I was surprised to see this place was pretty empty on a Friday afternoon especially it's located in the heart of SM downtown. I have been at other Tomotinas restaurants before and find their pasta to be a delight but not this one. The bread was hard (over night) and most of their dishes were really salty. The minestrone soup was too watery and sour. Definitely have a huge opportunity to improve. read more

Tomatina - Italian Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Food was good!! Service from the bartender Keely was awesome!! Drinks were very good!! You need to fix your front doors! I went in today and there were FLIES EVERYWHERE!! All around the bar!! I'm very glad you have happy hour all day now!! You need another type of soup though!! read more

My mom and I have always had a good time here! The service has always been very friendly and helpful and we've always had tasty fresh food. The lunch specials and happy hour are also a great deal! read more

3.5 stars! A chain of casual Italian-style restaurants, Tomatina has all of the classics like pizza, pastas, and salad, but one stand-out specialty here is a dish called piadine, which consists of a baked, thin flatbread layered with refreshing salad, dressings, and other toppings. In contrast to a pizza, the toppings aren't baked in with the bread, so this is more like a huge taco (that you eat with a fork and knife), rather than cut something that's cut into slices. On my visit, I started with the roasted broccoli and cauliflower with spicy feta, which was simple but tasty, and then went for the heirloom tomato piadine, which was spread with a layer of mozzarella/feta cheese, and topped with mixed greens in a red wine vinaigrette and slices of heirloom tomato. The whole wheat bread was deliciously thin yet chewy, and I loved the layer of chewy, briny cheese. My only skepticism about this dish? I'm fairly certain the tomatoes that were used were not actually heirloom, as they didn't have much flavor (or they were very underripe). I also tried the salmon piadine, which came with a caper aioli, chilled salmon, arugula, tomato, onion, and fennel! Tasty! Overall, Tomatina had good food, a clean, modern atmosphere, and friendly service to boot. This is definitely a family restaurant, so expect a casual atmosphere with simple, homestyle dishes! read more

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The food is pretty tasty Dirty dishes, sticky tables You need to be careful when making calculations, the check was for one cost, another was withdrawn from the card read more

This is a really big location! The food is delicious..I highly recommend trying out their "garlic rolls" with ranch on the side They serve them fresh & warm in seasoned olive oil. We had the best waitress who made our experience even better. Her name is Bea.. and she has outstanding customer service (that can be hard to find). Hopefully you'll get her as your waitess! This place will give you good food and happy memories :) read more

Food and ambiance were fine hence 2 stars. My girlfriend and I were here on Valentine's Day and noticed every straight couple received roses at their table. But not us, nor another gay couple a few seats down. Honestly unnacceptable behavior. We could tell this had upset the other couple too. Hope they make changes soon. Felt grossly homophobic. read more

Great customer service from Jake definitely have to come try out their delicious wine and pizza!!! read more

Tomatina - Happy hour with the ladies!!! - Italian Near Me - San Mateo, California

While doing our weekly challenge of trying out new dinner spots my family and I came across Tomatina. We have seen the restaurant remodel And open sometime ago and decided to finally give her a shot. Bullseye! First we were greeted and sat immediately, waitress was kind and attentive. We ordered drinks and appetizers for starters. Bruschetta was out of this world. Having had bruschetta in many places before this was way better than average. Entrees came out next. Mixed bag on this one, all meals were tasty in their own right, however the 2 chicken dishes came up a bit dry. Pasta and sides were great just chicken was a bit over done. Finally came the dessert.Tiramisu was PERFECT. Perfect sing to what was considered an good dinner night out. We will be back again. Kudos to all of the staff and the GM for a pleasant dinner experience. read more

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Thanks to Bea, Giovanni, and all the waitstaff for making dining at Tomatina a true family experience. It's always a great night out. It's family-friendly with warm and attentive service. It's a staple for their meatballs, oven-fired pizzas and extensive happy hour menu, everyday! You can always get a great meal with great friends. We always manage to meet other locals and have a great time. It has the makings for a San Mateo family hangout. Thank you for your amazing hospitality! read more

