I visited with a friend for dinner but it was MKL day and a holiday so busy for a Monday and the noise from the open kitchen made our conversation a bit difficult. That said, everything else was superb; we had the soft polenta and Pear/Proscuitto pizza - both delicious. I have to give high praise for our server Koa; he was everything a server should be ... when we were wondering about which wine to choose he let us know which were on Happy Hour prices; he also offered to get a small taste of the wine for my friend when he wasn't sure which to choose. He was attentive and easy to find throughout our meal. His service was excellent and his consideration for his guests in helping us make selections was appreciated. He did a fantastic job :-) read more

Stopped by, starving, for lunch, hoping for one of their personal pizzas -- which, apparently, they no longer serve on weekends. So I opted for their hummus "piadina" -- basically a gigantic piece of undercooked, beige pizza dough with an almost invisible layer of "hummus", topped with an oversalted salad of romaine, a little onion, a few olives, and feta, which did nothing to satisfty my hunger. Cost with tax, just under $19 -- not good value, in my book. To satisfy my hunger, I went across the street for 2 fish tacos at Cholita Linda -- delicious, fresh food, and it cost less than half that "piadina" . . . should have gone there in the first place. Not sure what happened at Tomatina . . . not planning on going back there. read more

Food is good classic Italian. Victoria our server was good and did great. The ambience is family style.. read more

Tomatina - Pasta trio was very nice but my rigatoni a little cold compared to the rest. - Italian Near Me - Alameda, California

Horrible Horrible Service! I ordered a pizza and 2 salads for dinner via Door Dash. We received the 2 salads, but NO PIZZA! The Dasher confirmed that he was only given a bag (2 salads-unsealed bag), but no pizza, and he's already on another delivery so he can't go back. I called the restaurant and was placed on hold for a long time. I called back and my call was dropped. I called back a few more times but NO ONE ANSWERS THE PHONE. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE SERVICE! I would give them ZERO STARS if that was an option. read more

Came here for lunch with my SIL and was impressed with their pick two item menu for lunch. We had a nice seat by the window and the waitress was pretty nice even though she seemed to cover the whole restaurant. Since it was empty for the most part, the restaurant was pretty casual and not noisy. I wanted to get the calamari appetizer but they said they didn't serve it at their location. Bummer. We both had the Caesar salad and pizza. Pepperoni for me and mushroom spinach for her. The crust was crisp and chewy and topping amount decent. The Caesar salad was surprisingly good with a nice cheesy garlicky croutons. Parking was a bit tough but we managed to find a meter. I would come back again if I wasn't concerned about parking. read more

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Best dining experience I've ever had in this restaurant. We had a kind, handsome young waiter, I believe his name was Tristan. He welcomed us in warmly and always made sure we had everything we need. Always brought out bread, marinara sauce, and water whenever we were out. I recommend this restaurant to all of my friends and family. read more

We have been Eating at Tomatina for years. Most visits are uneventful and I do really love the food. We now live out of the area and my wife really misses the Piadine. So every time we're in town, she has to satisfy her craving for one and I really enjoy the Spaghetti and Carne Combo Pizza! This last visit was on a Sunday at lunch. Unfortunately, they were terribly understaffed. We had to wait at the front desk for a while before anyone showed up. After we were seated, it took a long time to get our drinks and take our orders. Also the food took a long, long time to come out. Our server told us that there were only two people in the kitchen. My wife ordered a salad to go with her Piadine. The salad came out first. Some time after finishing her salad, my Spaghetti showed up. After finishing my Spaghetti, her Piadine finally showed. The service could had been better there for sure. The food was good. As usual, I really enjoyed the Mama's Spaghetti and Meatballs. I really love the homemade pasta there. My wife does love her Steak Piadine, but this time it was overcooked and really too crunchy. This is the first time that I recall that we have had an issue with the Piadine. But we did stiil enjoy our lunch. Problems aside, our family loves Tomatina and will be back again and again. This visit was an exception. We enjoy a 5-star experience with almost every visit. Whether it's Pasta or their thin crust pizza, it's hard to go wrong with the food at Tomatina! read more

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I'm addicted to their tiramisu. I only get it to go, so I can't comment on the ambiance, but any time I need a treat I come here. I've also had a couple of their pastas and enjoyed them. It's exactly what I want when I eat American Italian. It's really solid and not excessively fancy! read more

The food is okay. For the price, I expected better taste and larger servings. Not sure if I will return.

