The Happy Tomato Cafe & Bbq

I had The Max which was a pulled pork sandwich with pimento cheese. That sounded weird enough to be good and I was right. It was awesome! This is a really cute restaurant with good food and a good vibe. Seating is pretty much all outside but it is shaded so the Florida heat was not really an issue. Would recommend this place to anyone looking for some good food in a casual atmosphere.

Best Pork BBQ on the island! Get the pulled pork plate w/​coleslaw & beans. Fun place. My wife and love the beer selection, they have a blueberry beer she gets every time. Great staff. Feels because it is local, unlike the others. Dog friendly. They’ll even bring a little bowl of water. Perfect lunch spot!

Grabbed a late lunch by myself and was greeted by some of the best smelling and tasting bbq I’ve ever had. The outdoor seating courtyard is nice but probably stays pretty steamy in Summer. Convenient for guests at the local downtown hotels. If you like bbq and cold beer, put this on your list!

Just had an awesome lunch of Chicken salad and pimento cheese sandwiches that were nothing short of fantastic! Excellent service and very fair prices. I highly recommend this little place to anyone that likes the smaller, more casual style of café with really good food.

The chicken salad and pimento cheese are top notch!

All al fresco dining. Great BBQ and be sure to ask for all three sauces. Nice people and fast service.

My boyfriend and I went there for lunch. I had the ribs. They were very generous I size, the flavor was good, but the ribs were warm outside and cold inside. The meat was also a little tough those were signs that these were not fresh ribs. Not impressed with this place, I’ve had better bbq.

My husband and I had lunch at the Happy Tomato today. As northerners here for the week, it was great eating on the patio. The restaurant doesn’t promise ‘the moon’ but they sure deliver a pleasing lunch. My husband had the bbq pulled pork sandwich. It was nice and juicy. I had the chicken salad fruit salad. Everything was fresh and tasty.
We recommend giving it a try.

This place is so great! We’ve eaten here several times while in the area this month and have never been disappointed. There is a nice outdoor patio for seating, and the food is delicious, but the best part is the attentiveness and kindness of the staff. They are hard workers, are always smiling, and eager to please even the most discerning customer (me). They provided food for an event we hosted and everything was perfectly done. Congratulations on running such a fine business. We look forward to our next visit.

I ordered a salad and two ribs for lunch. I ended up throwing both away. The ribs were very tough and not a lot of meat. I got a standard salad and in the tuna there were chopped up pieces of boiled egg? I am not sure if that is how they made it but it was a very unpleasant surprise. The dressing was thick and cheap in quality. Very nice staff, and my order was ready quickly after ordering.

A hidden gem in Fernandina! For the best lunch food on the island, you MUST go here. Clean, fresh and delicious food, beautiful courtyard, friendly and HAPPY PEOPLE who work there. Plus, they cater! They fixed up a tasty assortment for a party yesterday. We had pulled pork, turkey, shrimp salad (my personal favorite), potato salad, beans, cole slaw, chicken salad with pecans and to top it off, giant home made chocolate chip cookies! Every bite melts in your mouth. Thank you Happy Tomato for giving us a stress free and fabulous birthday gathering! Go now and say hi to the owner Richard. You will be glad you did!

This place is quaint and the food was basic, but the whole package is amazing. The food tasted very good and the value for the price was great, just don’t expect anything fancy. I was expecting a laid back meal and that is exactly what we got. They are dog friendly and brought out a water dish and snack for our pooch without us even asking. They also gave my pregnant wife a free cookie just to be nice. I do not live in the area, but if I ever return to the area I will definitely return to this restaurant.

Great little café with excellent food, cozy outdoor patio dining and super friendly service. We got the blt with pasta salad on the side and the veggie sandwich with slaw on the side. Both were excellent!

Jim and I are always looking for a good place to eat where we can take our dog Harley. We found this place on
. Food and service was very good. They brought Harley water and even have him a piece of bacon. I had the West Coast Veggie sandwich with spicy tofu. Yummy. Jim had the Monster Club. We both had to take half our sandwiches home because they were so big. And the choc chip cookie is a must.