If I could given them 0 start I will. Let start with our waiter ignoring us we order strawberry lemonade is was the worst strawberry lemonade second we order Cesar salad romaine lettuce look old not fresh salad they could do better and last but not lest the food quality is horrible we order two chicken Alfredo they both arrive without chicken was hard to get waiter attention to point it out and when we told him he said he was going to fix it and bring two grilled chicken they brought us two chicken bowl tree pieces of chicken in white sauce looking disgusting the pasta flavor was awful to , expensive and not worth it they took an hour to bring the food to get this awful service and food we not recommend to any one read more

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Tomatina was already very good, but this experience was horrible. I believe that when we set out to do something we have to achieve excellence, the restaurant proposes Italian food but it doesn't come close to bringing the taste of Italy to our mouths. first my dish, which should be very easy because it is very traditional, I had to throw in a lot of parmesan to taste something. there was no salt, no taste at all, very sad because we go to a restaurant we already know and we come across such a negative change. the fettuccine Alfredo was the worst, the plate was full because it couldn't really be eaten. the black one is full of oil and doesn't have any sauce which is the biggest characteristic of fettuccine, the pasta was not cooked but the saddest thing is my wife who is pregnant asks for a dish and can't eat it because there's only oil in the pasta. read more

Tomatina - Spaghetti and Meatballs - Italian Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Amazing pizza Amazing taste I can recommend this restaurant I will come back everytime when I would eat good food Good job read more

The salmon piadini was over- rated. - it was dripping in olive oil.The pasta was not something to write home about. What got me was the Bread Pudding - OMG - I will be back for more !!! read more

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Service was very good. They check up on you frequently. Waitress was very nice. Food was alright. I would've liked my penne pasta more if it wasn't so dry. It was al dente which I love but it was dry. The dish I had was called Winter Pasta, very lightly drizzled with olive oil. Wasn't enough... my friend's dish was yummy. Shrimp Pomodoro. I took some of his sauce to mix with mine :) The Vaniila Mint Lemonade was refreshing. I love the bruschetta. Usually it's just herbs and fresh tomatoes but this one comes with a thick slice of cheese. I would come again. They have a good variety of pizza as well. I want to try other dishes since this was my first visit here. read more

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It's clean, spacious and new, but ... The service could have been better or better educated. Make sure your phone is charged because that's how you order and pay. We ordered appetizers and the young waitress brought out the main dish first. So, we had to send it back to keep warm. Then we never get saw her again after the food was brought. We had to flail around our arms like we were drowning victims. Last the bathroom wasn't stocked . I did let them know in person so let's hope they improved cus the food was delicious and they had lemon cello. read more

On our last night in San Mateo my partner and I were craving Italian food so we chose to order takeout from Tomatina. I am giving this place a 3-star rating bc the portions were small and pricey. My partner ordered the lasagna and said was pretty good but small. I ordered the large cesar salad since I wasn't that hungry but wanted something healthy. It was like any other cesar salad, nothing unique about it. I was expecting a high quality salad for the price I was paying. I would give this place another try it so I can try one of their main dishes. I forgot to take pictures of my food Next time I will. read more

An oasis of great environment and delicious food ( loveeee the Mixta salad and chicken parmigiana with Alfredo sauce !) read more

