Tomatina

We’ve lived in Walnut Creek for about 2– ½ years and had never eaten here until tonight. There were 3 of us and we had the risotto, the carbonara and one of the specials: a fettuccine with chicken in the style of cacciatore. The latter was pretty good but the other two dishes were pretty sub-​standard. The ear-​shaped pasta was under-​cooked and very chewy. The sauce was overly salted, considering it had pancetta, which is already salty. I couldn’t finish it.
The risotto would have been good had the rice been properly cooked. The flavours were good otherwise; it’s just too bad the risotto was not creamy the way it is meant to be.
We always wondered what this restaurant was like and now we know. And now we know not to eat there again.

The pizza was delicious! We order two large pizzas for four of us and we had tons left over. We ordered the Bianco and the Carne! I gave it a four because the garlic bread was too salty and not very delicious like the other reviews said in my opinion. Overall, the service was great and the pizzas were delicious :)

One of my favorite pizza places in the Bay Area. Been coming here for years. Garlic knots are silly good too. Salads are great and my kids love the pasta dishes.

Solid place for lunch. Their mini pizza with 2 toppings and a salad for $ 10.50 make it a good deal.

I’m always skeptical about restaurants I hear about too often on the radio. This restaurant (I think it’s a chain?) serves Italian food (at a somewhat pricey dollar for the amount of food you get).
I ordered ravioles and a minsterone cup of soup. I was disappointed that the former was a small dish and the latter wasn’t that hot. Once I had the soup reheated however it tasted really good. Furthermore, the small dish of ravioles was fairly tasty too!

Here’s an update from my last review. I so desperately want to give this restaurant a 5 star rating, but they keep taking away my favorite items! Why!!! The soup is back which is awesome but they took away the bread and the amazing tomato sauce that went with it! :0 you know what they replaced it with??? Stupid breadsticks! I am so sad because this item was so good and it kept me coming back A LOT. Now I hesitate to come here because they don’t have the delicious tomato sauce and bread in the beginning of the meal. Stop taking away the good stuff! Other than that the food and service is great!

Was there on Saturday and were seated without too much of a wait (20 minutes, not bad). The only problem was we were seated directly next to the area where everyone waits to be seated by the hostess stand. I kept getting hit by people walking by with their bags or jackets and was really an unpleasant experience. On the food front, I ordered a gluten free piadine and about 20 minutes later the waiter came back to tell me that they didn’t have any gluten free crusts left. So decided to order the caesar salad w/​chicken to make life easy for everyone since it had already been a wait for the food. Was really disappointed that it took them that long to tell me they were out of something and was really disappointed in the salad itself. The salad was not seasoned well at all and the chicken was extremely dry (not worth $ 15).
I have eaten @ the Alameda location a few times and never encountered this, to say the least I am bummed by this experience.

By far my favorite restaurant in the area. Probably because it holds a special sentimental place in my life, by no matter the food is always amazing! Can’t go wrong with the piadine.

My husband and I LOVE eating here! The garlic rolls are out of this world good, the spaghetti and ziti are my favorites, we always get Italian Meatballs on the side, so so good! Pizza is delicious too! Great atmosphere, eat inside or outside

I love the outdoor seating. This place has great food and great service.

I tried them again a while ago this time food was Good but the waiting staff is just not there yet not feeling it.

Get the cheese ravioli… generous portion and the flavors are bomb! However, the minestrone soup is very watered down and bland so if you’re a soup fan like myself, you will likely be disappointed in ordering that. I frequently place my dinner order to-​go which couldn’t be easier, take it home with me and it’s still warm and delicious when time to eat! I’ve never had a problem with them messing up or getting my order confused with someone else’s. I’ve dined in a few times and although the staff service could make some minor improvements, the food seems to make up for it.

OK, I haven’t eaten here yet, but this is a shout out to Justin, the manager there tonight who made it happen for a table of desserts for a special birthday! I couldn’t make it up there with everyone, who stopped in WC at Tomatina on the way back from Napa.
Thanks, Justin, for making this surprise work for all of us from SoCal, Connecticut, and San Jose!

Tomatina has been one of those places that I think I should try now that I’m a Bay Area resident. Like a rite of passage.
I went last night on a whim with my mother and she really enjoyed it. And for me, it was what I expected from a small chain italian restaurant.
Food: Strawberry lemonade… requested not too sweet. It was nice to have it carbonated. I’d recommend that again.
Garlic rolls — I understand that they are famous for it. It was nice. I’m a big fan of bread, oil, and other yummy toppings. Plus it came with marinara and ranch on the side.
Roasted Salmon with gnocchi and vegetables. Cream sauce on top
Fusilli with gorgonzola cream sauce — I didn’t realize that there would also be a tomato sauce on the base. Cuts on the richness of the cream sauce. However, it wasn’t too creamy.
I can see that Tomatina is great for families. I have a little one and I intend to bring him there in the future. And guess what? Kids eat for FREE on Thursdays!
Kudos: Loyalty program! When you sign up you get a free order of garlic rolls!

