Sweet Tomatoes

You normally wouldn’t have to take time writing review about a chain buffet restaurant like Sweet Tomatoes or Ryans. You know what you pay for. For me it is like a routine. Sweet Tomatoes is about fresh salad, a good selection of made-​from-​scratch soups, and some hot side dishes. It’s a good routine when I know I need vegetables for a change. But tonight I am not sure if I will keep this routine going.
As soon as I entered the line I noticed these bowls that serves the greens and chicken wonton were sitting in the iced water. When you try to pick up the leaves the bowl start spinning. I couldn’t get a good scoop and ended up scoring like 4 pieces of them. It was probably a new tactic suggested by some consultant to save cost: discourage patrons from loading too much. (They pulled this trick about 2 years ago by moving the potato salad and tuna tarragon section further down the line, apparently they were hoping by the time we get there the plate is 90% full so we could get smaller portion of the higher cost items)
If my guessing is right then they are reaching the all time low. I recognized many restaurants are coping the bad economy by shrinking the food portion while holding the price, or simple raising the price. With ST they are now charging me $ 11.99! So I certainly don’t appreciate picking up veggies from a spinning bowl, at all, not to mention the cut-​in-​half-​triangle-​shaped corn bread, more blant taste low calories soups, dried and stale chopped onions, and the watery macaroni and cheese.
I just dont see how ST justifies the $ 12 price tag with these sub standards dishes. Very disappointed.

As a regular, each time I dine at Sweet Tomatoes, it gets boring and old.
It is located in the surrounding area of Gwinnett Mall. Its a buffet for a Vegetable Lovers, what do you expect. Salads, soups, pastas, desserts, etc… You name it, anything that has to do with vegetable, its there. But buffets about variety. The only reason I dine here is due to being sick or after workouts. It is not worth it for the price.
No customer service, duh obviously!
If you love vegetable you should try it, but there are cheaper alternatives.

This review concerns the chain as a whole. I wouldn’t have a problem with their brand if they didn’t keep shrinking the meat products. And now they’ve done away with boiled eggs! I’m sure it’s to cut food costs but it’s not reflected in their pricing.
No ham, no grilled chicken, no eggs, no pasta dishes with any kind of meat. The soup choice are either vegetarian ir if there is a meat ingredient it’s a joke.
This place is fine for the vegetarian crowd but it’s no longer acceptable for me!

I’ve been to Sweet Tomatoes on a handful of occasions and I can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed my meal each time. Very reasonably priced healthy food options. If going a meal without meat seems like cruel and unusual punishment, you won’t fare well here. I’m not a vegetarian, but I love vegetables. This place always hits the spot when I need something nutritious.
The main attraction is the salad bar (they do have non-​leafy kinds like quinoa salad, potato and green bean salad, etc), but they also have an area for soups, baked potatoes, breads and muffins and pastas. They serve fresh fruit and ice cream as well. The seating is always plentiful, the bathrooms are clean, the servers are pleasant and their chocolate chip cookies (sold at the register) are really good! Their menu changes regularly and is full of in season ingredients. Sign up to receive coupons or look through your weekly circular for inserts!

Big salad bar. Love the options offered. Love the other options like the soups, ice cream, and other treats! Staff is friendly and are attentive. Can get busy for lunch. They have monthly specials. You should try it. They also support the community which is a wonderful thing!

You lose a star Sweet Tomatoes for being cheap. There is not an egg shortage, give us eggs back on the salad bar. We don’t want corn instead of eggs! CORN IS NOT EGGS! Quit being cheap.
Also, some soups that contain chicken are always hidden in the back. There is a sign that says we have to ask for it. WHY? so you can give us less soup. I don’t mind terribly asking, but there is no one standing there to ask. If I have to ask for the soup and there is no one to ask then there is no soup. THERE IS NO SOUP. Cmon. Quit being cheap.
Still not bad, but less good than it was and obvious cheapness.

Such a variety and so many healthy alternatives for lunch. The soups are yummy. One price per person so take a long lunch and enjoy it with good conversation.

I’ve returned to sweet tomatoes after a few months and there are so much changes! They don’t have specialty salads there anymore except the wonton happiness. Speaking of the wonton happiness salad. They’ve taken out the chicken as well. Also they replace the egg topping with tofu (not appetizing at all). Also the soups are lacking as well. Many specialty soups are no longer there. I used to enjoy the soups there but not any more. They are pretty bland there. I understand that they’re cutting down stuff to help with budgeting but I think it’s hurting their business.