Tomatina - Personal meat pizza - Italian Near Me - San Mateo, California

- What can I say? If it was not for the staff or the company than the food would be subpar. The salads were good, the dressing was perfect. The pizza I had was soggy, and doughy, with a perfect amount of toppings. This was a rollercoaster ride not knowing if the food is fully cooked. That's not a feeling one wants while eating. The tables are too close together, you can hear everyone's conversation around you. Was not my cup of tea, but worth a second try because my new friends got better cooked food. So might move those stars too 4 or 5 next time. - Ano ang masasabi ko? Kung hindi para sa tauhan o sa kumpanya kaysa sa pagkain ay magiging subpar. Ang mga salad ay mabuti, ang dressing ay perpekto. Ang pizza na ako ay soggy, at doughy, na may isang perpektong halaga ng toppings. Ito ay isang rollercoaster ride na hindi alam kung ang pagkain ay ganap na niluto. Hindi iyan ang gusto ng isang tao habang kumakain. Ang mga talahanayan ay masyadong malapit na magkasama, maaari mong marinig ang pag-uusap ng lahat sa paligid mo. Ay hindi ang aking tasa ng tsaa, ngunit nagkakahalaga ng isang pangalawang subukan dahil ang aking mga bagong kaibigan ay nakakakuha ng mas mahusay na lutong pagkain. Kaya maaaring ilipat ang mga bituin na masyadong 4 o 5 sa susunod na pagkakataon. - ¿Qué puedo decir? Si no fuera por el personal o la empresa, la comida sería insatisfactoria. Las ensaladas eran buenas, el aderezo era perfecto. La pizza que comí estaba empapada y pegajosa, con una cantidad perfecta de ingredientes. Esta fue una montaña rusa sin saber si la comida está completamente cocinada. Ese no es el sentimiento que uno quiere mientras come. Las mesas están demasiado juntas, puedes escuchar la conversación de todos a tu alrededor. No era mi taza de té, pero valía la pena intentarlo por segunda vez porque mis nuevos amigos tenían mejor comida cocinada. Así que podría mover esas estrellas también 4 o 5 la próxima vez. read more

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I was just at Tomatina in Downtown San Mateo. I am more than upset with their service and when we asked for help they only responded with disrespectful excuses and mean comments. We ordered a few items and they were sitting there for at least 15 minutes waiting to be brought to our table. It was not busy at all whatsoever and they were still not helping us at all. After we decided to leave the manager threatened to call the cops on my father for not paying for our salad that came late and soggy. Over all the service was horrible and I don't recommend going please think twice before you want to try this place. This review came from a (Nextdoor Metro Center) San Mateo resident. I have never visited this spot. read more

I've eaten here a couple times and it was pretty good. I signed up for email notifications after my last visit. Today I got an email that Tomatina had $5 cocktails and short ribs with polenta. It's stuck in my mind all day :-) successful email delivery! The short ribs were delicious and it was a very generous portion. I haven't really had a favorite dish here yet, but I would come back for this or a similar special. There were a few cocktails to choose from on the $5 special, I had the Moscow Mule and it was tasty. The servers are always pleasant here and make you feel welcome. read more

Tomatina - Short ribs with polenta. - Italian Near Me - San Mateo, California

Went for a few birthday celebrations and everytime the manager or the person in charge made my nieces and the celebrants comfortable and always taken care of. Big portions in the pastas and food and the carne combo pizza is always a great choice and super delicious. read more

Terrible service and worse food!! I went in with a friend and when we ordered, we said we were hungry and asked to at least be served some bread. We waited a good 15 minutes and nothing showed up. We asked again for bread and still nothing showed up. Even after our salads arrived, still no bread. And now I also needed some extra salad dressing but our waitress was officially ignoring us. I finally got up to go ask the kitchen myself for some bread, only to be told by our waitress that they were "toasting" it for us. Take a look at the bread they brought. Does it look like it took 20+ minutes to toast it?? I ordered the Chicken Marsala and you know things are bad when the cauliflower has more color on it than the chicken breast! Chicken Marsala is always nicely browned and served with a rich, Marsala wine/stock sauce. My dish had absolutely no color at all to it and there was no richness or depth of flavor to the sauce. What can you expect when the kitchen obviously doesn't know how to brown a piece of chicken or create a flavorful wine reduction sauce? My friend ordered pasta and she also found it to be pretty tasteless, though it at least LOOKED better than my sad, anemic piece of chicken. I cannot understand how an "Italian" Restaurant can turn out such bad food. If y'all don't know how to cook a dish properly, why put it on the menu in the first place? I don't think we'll be returning any time soon. read more

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My Girlfriend and I came here for our third anniversary and to say the least it was absolutely perfect. We came on a Friday night and they had an amazing special for couples that included a salad, two entree's, and a gelato! The atmosphere was very calm and everything was so clean. The food was outstanding, some of the best we've had from a restaurant. Most importantly, our waitress had provided EXCELLENT service, she was very sweet, attentive and mindful and her overall vibe was comforting. We will definitely be coming back sooner or later! read more