This was another place that I’ve passed by numerous times but never had a chance to stop by or even had the urge to. Walnut creek itself can be a headache when it comes to shopping around or even dining in the area. Parking can be problematic and if you’re tired after a long day of work, the last thing you’d want to do is walk around a open shopping mall trying to find something to eat.
PARKING:
Like I mentioned, the parking can be difficult. There’s numerous garages, usually with free 2−3hr parking and then there’s street parking, where sometimes, you have to REALLY make sure the person behind AND in front of you gets the idea that you’re taking the spot where that elderly couple is currently trying to manage their way out. The meters in front of Tomatina ends at 8PM, Monday-​Saturday (?).
RESTAURANT/​SEATING/​SERVICE:
My co worker and I walked in, it was about 8:30ish and the inside of the place was almost packed at that time. It was pretty warm outside so we decided to have street seating. So there’s inside seating, outdoor patio seating and then there’s street seating which seemed like a different entity on its own, I was worried that our waiter would forget about us but I’m glad that didn’t happen ! I wish I remembered our waiters name because he was very attentive, impressionable and made us feel comfortable there. He definitely didn’t give us that, «I’m really busy with other tables», feeling. He took his time talking to us, suggesting things from the menu and answering our questions. He was great ! ¹⁰⁄₁₀ for customer service.
FOOD:
The food didn’t take that long to arrive, or I just didn’t notice because I was talking to my co worker. Either way, I wasn’t feeling antsy so that’s a good thing. I ordered their Mama’s spaghetti and meatballs ($ 10.95?). I thought it was OK, not worth the price and the meatballs were bland. I did enjoy the sauce itself, a little bland too but I loved how it had the right amount of tangyness to it. My co worker ordered their garlic rolls so I ate that with the spaghetti because I thought that the spaghetti would have a piece of toast with it but alas, no toast. The garlic rolls were pretty good, our waiter was correct when he said that you have to get the rolls covered in the olive oil mixture or else you’re just nomming on a dense roll.
Spaghetti: ⁴⁄₁₀
Garlic rolls: ⁷⁄₁₀
Overall, my experience here was a lot better than I expected. I wouldn’t mind coming back again, I’ll have to try our their lasagna next time.

We have had tomatina many times over the past year and I can’t say we are coming back. Every time seems worse than the last. The chicken parm had hard pieces on the outside, wtf is that about? Pizza is really thick and doughy.
We won’t be coming back!

Horrible service and the food was mediocre. We were sitting outside at a table for 2 and a friend joined us, The RUDE server rather than offer us to move to a larger table (where we would have ordered MORE food) we were told that we were NOT ALLOWED to sit there because it was a 2 top. So feeling not welcomed we just paid ed and left, oh by the way, I’m the only one that actually got to eat before we were ushered away.
LAME

I have lived in Walnut Creek for sooooooooooo long and there are many options to eat downtown. I have always dismissed this place, but my coworker bestie suggested we meet there for lunch before we did our Canvas and Cabernet painting class. It has been years since I last ate here, and I’m now kicking myself for waiting so damn long!
We started off with the garlic rolls and a bottle of chardonnay. My two friends split the caprese piadine and the beet salad. Their meal looked so delicious! I selected the fettuccine with prosciutto and asparagus. It was decadent, but not too rich, creamy, or buttery. The asparagus was PERFECTLY cooked and the grape tomatoes added a great pop of color and sweetness. The prosciutto was crispy, not fatty, and cut up into the perfect size for each bite. Last, but not least, the fettuccine was AMAZING. My boyfriend and I have been a little obsessed with watching the Food Network lately, and man, you can definitely tell the difference between dry packaged pasta and homemade fresh pasta. I’m drooling just thinking about it.
Tomatina, I’m sorry I have ignored you for so long. Can we be friends?
I can’t wait to come back and check out a different item on their menu. See you soon!

Experience from start to finish:
We ate here for the fiancée’s birthday after searching for about an hour. We ate outside and were greeted by are server, Jordan, pretty quickly. We had the Razzle Dazzle to drink — it was delicious and non-​alcoholic. Jordan was patient with us while we decided what we wanted to eat. He answered our questions helpfully and courteously. My fiancée decided to get the lasagna — he loved it, which is surprising because he is normally only impressed with his own cooking. I got the Fusilli Gorgonzola with tomato cream sauce instead of the sauce it came with. It was delicious and perfectly salted. Both our portions were perfect. Our server checked on us pleanty of times and offered us dessert. We had to decline because we were so full.
Overall, wonderful food & service. Fairly price. Nice atmosphere. Will definitely return :)

I have to agree the customer service here is very poor.
I came in this past weekend and had a party of seven. As the gentleman, Nick, was putting together the tables, I asked if we could cap the end of a table so we could enjoy our last meal as a family for my brother’s bridal shower weekend. The gentleman said he was not able to do so as the chair would cross over into the other server’s section. I was in complete shock.
When I worked in the restaurant business, I learned that the customer comes first– «The answer is yes, what’s the question?»… Well, not here.
As I am typing this, I realize that the section the chair would have cut into was HIS section.
I wish we could have had a more intimate dinner, but I hope the server was able to use that space wisely!
While the food was great, the service was not good enough for me to want to return.