Booked a reservation as I heard it gets very busy here! Was easy on OpenTable. The place is cute and clean. The space has a very nice pizza oven in the middle of the room! A good view of the chefs prepping. The food was very very good! They don't disappoint!!! Although my friend said her shrimp pomodoro was too spicy to enjoy. The drinks were tasty and freshly made by a proper bartender! The service started out great and declined at the end? The server forgot our boxes for our leftovers. Recommend you find street parking a full street away for free parking. Clean restrooms! read more

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WHEN: Friday @3pm I actually got here around 2pm in hopes to get a back patio table for my party of 3. But I happen to hit the day where it was closed for a special event. So I sat in one of the parklet tables in front until my friends came around 3pm, which is when Happy Hour starts (3pm-6pm M-F)! I haven't been back to dine in since before the the pandemic and boy do I miss it! I've alway loved the food here, and I've been wanting to do happy hour again, though it sort of changed since. You have the option of ordering directly from your phone and you can do this the entire time you're there. No need to decided everything at once. Just keep adding it and at the end you pay for the total. Convenient! There's less on the Happy Hour food menu now, so we ordered everything: CREATE-YOUR-OWN PIZZA - $7 Mini hand-tossed pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella and your choice of 2 Custom Creation Toppings. There's a lot different toppings to choose from and I chose FENNEL SAUSAGE and MUSHROOM. Wow it was yummy! They don't skimp on the toppings and it was so good. BRUSCHETTA - $7 Basil pesto, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan and tomato vinaigrette. Countless weddings and events have turned me off from bruschetta, but my sis ordered some anyway. It comes with 3 hefty looking bruschetta and boy am I glad she ordered this because it was good! The bread part was soft, the tomatoes were roasted, and it was just a wonderful snack! MEATBALLS - $7 Braised in marinara, with Parmesan and Pugliese bread. OH man, this was delicious, but I must say I enjoyed the bread the most. Ask for more butter cuz screw it it's Friday and there's plenty of marinara to dip that bread in. Oh and yes, meatballs were tasty. RED SANGRIA - $5 It's not on the online menu, so you can just ask your server for it. Sadly there was no white sangria so I chose this, which is quite sweet. It's like juice to be honest. It comes in a large glass with citrus fruit garnish, but no fruit in the cup. SHRIMP POMODORO - $21.95 Spaghetti with basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, garlic, Parmesan and tomato sauce. Okay, since it was my friend's birthday I guess he gets to pick a pasta to share, which was quite good--at least the pasta part. He opted out on the parm, and I opted out on the shrimp since it's something I don't care for. But its decent if you're into red sauce and shrimp. MIXTA SALAD - $18.50 +$5.25 Salmon Mixed greens, gorgonzola, pickled red onions, candied walnuts, dried cranberries and honey mustard vinaigrette. Ahhh another great choice my sis made cuz I never order salad! Also, I appreciate how generous they are with the salmon, which was NOT dry! Everything came together so wonderully! Since it was our friend's birthday we had dessert! Here's what we shared: SRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP - $9.75 Topped with vanilla gelato. Perfect. Just order it. This is seasonal so order it NOW. TIRAMISU - $9.75 Ladyfingers, espresso, mascarpone, and sweet Marsala. I've had this before and it's still amazing. Very shareable. Service is always amazing here. Food is always good here. I'm sad they no longer serve my favorite pasta...the one with pine nuts...something gorgonzola. Anyway, at times I shy away from chain restaurants but I can't turn away from Tomatina. They are consistently gooooooooood. read more

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Service was ok, staff in the back bar area idle on phones, and food is definitely not worth the price. The Alfredo sauce is gross, literally just oil. I swear Olive Garden, sbarro's and even fazoli's has been better. read more