My bf and I came here on a Saturday around 5pm for an early dinner. He was craving ravioli and a lot of Italian/pasta places in the area weren't open yet while I was searching on yelp, so we decided to give this place a try. He ordered the cheese ravioli (we didn't see a meat ravioli option on the menu) and I got the lasagna. We also started off with some Calamari to share. The calamari was pretty good with the aioli and marinara sauce. It wasn't as crispy as I'd like it to be but it was still pretty good. I enjoyed the lasagna and the sausage pieces inside. It was super saucey and flavorful just the way I like it! My bf liked his ravioli more but I thought it was just OK. It would have been better if there was some meat to it instead of just cheese. The ravioli dish only came with about 5 medium-large sized pieces but it was very filling for him, probably because of the heavy cheese and sauces. Overall, the dishes were OK, not super amazing but I would love to come back for their lunch specials, sounds like a good deal with pasta and soup together :) I would also really like to try the penne bolognese and the alfredo pesto fettuccine next time! The ambiance here is also really nice and cozy feeling. One thing that kind of bothered me though, were the flies hovering above us.. Probably from the open entrance that they have. But I'm really glad they weren't flying really low and hovering all over our food though. They were just flying in the air above us, but it would be nice to not see flies in the restaurant while we're eating next time.. read more

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Best espresso martinis and happy hour here! Thank you Andrea for the excellent service :)

I loved this place so much. I had never been here before and I was walking around downtown while my car was at wheelworks. The panini and salad lunch combo appealed to me and I came in here for a late lunch. I'm not sure I have ever been treated so well at a restaurant. Seriously. The hostess was very accommodating, seeing as I also didn't have a phone. The food was delicious and quick and while I sat there, the waitress chatted with me, the manager chatted with me, and his dad chatted with me. Everyone was so friendly and down-to-earth. I really felt that I made friends and for that reason, I can't wait to go back. read more

My son and I came in for a late lunch. The GM Randale took great care of us . He rolled up his sleeves and started on our order. The chef was on a break and didn't want us to wait. plus the play list was off the hook ! read more

They have a decent selection for vegan options. I ordered the ratatouille with no cheese, minestrone soup and the bread rolls with no cheese. The bread was completely amazing and I should've ordered more. The ratatouille was very flavorful and melted of flavor in my mouth. The minestrone soup was average. I would recommend for a vegan to get pasta with marinara with the ratatouille added on top. The service was good despite it being a very busy Father's Day. The ambiance of the restaurant was a classic Italian restaurant. We also ordered some alcoholic drinks and they were a bit sweet for our taste but good overall. read more

We went there to celebrate Mother's Day since they offered two 3-course prix fixe menu which was a good way to sample their multi-course meal at a very reasonable price of $28/person. We added an order of minestrone soup for everyone and an order of garlic rolls. The quality of the food was excellent, but the wait was very long since there were so many take-out orders throughout the evening. Our salad came after our main course, and our order of garlic rolls came at the end right before dessert, which is why I gave a 4-star rating rather than 5-star rating. read more

Tomatina - Mixta Salad - Italian Near Me - San Mateo, California

Andrea and her staff are an amazing group. Super welcoming staff and amazing food. Will bring my friends and family again. I brought a large group here for a party and we were attended to quickly. The ready pay system was really easy to use read more

Our party of six was welcomed and served efficiently and graciously. Everyone in this group with diverse food preferences found something to their liking. I liked my lasagna. We happened to be there during happy hour and got the limoncello spritz, which was very refreshing. read more

I've been avoiding this restaurant, honestly, because it's a chain (I think?) or at least definitely a "cheap" restaurant (I see coupons in the mail all the time) and today I was craving Italian but also craving not spending more than $20 on a dish. Turns out the places in San Mateo that do both are very, very few, so I ended up trying it out here. It was actually pretty much what I wanted to satisfy my italian food craving! I got the summer pappardelle pasta and it was such a satisfying texture to me with flavorful sauce and sausage. My friend ordered spaghetti and meatballs (while the spaghetti was good, the meatballs were not). I also got on a whim calamari and the garlic bread. The calamari rings were soft (maybe nicer than the average place I've gone to) but the squid shaped pieces were overly chewy (and worse than the average place I've gone to). The bread was too oily and hard. With those food reviews, you might question my 4 stars. And I say, I'm a fan for what it is-- cheap (important!), italian style food. I would definitely come here to satisfying my craving next time as well. I would consider buying the spaghetti, taking it home, and adding my own meatballs or whatever. Or ordering their pappardelle (or other special) next time (I really, really liked their pappardelle dish.) (Also I found out I've been spelling that word wrong the whole time...) read more

