Sat at the bar, happily expecting to have cold one while I wait for my pizza to go. Wait, what?! No, not at this bar my friend I'm afraid... The bartender was happy to serve me the cold one but refused to take my order to go. Seriously?! He said 'see the host for take out' then promptly turned away. Unbelievable. Would it really throw your night off kilter to serve me a drink and also put my food in a go-box??! On previous occasions the food was decent. The bartender needs a lesson or two in customer service. Bowzers next door was only happy to serve a cold drink while I waited for my take out. Go figure. read more

The food is fine. Nothing groundbreaking, but satisfactory. The service is completely variable--some of the wait staff are top-notch, and others are just hopeless. They recently revamped the menu, and took the brownie off the dessert menu. The only chocolate options are now chocolate gelato or the sprinkling of cocoa on the tiramisu. Seriously? How hard is it to do a brownie? Anyway, it's fine for refueling at the end of a long day at the office, or if you don't feel like cooking. If you want a quiet place for a deep conversation or a romantic date, this isn't it. Especially on Thursday nights, when kids!eat!free! If you must go on a Thursday, wait until after 8:30. But not much later, because the crew starts pre-close clean up at 9:00, and it really feels like they want you to leave so they can go home right at 10:00. read more

First of all, I spent my formative years in a part of Northern New Jersey where every town had a rock solid, reliable, family run Italian restaurant where you could eat very well well for a modest price. A group of us went in on a Saturday night. After a reasonable wait for a table on such an evening, we were hustled through to the back patio. Service was perfunctory at best. We were never even offered bread. My tortellini carbonara was tepid and mostly sauce. A few more tortellini would have been nice for a $14 bowl of pasta. Honestly, if you're going to eat chain Italian, Pasta Pomodoro's food is better. read more

Everyday I drive by this restaurant, and from outside the food looks very delicious. Finally I decided to dine here. My impression was definitely disapointed. First of all, the Asian server had left us with the menu for 10 minutes. He bought us water later and left us again for another 10 minutes. He finally came to us and took our orders. When we got the food, we noticed that we were the only one not served wiith bread. We did not even bothered to ask for the bread because he was nowhere to be found. Second of all, the food was not as great as I thought. The salmon pasta was tasty, but definitely not the combo pizza and the salad sandwich. I'm not going back again. With that price of food, I could go any pasta restaurant and have more tasty food and better services. read more

We've been to Tomatina before and thought that the meal was ok, so we decided to give it another shot. That was a mistake. The good: Nice atmosphere The bad: - Our waitress was unfamiliar with the menu and couldn't answer any of our questions. - We ordered the house sangria. For $7 per glass, we expected something tasty. It was bland and had more carbonated soda in it than red wine. I don't recommend it. - We ordered a gluten-free pizza. I'm not naive, I understand that there's an up-charge for gluten-free (it even says so on the menu), however, what it does not say (and we were not told) was that when you order a gluten-free version of any of their pizzas, all of the toppings are treated as extras. As a result, a small pizza had a $7 up-charge. $7 for gluten-free dough that's not even prepared in a contamination-free environment is ridiculous. When I complained to the waitress, she didn't offer a clear response. On our way out, I wanted to talk to a manager, but they had all disappeared from the front. We will never go back to Tomatina and I will not recommend them. Price gouging and weak drinks. There are far better pizzerias to go to in Berkeley and Oakland. read more

We came in here for a quick lunch one weekday. I found our waitress quite aloof and it was sometimes difficult to catch her eye when we needed something. The menu is extensive with different pasta and pizza options. I found the food lacking in flavor, and quite plain and simple. I've had tastier pasta at home that I cooked myself. My brother's pizza was decent. I ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail and for the price I paid would have liked something a bit more special than what I'm convinced was plain blackcurrant juice. We had to wait for ages for the check, and when we both have empty glasses and are one of only three occupied tables in the restaurant, that isn't good enough. It wasn't really terrible, but I definitely wouldn't bother going back. read more

This place has gone downhill so much. I used to be a waitress so I do not give a bad review often as I know the demands of restaurant life. However I called in my order today their site was having difficulty. Gentleman answered and said to please hold. While I got to listen to him help numerous other customers along with a few staff saying some not kind things about guests and or their complaints. After 10-15 mins I hung up. I called back to a young lady who I explained what happened and she was just like oh ok sorry what would you like. What happened to decent customer service. When my fiancé went to pick up and bring this to the managers attention . All he replied with was ok. Not apologetic or offering a desert or anything. Just ok thank you. I could care less about a free item. It's the gesture that would have made the difference not the just I don't care at all. The name on my order was wrong and much of the order was cold and salad hardly there and not even a quarter cup filled for the dressings , and or marinara. Will not return. Cannot believe the complete lack of customer service read more

