Sweet Tomatoes

This was my 2^nd visit to a Sweet Tomatoes — 1^st was in Glenview. This location reminded me of a Sizzler in Orlando, Florida complete with the octogenarians slowly placing up and down the aisles, blocking you from getting up from your seat, getting a refill of pop or just getting up to get salad. Then to listen to the complaining of «bring out fresh lettuce — this is all wilted» or to hear «I’m not leaving a tip — they never brought us any water». Ok. It’s a self service buffet. You probably got your meal under $ 8 with a glass. The pasta station was fantastic and they had an apple pie/​cobbler dessert which I haven’t found at the other two Sweet Tomatoes I’ve visit. Would have gotten five but the atmosphere is dreary due to going around lunch and dealing with the clientele. Poor families with kids that may run into the 70 plus weekday lunch crowd.

Definitely my 5 year old son’s favorite place for a family meal out. Very family friendly and lots of options for vegetarians/​vegans! Always great service and good food.

Food as usual very good had a taste for soup and salad can’t go wrong here! But the story at this Sweet Tomatoes was our server Grandma Rose…
Can’t say enough good things about our experience, come pay her a visit you won’t be disappointed!!!

For a place that prides itself on its soup and salad, the premise salads are sad and the soup is salty. I had no contact with really any staff member except for a man who gave me water once. Anything that was made for you in the kitchen wasn’t that great. You’ll think it’s healthy and that’s all that one could do to spice up a dish but in reality it’s just bite sized pizza, and baked potatoes that were just baked (and nothing else). It’s very dependent on the customer to make good flavor combinations
Up side is that the fresh vegetables that you use to make your own salad are fresh and they have a nice choice of dressings.

I’d been here years ago. The problem is my expectations were not met. Salad was wilted needed to be changed on the one side the other side only had one choice and should have been close. Lots of empty containers not the way I remembered it 6:00 pm not like I showed up at closing

We come here almost weekly. The place tends to get busy on Friday nights (that’s when my wife and I visit) but that means their salads will be fresh because they have to keep on making them.
Soups are always delicious (although I had one occurrence where the Chili wasn’t as hot as other soups)
Deserts are very good (the lava cake is amazing. Do yourself a favor and go to sweet tomatoes when they have it)
Flatbreads are always tasty (I don’t care for the outer crusts because they tend to be tougher than the middle)
The staff is always very attentive and they always ask us if we are enjoying our meal.
TIP: Make sure you join their online club. You get very nice money saving coupons in your email every week. We always use the 2 for $ 22 with drinks. Its a good deal considering that without the coupon we would probably have to pay about $ 30 which wouldn’t be cheap for soups/​salads

If you want healthy affordable food for lunch this is the place. The manager here is great as was the staff. I love soup and theirs is delicious and interesting. Six to choose from and each one of the three black bean quinoa, black bean, and chicken pot pie did not disappoint. Clean restaurant with hot food and great service thanking you for coming in. Seasonal salad dressing was nice. Cranberry orange vinaigrette. Yum

This place was A Okay.

I was a big fan of these when I lived in California. Soups are always good especially the clam chowder and the chili. This one is well run and very busy.

I went to the Schaumburg, IL location.
The food is OK, but watch out for the SNEAKY bus people! They are very obsessed with clearing all tables immediately, even if it isn’t crowded… Even if the tables are STILL IN USE.
This was late afternoon, so there were a few empty tables…
I should have noticed this behavior when an older woman took my chili bowl from in front of me the minute I was finished with it. Later I left my table to get the soft serve ice cream for dessert. (Of course I put the tag on the table that says that I’ll be back)…
When I returned, the table was completely cleared. My half full drink cup GONE. My receipt GONE. Even the «I’ll be back» tag GONE.
Next time I’ll tape a BIG sign to the table saying that I’ll be back.