The enticing smell of smoked bbq makes your belly grumble as your mind try’s to convince all your senses that yA are starving & must quench the need for substance immediately at this cute garden style hut.
After the delicious smell had overwhelmed your mind, the visual kicks in. At first it seems an enigma. yA smell the smell. Ya see the sign but there doesn’t appear to be a smoker in sight …
Then ya walk through the huge opened doors of a building, through a very short hallway & another set of open doors and suddenly yA are transferred onto a porch filled southern garden that is hidden from all the trappings of a touristy main side street.
It’s adorned with cute garden gnomes & various ornaments, lots of hanging plants and small gardens areas.
There is a small hut to the side where yA can order daily specials or menu favorites.
Word on the street is ya must try their homemade pimento cheese sandwiches.
To me, it’s hard to decide on exactly one dinner. I hope to try most of everything!
Our first experience was having our Thanksgiving turkey smoked by them. I was surprised to find I had bought a 25lb-​one which had been labeled as 14lbs at the local grocery. My win! However this big bird was only feeding 7!
I met the owner, Richard. Who assured me this was the correct bird & correct weight. I was shocked. His staff even carried it to my vehicle for me, thankfully. Now I had to get this monster upstairs at home all by myself (almost a disaster!).
I couldn’t believe how nice they all were, how great the place smelled & how cute the dining area is.
We are very excited to get back over and enjoy dining on the porch, sadly it closes at 5 weekly & Saturday’s, so no dining under the stars. But a great way to spend a Sat afternoon!
I’m gonna enjoy trying everything on the menu — one Saturday at a time!

This is an adorable café tucked off of a side street, I loved the outdoor patio nestled in the shade, it is the perfect place to grab some lunch!
The food is sandwiches, salads, bbq… the bbq smelled really good as we were walking up!
But I went with a salad, the sampler salad which was chicken salad, tuna salad, and a homemade pimento cheese (I love pimento cheese, bonus points right there!) it was delicious! Generous portions, all fresh, I ate the whole thing!
I tried a bite of the pulled pork sandwich and surprisingly it was just ok, nothing to rave about? It was missing something?
This place is definitely worth a pop in, on a nice day stop in for some lunch!

Very, very tasty chicken, tuna and pimento salads! My husband had half chix and pimento on rye sandwich and all I heard was «yum, yum» then I tried my trio salad and I knew why! He barely could finish his sandwich. I could finish my salads but I was hungry. We will be back to try other things like the BBQ! Nice outside court yard to eat in with fountain for bubbling water.

Awesome lunch spot! Service is fast and friendly. The young lady who took my order offered her advice on which side to choose. (Pasta salad –yum!) the pulled pork is on point! Will absolutely return.

We both had the Pulled Turkey Sandwich, I had the potato salad and my husband had the coleslaw as our side. The sandwich was really big and stuffed. The turkey was juicy and tender. There sweet sauce was sweet with a twist of flavor that I couldn’t put my finger on but tasted great. The spicy it had a unique blend of peppers that gave it the perfect amount of heat. The potato salad was really good (this coming from someone who only eats Amish potato salad). The coleslaw was creamy which matched with the spicy sauce. The prices for the amount of food that you get are very reasonable.

Tucked away behind a building, a block off Centre Street is this café. At first my carnivorous husband balked at visiting a place recommended by two vegetarians called Happy Tomato. After a bit of research I assured him they had plenty of meat options. Unfortunately, the ribs he had his heart set on were unavailable today. The pulled pork was good though. It was tender and the portions were large enough to satisfy our hunger. The whole wheat bread of «the Max» was fresh and couldn’t support the density of the pork which was fine by me. I solved that problem with a fork and a knife.
My vegetarian friend was pleased with her West Coaster (I think was the name of it) and commented that it was thick with veggies.
The teenagers didn’t complain about anything so that there is at the very least a three star review.
Service is minimal. Your food is delivered to your table via numbers they give you at the counter. You’re on your own from there so if you’re thirsty you might stay that way.
It wasn’t a bad experience, the weather was good, the food was too. I wouldn’t mind returning to check out the ribs.