We went to Tomatinas tonight ready to cash in our full loyalty card for a free pasta dish, and well, you guessed it, "we don't honor those anymore." They wanted us to download their app and they agreed to move our "points" over. Well the app required a credit card for some reason, which the manager claimed they would never charge. Yeah, we're gonna pass. We played by the rules and we would like the reward we already earned. After trying to reason with the manager we simply gave up, telling him that if our loyalty isn't worth the cost of a pasta dish then we will take all future business to one of the other many pasta places on the island. While the food is decent, it doesn't make up for the lack of customer service. read more

This is a bummer because I was really looking forward to liking this place. Not a good experience. The restaurant is experiencing a plumbing issue in the bar area and the dining room smells fetid. My daughter really wanted to eat there so I compromised by requesting to eat outside. The food wasn't very good and the service was abismal. I walked away incredibly surprised Health Department wouldn't have an issue with this. Of course I regretted it later when I got food poisoning. I shouldn't have walked in there. read more

Some friends and I had lunch here the other day. I ordered a sangria to refresh myself (good choice) and the rigatoni to eat. We shared an order of the garlic balls...yummy! Good service and they kept the water coming...we like that. :) read more

I've been a fan of the Walnut Creek location for many years, but this Alameda location is not doing it for me. First off, the waitress thought me and my brother were on a date... gross. Ordered the chicken caesar salad and a pizza. The Chicken Caesar salad was horrible! It tasted like a hospital cafeteria salad. I could have made a better salad at home. There was too much dressing, the chicken was chopped into cubes. How can you mess up a caesar salad?! The pizza was brought out cold and tasted very bland. I was definitely not impressed. read more

After experiencing such great food I'd have to say that Tomatina has really mediocre to bad Italian food. Very chain like not that great what so ever. They seemed packed all the time and I cannot figure why that would be except I think that kids may like this kind of food therefore a lot of families are always in there and I think that about says it all. Tomatina "Cortina Contigo" You can afford to pass this one up you guys you wont be missing much. read more

When I was living in Alameda, I always loved stopping by Tomatina for their Turkey Piadine. It was light, fresh, and super filling. I could only finish half and always had to take the other half home. Flash forward three years later and I'm at Tomatina again. It was lunch time on a weekday and this place was packed, but there was luckily no wait. I ordered the Turkey Piadine without looking at the menu while my sister ordered the Pesto pasta with marinated steak. When we got my food, I noticed that the Piadine is crispier and thinner than I last remembered, it's definitely a lot less bread-like. Overall, the taste was still the same and I was content. I stole some forkfuls of my sister's pasta. The pasta itself was a little bland and boring but the marinated steak definitely added much needed flavor and pizzazz to the dish, so I definitely recommended this addition. I would suggest you skip on their water -- it tasted off to me, and that's something coming from a girl who drinks water from janky hole in the walls! Service was fast and I got the vibe that they wanted us in and out as fast as possible because there was a line forming. The prices are a bit high considering the food, so the place is a overrated. I will limit how often I indulge in Piadines after discovering that mine was a mind-boggling 1000 some calories. That's my intake for practically one day! Snap, son! Isn't that thing practically just salad?! read more

Our first time here. My iced tea was fresh however the food wasn't. My meatballs were cold, and our pasta sauce in both of our dishes tasted like it had been sitting and reheated. But the flavor of our pasta was ok. We just wanted fresh food after work. The womans bathroom smelt horrible. The service wasn't up to par. The only time we were checked on was when we were finished with our food ready to leave. They didn't even have fresh parmesan to go on my pasta. Unfortunately we were disappointed. read more

My FAVORITE restaurant, by far. I've become a regular at this and the Walnut Creek locations. I love their Turkey Piadine and their Semi-Freddo dessert. Mondays are half off desserts and they're a great way to end your Monday. Staff is always friendly and on top of it. Love the new look of the inside. Love the location. Parking is easier than it looks...especially with the small lot in the back. read more

just average "Italian" food. Perfect for the kiddos who haven't developed their pallets yet. Extra star for friendly wait staff.