We are thankful that Tomatina is here in Alameda. It's simple lighter Italian style food that meets our taste buds. We visit here every few months. The winter seasonal pasta and crab cioppino special a few weeks back really hit the spot. Cioppino had Dungeness crab, mussels, shrimp, fish with a light tomato sauce. Could have used more sauce but tasty none the less. The Winter Pasta had Fusilli, spicy calabrian sausage, shiitake mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, marinara, and arugula. Had a nice kick to it. Servers were busy yet attentive enough. Servers came to sing and present the birthday dessert also. The restaurant was nice and warm on a wet winter evening. It's a casual and great for families, coupes and groups. It was probably 80% full on a Friday night at 7:30pm. The bathroom does need a refresh and better cleaning and maintenance though. read more

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Food ok Service was good Ambiance is still the same since they opened. We normally eat to go. But decided to eat at the site. The lunch special was worth it. read more

This place was disappointing. We were handed menus with lunch specials but were told we could only order from the other side. That is just bad customer service. I guess kids eating free on some days is a cool offer, but as an adult I don't want to eat there. The salad i ordered I almost sent back because it was unrecognizable. It had a lot of dressing and was very salty. The blueberry margarita was weak. Its a no for me. read more

Came in for lunch on a Sunday and had a great experience. Service was awesome and very attentive. I got the 'Caesar Salad' and the 'Shrimp Pomodoro' both were great. If you're looking for a family friendly place to eat on in Alameda this is a good spot. The Vanilla Gelato was amazing! read more

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Very nice, kid-friendly restaurant. We went in tonight--4 adults, 3 young kids. Our server, Jill, was lovely--very thoughtful and patient with the kids. The food came out quickly, which is great with young kids, and there is enough noise from the TVs and open kitchen that it helped drown out our noise. At the end, another kind server named Tristan helped box things up for us which was a big help in the chaos of getting the kids out. I love the Thursday night-kids eat free special, and the build your own pasta (I get spaghetti with tomato-cream sauce), which is just delicious. Very nice, neighborhood place with good food and thoughtful service. read more

I ordered the Summer Pappardelle from the seasonal menu and wow this pasta is absolute perfection! It is now one of my fav pastas with the mouth watering mix of egg noodles, toy box cherry tomatoes, white corn, and fennel sausage tossed with garlic, basil, and butter sauce! My family and I appreciated the excellent service from the time we checked in for our reservation to when it was time for us to pay for our dinner. The employee who checked us in did an excellent job with thoroughly cleaning the table and seats we were waiting for. Our server, Jordan, took all of our orders and requests down and served us impeccably. Jordan checked on us throughout our dining time. We appreciate Jordan and all of the staff who treated us with excellent hospitality! It is no question why my family, friends and I enjoy dining at this Tomatina in Alameda! read more

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The food here is delicious and it's in a prime Alameda location! From the minestrone soup to the garlic bread and pasta...you won't be disappointed. Ambiance is dimly lit and they offer both indoor and outdoor seating. We came about 30 minutes before closing so our service wasn't the best but the food made up for it. There was a lot of noise of dishes being put away etc. which is understandable. There is street parking nearby but if you are meeting a friend, I would recommend ample time to find parking and to walk over to the restaurant. read more

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I never ever write reviews. Food was fantastic and I love the Thursday deal for kids. Beyond this food though I need to highlight a particular staff member. I have never dined with my 13 month old alone before. It was a hassle and I was filled with anxiety and scared. But my server Ruby made the ambiance and everything perfect. She was attentive to the needs of a father trying to feed his baby, offered all the right things and checked in frequently. Whoever manages this place, please thank Ruby as best you can for me. I cannot express enough how much she helped me read more

Tomatina - Italian Near Me - Alameda, California

My family and I were regulars here, especially on Thursday nights. I understand it can get hectic having going for years. Usually service is great and everyone knows us and treats us with nothing but smiles. The last couple times has been painful but last night was probably my last time sadly. After waiting 20 min to get on the waitlist, I finally did. I was never reached out to if a table was ready or not. We ended up choosing the plethora of options near by. Love this place because of the staff there, unfortunatley when the A team isnt there, this place is a s$@! show. read more