Not only is this place over-​priced, but if you’re vegan, you’re out of luck. Except for whatever vegetables you get your hands on at the salad bar, you won’t have much to choose from. There are very few vegan protein options at the salad bar. And NONE of the vegetarian soups are vegan — I’ve asked to look through the ingredient binder before and all of the soups contain gratuitous milk products. As I was looking through the ingredients binder, I also realized how much unnatural, processed, gross shit was in the soups. That probably carries over to the rest of their offerings. You’d expect vegetable soup to have stock and veggies, right? No, the ingredient list was a humongous block paragraph in 12 pt font that filled ¾ of a sheet of paper. SICK. Even if the soup WAS vegan, at that point, I would’ve been too grossed out to eat it!
For a place that is marketed as healthy, they do a pretty shitty job of offering anything healthy apart from raw veggies. And they charge an arm and a leg for raw veggies. Not to be a total jerk in this review, but the veggies and other salad bar offerings are ALSO underwhelming.
tl;dr Thanks 4 nothing!

The only thing that justified coming here… SOUPS! Salads and greens were nice but could have used more freshness. Breads and desserts went the same level as other stuff. Only worth a try with coupons!

So my chief complaint is that while it’s awesome they advertise vegan options there were only three things: salad, potato salad and baked potatoes. When I asked the staff about the black bean soup they didn’t know what was in it or if it was vegan. They gave me a book with the ingredients and instructions. That’s fine because I’d rather read it than risk it. However, they couldn’t answer what the broth base was (i.e., chicken, vegetable, etc.)

After discovering a Souplantation in San Diego county while I briefly lived there 2 years ago, I have visited Souplantation/​Sweet Tomatoes locations in various states many, many times. I have a deep love for the Soup, so much so that when I moved back to the Midwest I was SO SAD that there wasn’t one located in Wisconsin. After a quick search I found that they were just south of the border in IL. YAY! I noticed right away that the Schaumburg location is very busy, all of the time. I am not complaining about this, as it means it will stay in business.
This restaurant chain is my favorite because of a few things. One, you can’t beat the price for a buffet, and they always have coupons to use. Second, they have the best tasting fat-​free ranch of any other restaurant or company. It tastes so good that sometimes I will fill up a to-​go container with it so I can bring it home with me. Their salad bar is awesome, always clean (at all locations), and staff are always friendly. The rest of their food is tasty as well. I love how they change up the theme every so often. Their mac and cheese is hot and saucy, soups are good with a nice variety, and I love their ice cream, too. 5 stars all-​around.

Can here for lunch with my parents who are seniors my mom sat waiting for someone to ask her if she wanted coffee the lady told her to go get it herself…
My mom does not walk that much she has a hard time walking… Terrible service for seniors and handicapped people

This was my first time visiting the Schaumburg location. I typically go to the Lombard one along Highland Ave, but with visiting hubby’s Grandpa, he lives closer to this one. We came on a Thursday for lunch — right at 11 when they open. — Seriously the best time to come because it gets quite busy for the lunch crowd!
I can never complain about the salad bar — so much variety, so many fresh ingredients –make your own and all you can eat salad! The soups were good, but the ones that stood out to me the most were the chili and cream of mushroom. — Tip: add some corn to the cream of mushroom soup. Its adds a nice sweetness with a little texture. Yum! The little pasta bar was average. I’m a sucker for mac and cheese so I still eat it when I come in. Hey, I grew up on Kraft mac and cheese, so it doesn’t take that much to please me there. They also have a bread and baked potato station, but I didn’t get to try any of them since I was getting full. I needed room for soft serve! Any buffet that includes the soft serve machine wins my heart, especially when they include so many toppings to make your own sundae.
The only reason why I deducted a star is due to the mediocre service. It took a while for the plates to be cleared. The Lombard location is must more prompt. The set up of this location is also a bit cramped with a small walkway you must go through which is lined by booths on either side. Good luck if you have traffic going both ways at the same time! Tips — come when they open AND make sure you sign up online with them to get the coupons. Never pay full price there (even though it’s still a damn good deal).