Family-friendly atmosphere. I've tried many of their pizzas (good) and pastas and (my favorite) salads over the years and they are consistently good. A little too salty though. Kids menu offers generous portions. Strawberry lemonade is yummy. Marco is absolutely the nicest server ever!! read more

I do not recommend this place for people eating with kids because lunch there took over an hour and a half because it took over 50 minutes from when ordered to get our food. When our party of arrived the restaurant was nearly empty. The restaurant started to fill up and all of the tables that were seated after us started getting their food. The waitress never once came over to check in, offer bread, or apologize as every other table in the restaurant got their food. 45 minutes later, I finally said something and eventually our food arrived. The manager offered us a free desert aka something we didn't want as an apology instead of removing an appetizer that we ordered off of the bill. Bad service from management and the wait staff. read more

The wait was about 15 minutes for us. My Moscow Mule was perfect. The bruschetta was really good, definitely getting again! My penne bolognese wasn't spectacular flavor-wise and had a little too much cheese for my taste, but was still good. My boyfriend had the Gorgonzola flatbread which he loved. Then we had the apple crisp for dessert. Very tasty, portioned enough for both of us to enjoy. Sadly, only one side was hot and the inside and other side were only a little warm. Our server was very attentive and we didn't wait long at all with her speedy service. Sorry I forgot her name, but she was awesome. read more

I kind of hate this place, but my kids really love it, so somehow we keep ending up here. The good stuff: It's very kid friendly. They have coloring sheets, and a pretty decent and affordable kids' menu with good variety, and real live actual vegetables on it. Occasionally, you can get a good server. Occasionally. The menu is pretty expansive. The new remodel is nice. The patio is nice and the kiddos can run around out there. The no so great stuff: The food just isn't that tasty. I've never had anything that I've really loved. The meatballs taste like sawdust. Crappy wine. The service can be really slow and really bad. The wait times are long. It's so loud. Parking is next to impossible. They give you straws and plastic cups. Even when you specifically say, "I care about the environment, so I don't want straws and plastic cups." I mean, seriously, my 9 year old knows how to drink out of a regular cup. They won't let you pre-order your food so that when you finally get a table, you can eat. I just need to find an alternative so I don't have to give in to my kids when they ask to go here. read more

Took 25 minutes to pay our bill. We used one of their own gift cards to pay part of the bill, and NO ONE there could figure out how to do this, despite 3 people hovering over the register. Been here maybe 10 times over the years. NEVER again! read more

Attentive and anticipatory server. Very good food using great ingredients. Love the pizza and garlic rolls. Would be 5 stars but busboy was holding silverware by the business end not the handles. Gross and was happy to clean ours off. Overall very good. read more

Decent Italian American food...service is questionable. I am new to Cali but I believe this a chain. Meatballs were pretty damn good...everything else was ok read more

My friends and I took refuge from the rain here on a Friday night. We waited maybe 5 minutes for a table. We decided to hit this place because of our previous satisfactory experiences. We perused our menu, our server was polite, and the ambiance was suffice it to say, good for a Friday night at, shall we say 7? There were kids scattered about, friends, etc. The women seated at the table beside us found a twist tie in their meal, so the manager offered to pay for the aforementioned plate. I thought that was pretty nice of them. I had myself a nice plate of spaghettini, which came nicely recommended by the server. We groaned about life over a shared medium pesto chicken pizza. Then a friend and I split an order of two pumpkin cannoli. I ordered an apple crisp to go for my mother and we had a good time. That was until it came down to the bill. Our server brought it over while we were in the middle of our meal. I understand that you have a ton of people and limited seating, but really that's no excuse. We are paying customers as well. Our bill for 5 entrees and 3 desserts definitely racked up to almost $90. For a couple of high school kids, we paid our share. I might have forgiven that had it not been for your manager or boss. We handed over the cash for the meal and he had the nerve to return, without our change and demand that we give him a 15% tip. Okay, so we spent about 5 minutes defending ourselves, we were definitely going to tip you 15% had you been more patient. We needed our change to do so. Then we heard you lecture us for another 10 minutes. extremely rude. So yeah, we did end up tipping you 15% and hightailing it out of there. I'll give the food 3.5 stars, and I'll subtract 2.5 stars for you being rude. I would subtract all the stars if I was allowed to, because my friend then ranted about how rude you were. I told her I would write a scathing review on yelp. Mission accomplished. read more

I will update my review because my family and I ate here last weekend and the food has really improved. Steak Piadine was fresh and tasty, I would order it again. read more

I haven't tried anything else at Tomatina's except for the piadines, which are basically salads wrapped in a light pizza crust-like wrap. I was addicted to them for a short while, especially the steak one. It's a little pricey though, but the portions are large. read more