I'd just returned home from my 48 hours in Las Vegas. Of course, there's nothing in the house to eat. My Johnny has a friend over and was ordering carry out for dinner. I had really no opinion. Suggested pizza or burgers. Nope, he's going to Tomatina. Looked over the menu. Well honestly, my own pasta creations are pretty darn good. And I didn't want a personal pizza for $15+. My son said he was getting Chicken Parmesan, so order me one as well. Two nice pounded chicken breasts, a few broccoli and cauliflower florets, and simple thin spaghetti tossed in red sauce cam boxed up. The trio was good and flavor was better than expected. I'm giving it four stars. It was $18 and maybe could have been more impressive. As I said, it was good. read more

Tomatina - Chicken Parmesan - Italian Near Me - Alameda, California

Tomatina is a chain restaurant so I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. We chose to visit because we were in a hurry and they didn't look busy. Upon our arrival we were seated right away and was told we could scan the QR code for the menu and tho order. A couple minutes later, a server arrived and offered to get us menus and let us know he could place our order if it was easier. We decided to order a pizza, kids spaghetti, kids white sauce pizza and a chicken Alfredo. The food took a little longer than we anticipated considering they weren't very busy. The food was just your average meal. What you would expect from a chain restaurant. The only reason I gave 3 stars is because our server was nice and attentive. read more

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Our service here has been hit or miss and so has been our food. It depends on what we order and depends on we come. We came early in the day and were basically ignored, were served half by the host and half by our server. We're not given our Togo boxes after asking twice and our server was blatantly ignoring us and only paying attention to a much bigger table. We came before at night on a weekend and had a much better experience. I am conflicted and don't know if we will be returning. read more

Had a beautiful experience at the Alameda location yesterday. I was craving the seasonal butternut squash ravioli but for some reason you had to order it on the app which was a little awkward. Nonetheless it arrived with my Mediterranean salad which was bomb! Also try the garlic rolls- so delicious! The ravioli was portioned nicely but could have used a little pumpkin spice or nutmeg to enhance its flavor. It was my first visit here in Alameda and server Karina was pleasant and hospitable. Looking forward to my next visit! read more

We understand COVID19 but please don't do this to your customers ! There was literally no chicken in the chicken Alfredo! Still really good Italian food in the east bay. Portion sizes have also shrank ! I recommend keeping the same quality and quantity as before COVID if you want to keep your customer base! read more

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Server: Karina made our evening!!! Thin crust pizza is pretty good Needed to kill some time as our flight had been delayed. She was very understanding returning to our table often to make sure we didn't need anything. Thank you you're a good person, not to mention a great server read more

Since COVID has changed how the world does things, Tomatina now does their ordering at the table through a QR code but they do have physical menus if you want (and we were offered.) As others have mentioned the food doesn't come out in the expected order if you put it all in at once. Our entrees came before the appetizers which was a little annoying but was only a couple minutes and everything was still fresh and hot. The site/app is also a little clunky to navigate through past their seasonal specials. You don't have to pay the bill right away so server Karina mentioned that you can space out the food when you order so they get sent to the kitchen in the order you want to receive them. Normally this would be done by how a server would enter in the system. She did apologize for the mix-up and mentioned since it wasn't that busy on a Sunday night that she should have caught it before bringing the food. We were also offered free dessert for the confusion. The other reason I knocked a star off was because while we didn't realize it was getting close to closing, the busser was just suddenly appearing almost every 5 min near the end to clear the plates. Would have appreciated if either he or our server had simply told us "Hey we're closing soon, do you need anything else?" instead of just hastily asking to clear our plates. (Remember we pretty much got all our dishes at once so we didn't eat in phases.) Aside from the ordering mix-up and the rush at the end, the food itself was delicious and fresh. We ordered the seasonal cantaloupe & prosciutto salad and bruschetta to start, my Dad got the seasonal summer pappardelle pasta and I got the shrimp Pomodoro. Everything pretty much looked like their pictures from the menu. The cantaloupe was light and refreshing with the prosciutto just adding a nice bit of salt flavor. The bread for the bruschetta was crunchy, mozzarella and tomato fresh, a little bit too much olive oil for our taste but still yummy. My dad's pappardelle pasta was tender, tasty and a good portion. Shrimp Pomodoro was not overcooked, pasta was fresh and you could taste all the ingredients. For the free dessert offered we got strawberry shortcake, which was fresh, ice cream cold, would've personally liked bigger or more pieces of strawberry but was still good. Overall this is still a nice simple Americanized Italian restaurant, easy go to for dinner. Their seasonal menu is usually on point but if that's not your style they have other pizza and go-to pasta dishes like Bolognese, alfredo and lasagna. No it's not super upscale, yes it's a small chain. If you want fancier there are not "chain" Italian restaurants in Alameda, but if you just want easy dinner where most everyone can find something to eat, Tomatina is a no brainer. read more