Food is amazing, service was amazing..thanks to our amazing server Andrea for giving us a great time! Happy hour prices can't beat! Ask for Andrea when you come! read more

This place was marginally popular and frequented before this health scare. However, since the new manager, Randell, came on board it was taken wings! Randell is in a class of his own. Highly creative, personable and service oriented, he brings something I've NEVER seen in CA since moving here from NYC. The food at Tomatina is fresh, delicious and they even progressively offer "zoodles," which is phenomenal! Having Tomatina in the hood brings a sense of community and comfort during a tough time. Definitely my go to! read more

We have visited Tomatina about 5 times in the last few years, as it's a great place for kids and friends. We celebrated a birthday there last September sitting outside with table service. The website and this Yelp listing note outdoor seating so we planned on meeting 2 good friends here to celebrate our daughter's birthday (she loves the pesto pasta). Upon arrival we were not even acknowledged by the person behind the bar. When we spoke up about this, politely, we were aghast at being asked "don't you see how busy I am?" as they sorted out some straws. There were two tables with customers. We were then told it's takeout only and we can sit outside. I'm not sure why there are recent reviews extolling this restaurant. I understand the pandemic has put a strain on this industry, but it was very easy in downtown San Mateo to take our business elsewhere. Unless changes are made, that will continue. read more

My mom chose Tomatina for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. She said we eat too much sushi and ramen and so we need to grab something else to eat and Tomatina usually has a long line so it must be good right? Located right on the corner between 4th and B street I believe. Parking is all on the streets unless you decide to try for the parking garage a block away. The inside of Tomatina is pretty big. There are tables and then there are booths and the bathroom is all the way to the back. The host sat my mom and I at the farthest booth which was actually right near the bathroom. My mom wasn't a fan, but the booth was comfy at least. Service was really on point. We got checked up on regularly from start to finish so that was a plus. The only problem I have, and it's a big problem I suppose, is that their food is actually quite bland in my opinion. Between us both we got the shrimp risotto and their mushroom pizza that was on the menu for February specials. Food wasn't cheap either. Overall, service good but food bleh so there's no point in coming back. Sorry Tomatina. read more

Tomatina - Shrimp risotto - Italian Near Me - San Mateo, California

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Family friendly restaurant. Had crayons and sheet for kids. You order using a QR code. The servers were attentive, asked if we wanted water, if we needed anything and ok. Not sure what happened with the other reviews about the servers. It wasn't crowded for a Saturday night. The food is similar to Olive Garden, the portions are a good size. Left full and happy. read more

We came into this joint on a rainy Thursday night. To my surprise this place was only about half full. I've been to another location for lunch and that one was packed. The good thing about coming here on a Thursday and you have Kids that eat food is that kid's eat free. We weren't expecting it but it was a nice surprise. The waiter was very helpful and friendly and checked on us to make sure everything was going okay. Just like any of these type of restaurants, or any restaurants they try to get you to get more drinks, desert etc which is pretty typical. SO that is a little annoying but not out of the ordinary. As for the food, I would rate the flatbread pizza kind of items as very good. They have a nice oven and the bread is nice and crispy. Similar to a naan. The pasta is pretty standard although the good thing is since it wasn't so crowded came out fast. I saw some other tables and next time I will try a pizza. Some of the dished basically look like they put a whole fresh salad on top of the pizza which sound healthier than what I usually eat LOL. The desert we got was the bread pudding was okay. I wouldn't say I would need to get it again like others have stated. Overall I would come back because the service was fast and the food was decent. I'll prob even make it back on a thursday night since my kid eats free *Bonus*. read more

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Typical Italian food. Reminds me of an Olive Garden- just pricier. Food is average- but they have all the basics.