the Hyatt chain so it makes it very reasonable (although I don't think it's outrageous normally either). It's out of the way and discreet but can be hard to figure out how to get there the first time.
KsJack