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The food came out cold and arrived to my table after 1 hour of ordering. I'm not sure what was going on in the kitchen but this experience has deterred me from wanting to come to this place again. There was a lot of smoke coming from the pizza ovens and there was no ventilation. read more

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We were celebrating my son's birthday - party of 4 (Mom, Dad, older brother, and birthday celebrant). We told our server (Viktoria) that we were celebrating; she even greeted him (he may not have responded out of shyness). At the end of our main course, we were asked if we wanted to order dessert, but decided we wouldn't. My son was not offered a dessert for his birthday, and instead, was handed the machine to pay our bill. So...we thought maybe the restaurant doesn't do the gesture anymore. We didn't feel comfortable asking/mentioning it again, as that is not what we were after; but I wanted for my son to feel celebrated for at least 10 seconds, if that was still a thing. We got up after paying electronically , and to our surprise/dismay, the table next to us was surprised with a birthday dessert by the same server (and other restaurant staff) - a table with no kids; just adults. We felt insulted. To add to the insult, as we were walking out and nearing the doors, the hostess asked us if we were just arriving or on our way out - a clear signal of lack of awareness. I proceeded to explain the situation to her (the hostess), and as she started to interrupt me, I had to ask her to allow me to finish what I needed to say, explaining what had just happened. She assumed (since she didn't ask me) that we didn't mention anything to the server. Did she think that we expected for the server to just KNOW that it was my son's birthday?? Of course we mentioned it! After all of that, nothing was offered, but we weren't looking for anything at that point. I have taken my family here for years, as it was the next best thing to an old pasta chain that we frequented in the past. We've celebrated Mothers Day here with other mothers of other families; I've taken my wife for dinner here a handful of times. Tonight, on my son's birthday - we were simply disappointed. I still left a gratuity, believing that the others in the kitchen who work hard see a portion of that. Viktoria, our server, also was observed by my sons to have been "dry" with us, while very friendly with at least a couple of other tables. I don't want to imply anything here but we definitely did not deserve the treatment we received. read more

The service is guaranteed terrible aside from the two very thoughtful and friendly latino staff members, one male and one woman; very consistently nice and wonderful to me and anyone I come with, remembers me. Actually, the girl with the glasses is sweet too. Let's not forget her. But otherwise I've had plates tossed at me like frisbees, and loudly clattering on my table, getting ignored as I wave for a member of staff and then talked to like a fool, them getting attitudes if I point out that I not only had my food tossed at me, but also that I ordered a pepperoni and proscuitto pizza, not a pepperoni and olive one..... And a lot of very very sticky tables and menus. It sucks, since their happy hour and meals are SO. GOOD. It was a favorite place of mine. But I stopped going after some unbelievably bad service, paired with watching the one of two cooks they have openly coughing and hacking without covering her mouth, directly onto food, as she's kneading pizza dough and working WITH FOOD about to BE SERVED TO PEOPLE. I reported that to the business and pretty much never got a response back, very gross. Now I can't go back even if I wanted to, unless I wanted a drink, since they do have amazing scenery and espresso martinis. It has real potential. read more

Went at 3 when it was dead. Waitress still seemed impatient with me even with only 2 other tables in establishment. Dropped food off and came back by later to ask how it was and didn't even stop to hear my response. Only 1/2 of the raviolis had an actual filling. The ones that did were great and the Cesar salad was great. Just wish the food was more consistent. read more

Tomatina - Cheese ravioli with no filling - Italian Near Me - Alameda, California