Well, I have a friend who absolutely loves the lasagna here. It's the go-to place whenever people can't decide what to eat but know they need to eat something. I was here last night with a few friends and the service, by the end of the meal, was pretty non-existent. 2 meals never came out, after 30 minutes we canceled them, and the ones that did weren't that great. But I know that, usually, this place is pretty darn good. Not sure what happened last night - I guess every restaurant has it's days - but it was kinda disappointing. Ah well. Gotta shrug it off. I'll probably be back again because, well, it's Tomatina on Park St. There isn't too much "cheap" Italian food on the island so your choices are pretty limited to begin with. Those little garlic bread squares are delicious but that's the only thing really note-worthy from last nights dinner. But I guess I'd rather have garlic bread squares be memorable than nothing at all! read more

i think tomatina is very similar to pasta pomodoro... decent fresh tasting franchise/chain-type italian restaurant.... they seem a bit understaffed at busy times... the server's sections might be a bit too big so it's difficult to ask for anything unless you wait for them to come to check on you... read more

been there twice, and it's decent. fresh and somewhat healthy for the type of food they serve (pizzas etc.) the best thing about it is the wall of photos of hot guys. kind of like a wet t-shirt contest, only soaked with tomato juice instead of water. read more

Like the pizza, polenta and (steak) piadine. It always seems crowded, but haven't had to wait too long. Service has run the range from average to really good. read more

Adequate Italian, good for a quick lunch. Some weirdness, though, when I stop to think about it. I ordered the special, which was a soft polenta with tomatoes and balsamic drizzle. The waitress told me that this was really appetizer size, so I was convinced to order a caesar salad. Now, if you don't already know from my other reviews, I'm picky about my salads--particularly my caesars. First test is the dressing, and here it was great. No complaints! Super garlicky and tasty. My other criteria is at least one crouton per bite. And, they delivered on that level, too. The croutons were tasty and crunchy and yummy and there were a lot of them. The only problem was that the served the side salad in this TINY little soup bowl, so it was hard to stab it with a fork and it all went flying out onto the table. The second irksome issue was that the waitress tricked me. The polenta was very filling, as it's heavy, but also was a very good sized dish. By the end of the meal, I thought I was going to explode. But, the quality of food was very good and I left full and happy, which is always criteria #1. read more

Rounding up to my previous review, yes service is still quite on the slow side, food is still great. Still no Mighty Leaf tea, but I'll settle for the Italian sodas. The 1/2 star I deducted earlier in my review has been reinstated because they have a lunch special from 3PM I think? That includes pizza and certain pastas. I must say though, the pasta is great, pizza is fine and just try the desserts, even though I never done it. read more

my friend took me here to try something new for a late birthday present. I loved it! its a fresh light spin on delicious italian food! cool to learn what a piadine was; and LASAGNA was thee best! read more

Had a good time here. Ordered the Appiata pizza and red wine (italian wine forgot the name but the waitress recommend it and it was great!). Garlic rolls were ok. Taste like any other garlic rolls. Gave 4 stars because of the wine. :) read more

So I expected better. I always heard good reviews of this place until I actually went. They had some lunch specials where the portions are smaller, but its a bit too small for some spaghetti. I paid over 10 for my meatball spaghetti and it felt like it was only 5 bites until it was gone. Needless to say I was still hungry when I left the place :( read more

We were seated for more than 15 minutes and no one came to serve us. Even though the restaurant wasn't even busy. Half of the place is empty. We waved our hands a few times to get attention but they just ignored us. The food is only ok and we were here because of the kids. Horrible customer service and will never go back here again. read more

I've had 2 bad experiences in as many months. Tonight my food was super bland, not seasoned at all. The attitude seemed to be that normally they'd comp 1/2 but since it was a kids eat free night & then I'd have to pay for hers, which would make the bill the same. So they did nothing & I came home & ate cereal for dinner. This happened after it taking a long time to get a server. And the last time I went they completely forgot part of our order. I think I'll pass on trying it again. read more

I've only been there once.. It's a great place for brunch or a simple, refreshing lunch. Haven't had the chance to go back, but I will to try other things on the menu. Interesting things on the menu and pretty tasty. read more

Given the quaint neighborhood and reasonable prices, I really enjoy this chain restaurant. The food isn't super, but it hits the spot if you're looking for some Italian food and not wanting to spend an arm and a leg to get it. Roomy and with high ceilings, it's a good place for groups too, which is always a plus. read more

I love all their pastas & salads (especially the one with the apricots). Service was nice and friendly. The wait time was not too long.