Located just outside the Gwinnett Place Mall footprint is where you can find Sweet Tomatoes, a place i’d never visited, but since I wanted a great salad, thought i’d head on in for a great experience.
So, the positives:
For just an a la carte salad, it costs you $ 5.59, and whether your dining in or taking it to go, you can stack that bad boy as high as you can get it, for under 6 bucks (or in my case, as much as I could get while being able to close the to go lid).
Even during the weekday lunch time, it doesn’t take very long to go from picking your plate, to the check out, as you move down the salad bar assembly line with two identical legs with some good salad toppings as well as pre-​made pastas, tuna salad, cucumber salads, etc.
They’re Unilocal friendly, and as of 8÷10÷2015, they have a check in deal that can be used by people 60 and above, so treat someone a little older to a discounted meal!
Customer service was quite cheerful and eager to please.
Now, the needs improvement:
I was kinda hoping that a place that specialized in salads would be king of toppings, but sadly I didn’t see as much selection as a Ruby Tuesday or Golden Corral. No Cranberries? No bleu cheese crumbles? No grilled chicken or turkey? C’mon guys!
Certain items were heavily depleted and looked unappetizing, so I passed them by, but staff constantly replenishes. For example, My first walk through saw scraps of cucumber that I just didn’t want, but just before I checked out, a huge tray of cucumber was added, so I back tracked and got some. Sadly, the actual tomatoes were never replenished… kinda a missed opportunity guys, when you don’t have nice looking tomatoes on hand.
Admittedly, i’m scratching the surface with this review, because in addition to the bar, you have access to soups, desserts, pastas, and pre-​made salads in a very spacious seating area, so maybe on my next visit i’ll get more than the salad bar.
I was going to give Sweet Tomatoes a 3, but after counting, the good points far outweigh the low points for me, and the salad was pretty tasty, it definitely deserves to be rounded up to a 4, and will give this place another visit soon.

This was my second time to Sweet Tomatoes after saying I would never return. Figured I would give it another try. NEVER again!!!
We arrived at 8:30 Sat evening… prime time and they were out of food. The girl behind the salad bar said they were out of tomatoes and feta cheese and would not receive a shipment till Monday. The salad bar was filthy as the 2 attendants behind the counter were more interested in socializing than actually working.
There was food was on the floor as if a food fight broke out.
The baked goods looked like they were dumped out of a bucket. Tasty but not presented well.
At no point did an associate remove our used dishes. We were forced to pile up our dishes on the table next to us.
No one cares about what they are doing at this restaurant and it shows.
Never again!!!

I think for the longest time this place has been on my list to check out. Well, I finally checked it out weeks ago since my date wanted soup, and I would have to say that the hype I created for this place isn’t up to par.
The idea is simple: salad, soup, and pasta buffet. The majority of the food was decent, but the quality wasn’t there for me. I sampled this and that, but I felt like the advertised soup for instance that was made from scratch was only decent. There wasn’t anything that made my taste buds go wow. Some of the employees were sweet and cordial, and the used plates were cleared in a timely fashion. Overall, if you’re wanting to eat your heart out but doing so in a healthy fashion, go here. The food quality was decent, but it wasn’t shabby nor great.
Sweet Tomatoes is on the outskirt perimeter of Gwinnett Place Mall. It was near the Macy’s side I think, but don’t quote me on that.

Got food poisoning here from my visit yesterday. Salad bar is ok I especially liked the asian salad. But there was no potato salad and the tuna pasta salad had an unpleasantly sweet flavor. The tomato pasta and mac and cheese were bland. I tried 4 different soups and all of them were mediocre except for the chicken chili. The baked potato I had was not fully cooked. Golden Corral is a much better choice for value and food quality. Plus have never gotten sick from there.

You can’t really go wrong with eating healthy. Except you’ll most likely end up eating too much and gain 15 lbs of veg fat. 8D
Really, it’s just way too much stuff to engulf and so little time because there is a line of people trying to find a seat. One thing that irks me is the fact they do not open until 11AM. I thought this was suppose to be breakfast/​lunch place? I really don’t know of anyone who’ll visit here during night time unless they are vegan. (Nothing against you guys/​girls!)
Always look for a coupon or register for their coupon emails. It’s not so much of the savings, you usually pay $ 0.50 on top of the regular menu to get their refreshing drinks. While you are at it, might as well get their own refresher instead of soda with tons of sugar.
All in all, it’s a good place to visit and I’d recommend to anyone who wants to ear remotely healthy ;) Be careful, if you are like few people that I know, ahem in-​laws caugh caugh. there’s no main meal (protein) on the menu.