I stopped here with my girlfriend on a random Friday afternoon for a late lunch (or is it early dinner?). I live in the area and have walked or driven past multiple times, and a warm hearty savory meal really hits the spot in the cold season, so Italian seemed like a good choice. And it was! Late afternoon/happy hour is a quieter crowd inside but a bustling kitchen and clearly multiple Door Dash or UberEats orders being made and picked up. Service was friendly, quick to seat us, and the perfect level of interactive (visiting often enough to feel cared for but not too often to be intrusive) throughout the meal. The happy hour bruschetta was excellent; love the pesto here and the use of sun dried tomato instead of a off-season tomato was excellent! Also loved their house made meatballs appetizer paired with their seasonal Tucson salad. Overall: Great food. Great atmosphere and staff. I definitely recommend and will be sure to visit again. read more

HAIR in my Antipasta SALAD! Did I say Hair? Yes I did. Ok, lemme start by saying I just had lunch at Tomatina with three of my family. Having eaten here before I was expecting excellent service and excellent food. NOPE!! After a rather crappy, hasty greeting by the waitress, our drinks took 15 minutes to arrive, followed by an hor's douvre, followed by main course like 20 minutes later. When I complained about the hair the manager insisted on me pointing it out, not just taking my word. This made me gag a second time. WTH???? The waitress offered to replace the meal which I wisely declined. I was like way past hunger. Personally I would have comped the whole meal? Did they? NOPE!! Instead the knocked off a couple ice teas. Total cost of the Mel? 100 bucks, which I left in cash including a 20% tip. Why did I tip? 1) because I want to encourage their crappy service so they lose even more clients..2) I wisely paid cash cause I want no blowback from a truthful negative yelp review. I immediately told everyone at home the experience I had there. I'm now telling you. I will never ever eat there again. What a horrendous experience. I honestly think this pace has gone seriously down hill. Never ever again! Did I say hair in my salad? read more

oopsy!! I mistakenly put this review in Tomatina's Alameda Yelp - I have since corrected my mistake and posted in their Union City Yelp. But since I don't think I can delete this, it's gonna appear here also - oops sorry! Haven't been to Tomatina's Union City in a long time, as we usually frequent their Alameda location because it's closer to where we live. But!! We were close to Union City on Saturday 2/17/24 and decided to stop by because of Tomatina's Frutti Di Mare special this past weekend. Frutti Di Mare is a pasta (spaghetti) dish that includes clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp and fish in a marinara, fresh herbs, white wine, and olive oil sauce. I ordered the FDM special and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, The Husband ordered his usual Baked Penne Bolognese, and we started the meal off with a large Caesar salad (with anchovies on the side because The Husband doesn't like them), and ending the meal with their Tiramisu because they ran out of the Chocolate Cake special. I loveloveLOVED the FDM special, such that I approached and gave the Chef who made my dish a chef's kiss and mucho accolades! In fact, I loved everything that I ate and drank there on Saturday. If you're a fan of seafood, DO NOT MISS their Frutti Di Mare the next time it's offered - get on their email list so that you are apprised of any weekend specials. Humberto was our server, and I told him that he made my night a perfect night! Make sure that you ask to be seated at his area, because Humberto is a RockStar!! He has a calm demeanor, utmost patience, a wonderful disposition, and good energy - in essence, everything you want in a Good Human Being. Thank you Humberto for being you!! read more

Great place. DoorDash or in person. The entire menu is great and they serve peroni on draft

Thank you Alyssa for your great customer service! Came in yesterday to pick up a Togo order. The front was full of ppl waiting to be seated and helped. I can tell the host was overwhelmed but doing the best he could. We all were just crowded up there for about 10 minutes Alyssa came in and helped everyone with a smile on.super nice and friendly. Thank you read more

Our party of four were walking down Park Street looking for a place to eat that would please all of us and we passed by Tomatina; we decided that this is the one. We were not disappointed. We all had wonderful food, decent service. Each one of us ordered a different dish and all of us pretty much cleaned our plate. Definitely will return. And yes it was nice to see so many folks out and about in Alameda on the fine Autumn evening. read more

Came here with my friend 9/5/21. Was a bit hesitant but the food was great and the service was excellent. She ordered the mama's spaghetti I had the roasted salmon and vanilla raspberry Italian soda. For dessert we had the apple crisp, it wasn't too heavy or too sweet. I will definitely be back. read more

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Great Customer service Very good Pizza and drinks Best Pizza ever. Food came really fast read more

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