When you go to any buffet, with a reasonable price tag, you are also agreeing to the following terms:
1) it will be crowded, typically with families who don’t tend to their kids, and or elderly who feel the need to start up a convo while you’re stuffing your face.
2) Those neat tubs of grub will ultimately be spilt onto all surfaces surrounding, including floor, and it’s up to you to survive the mess. Think of it like a flavorful obstacle course.
This place has ‘freasher’ food feel. You walk in and stand before a massive island of greens– the salad bar ends with pastas and packaged cookies before you pay. Once you migrate into the next section, all ideals of ‘healthier alternative’ get lost amid the carb extravaganza and massive dessert islands.
There are a few menu items I’d like to point out:
Honey Butter. It’s located above the bread basket. Paired well with bread, and cornbread.
Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup. If you don’t mind fishing fur some chunks of chicken (they’re in there, I swear) it’s a very well put together soup. I was slightly impressed with it (for a buffet)
The real reason I’m giving them 4 stars was the exceptional service we received from our busboy. Amid the chaos that enveloped the restaurant between our sitting down, and second helping, a stack of leftover dishes had piled up on the counter directly beyond my boyfriends booth. As fate would have it, the tower of soup bowls, (and, as we’d come to know, dessert bowls) which grew to previously unknown heights came toppling down. This landed an unprecedented amount of chocolate Icecream and sprinkles directly upon my boyfriend.
Busboy enters, apologizes profusely, proceeds to not only clean up the area, but also my boyfriend and even offered to use his own money to replace his dessert covered Cubs shirt. In addition to this, he brings his manager over, who provides us meal vouchers for the inconvenience.
We were hardly upset, more-​so we were laughing about the ordeal. The service, though there was a minor catastrophe, was clearly customer centric, and their employees went above and beyond to make up for it.
So if you’re ever hungry enough to do damage, on a budget, and would like a good option that allows cognitive dissonance. (‘Healthy’ and ‘All you can eat’) this is the place to go. You can burn some of those extra calories dodging convos with the elderly inhabitants or hurdling the sugar fueled children roaming between the tables.

When you walk in the large salad bar line hits you in the face along with a bunch of people making their way down the line. It was strange for new folks because you don’t really know what you’re suppose to do or where to go. Apparently, you go down the line and put your salad (s) together than you pay and get seated. The other bakery, soup, pasta and dessert items are in a different section after you pay. It makes it awkward if you want more salad after the first or second trip and it does not seem like most who go there do. The buss person was very nice and attentive and did mention to customers to feel free to make their way and bypass the cashier if they wanted more salad … But still awkward!
The pasta is way too over cooked and bland tasting for me. The chili and the tomato bisque good. Focaccia breads were fresh but not much taste. Salad selection was adequate but does not wow ! Very basic items and just a larger version of grocery store salad bar. Use a coupon and it’s fair price otherwise probably not really worth the price. Way too many little kids running around unattended !

This is a great place to visit if you’re looking for a salad bar with sweets and treats on the side. Salad buffet was kept full and fresh with all the extra sides. Be sure to venture around the corner where there’s a soup bar, focaccia, pasta and a soft serve machine (Yummmm). Service was good. Area looked clean. This restaurant was packed. Lots of businessmen, students just a diverse crowd. It seemed everyone love it. Try it out you may enjoy what they have. Their broccoli cream chowder delicious!

So impressed by my visit here yesterday, the staff were amazing and really made our lunch memorable. We were a group of ten and as soon as we walked in the door the manager greeted us and let us know he’d go put together some tables for us while we went through the salad/​check-​out line. By the time we had our salads our table was set and waiting for us. Throughout the meal, the manager stopped by our table to check on us — even bringing us cookies, coupons for our next visit, and refilling our drinks.
The food is good and all you can eat. The huge salad bar really stands out, but soup, pasta, and baked potato options are all great as well. Check this place out the next time you’re in Schaumburg.