I don’t always eat too much salad, but when I do, I go to Sweet Tomatoes.
I’ve been here couple of times, and I never had any problems with this place. Everything is well organized, the salads are fresh, the baked goods are fresh, the pasta is fresh, the utensils are clean, and you can refill your own drinks whenever you want to.
Sweet Tomatoes is more than just a salad bar. They have way more ingredients and/​or toppings than a regular salad bar. They have a section for variety of soups, baked goods, pastas, and desserts. The soups, baked goods, and sometimes the pastas are seasonal so you don’t have to worry about eating the same thing over and over again.
Don’t get me started on the soups! They have about 7 or 8 different type of soups. Personally, I like to eat clam chowder and the chili soup. It’s very good. The baked goods are very very fresh! They keep making new batches whenever they need to. You can eat corn bread, brownies, tiny pizza things, just regular slice of bread, and there is also baked potatoes and baked sweet potatoes!
For dessert, you can eat fruits and low fat ice cream!
I will definitely come back when I feel like eating salads, soups, baked goods, and pastas!

I was a little let down by Sweet Tomatoes, but that’s probably because I went in with high expectations. This can be best described as a buffet setup very similar to Golden Corral but with fewer options (namely, just a soup/​salad bar but with more soups, a smaller baked goods/​pasta section, and an ice cream machine).
The upside is that prices, like Golden Corral, are very reasonable — an adult lunch buffet is $ 9.99, and you can sign up for coupons for additional savings via email. Another upside is that this is a good alternative for those with less self-​control in their diets (like myself) because you will most likely be eating healthier items here than you would at Golden Corral with other delicious foods floating in front of your nose.
However, don’t expect anything too sophisticated from here. Just like Golden Corral, the soups are a little too salty, and the salad bar is good but not great. The presence of the soda and ice cream machines are a little odd, since those items seemingly negate the benefits of the entire Sweet Tomato concept. In the end, Golden Corral definitely wins in terms of «bang for your buck,» but Sweet Tomato isn’t a bad choice for vegetarian-​friendlies or those who need help making a conscious effort to eat healthier.

So this place went from a fours stars to almost no stars for me!
Reason being is 1: they don’t clean the food area, 2: the fruit area had a lot of gnats flying around the old, moldy looking fruits, 3: no friendly greeting from the staffs, 4: they don’t take away the dirty plates when finished eating and 5: *after 4pm* they don’t serve the damn cookies! WTF?! GRRRR!!! Yes. I wanted my cookies but my waitress never came to my table, so I couldn’t ask her.
What’s happened? This place used to be one of my favorite salad buffet! Booo!!!
I hope they read this and realize how horribly their restaurant failed my standards!

Some would consider this a «healthy» place to eat, but what makes it healthy is having discipline in what foods you choose! The salad bar is amazing here. All the salad items are in a buffet style with some pre-​made salads in the salad bar which are circulated monthly by theme. Some of the pre-​salads stay year-​around such as Wonton Happiness and Joan’s Broccoli madness. The soup bar is also amazing. They have many different soups to choose from. I especially love their chicken noodle soup that contains all-​white grilled chicken and thick noodles. All the calories for the soups and many other items can be found online. They also have a couple of different types of focaccia, simple pastas such as alfredo, mac & cheese, and marinara, sweet potatoes and baked potatoes, and cornbread, brownies, and a couple of different muffins. They have amazing soft-​serve ice cream, fruit, sugar-​free mousse, and tapioca also.
If you stick to just a big salad with no extra carbs, and maybe one bowl of soup, you can manageable-​y have a healthy lunch or dinner, but since it is a buffet there are many temptations!
I have been coming to this location for about 10 years. Today’s visit was a little bland service wise. Usually there are staff who come and pick up your plates, but no one did that today. No one really smiled or acknowledged us either. The staff at the front was pretty plain also. Not that friendly.
#YEFit2015

Sweet Tomatoes = Souplantation. We came here for breakfast on Sunday but unfortunately, they don’t serve breakfast here. So had to wait till 11am for them to open. Basically, salad, soup, pasta and breads. Great for a healthy meal. Plenty of seating inside. What else…

This is my third visit & I must say I am impressed with Sweet Tomatoes. I always manage to come and get super full for a super price.
The salad bar is phenomenal! The fresh bakery & from-​scratch soups are always on point.
I’d recommend this place to EVERYONE I know.

My salad-​loving heart is so at home here! I love the endless topping options. I’ve been several times and it is always fresh and delicious.
I appreciate that everything is labeled (vegan, vegetarian, gluten free etc.). I don’t necessarily need the labels, but I have many friends who are cautious about what they eat. Sweet Tomatoes is perfect for my friends with special diets.
Many soup choices, but the chicken noodle is always my go-​to with huge hunks of white meat chicken and a good level of seasoning (not too salty like other places). Their warm, fresh bread is a delicious accompaniment.
A constantly changing variety of desserts and soft serve ice cream make a great end to the meal.
I only wish they had meat options available to go with my salad. I would even purchase grilled chicken, shrimp, tofu etc. separately if it were offered.