Tommy’s Cafe

Tommy’s Café has quality diner food. Its what I’d expect. My wife had a Belgian waffle and I had biscuits and gravy. We’ve had better, had worse. It’s so memorable that I don’t really have much I can say about it in the week or so after eating it. I do remember enjoying it, and it being a good price, though.
And while most reviews focus on the food, I’m going to bring light to a different issue. Their restrooms.
After paying before leaving, my wife and I made sure to use the facilities before our next stops in our weekend travels. I walked into the men’s room and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of air freshners. It was trying to cover something up, but I couldn’t figure out what. Of course, that’s what they do, right? Sorry.
As I stood at my urinal, the smells started to clear, and I could tell that it was starting to smell like a stale old dirty bathroom. My nose was recognizing the undertones of dirt and backsplash. I started to look around and realized that the only light was outside of the single stall.
The light crackled like an electronic fly catcher, buzzing with the halogen sounds. The flickering made me feel like I was watching «Hostle» and I waited for something to grab me by my ankles and drag me into the stall. And I became slowly grateful that while I was relieving myself at the facilities, that I didn’t have to use other facilities while I was in the bathroom.
I cleaned my hands, which still felt dirty due to the condition of the bathrooms and exited, feeling like I survived a haunted house at halloween. The look on my wife’s face as she exited her restroom mirrored my own, and she mumbled something about toilet paper outside the stall that I couldn’t quite make out as I was waiting for the blood to drain back into my face and ears.
— — — — —
I know that I devoted 1 paragraph of this whole review to food. I want to emphasize that the food wasn’t bad, it was good food. I normally don’t judge restaurants on their bathrooms, but the simple fact of the matter is this: if you can’t keep your restroom clean and fresh, what about your kitchen? Or what about people washing their hands in the restroom before prepping food in the kitchen?
Had I come in and used the bathroom before eating, I would have walked out. Had I just eaten and never used the bathroom, I would have probably given 3 stars or 4. The bathroom just negated the whole experience…

We LOVE this place. Family owned and operated for generations, this is a landmark in downtown Renton/​Rainer area. We love to get breakfast here. It’s classic dinner food with a home cooked feel. Crispy bacon is the best. We also loved the chicken fried steak. Best place to sit Is in front of the cool fish tank. The parking lot is always full, but the inside of the restaurant is large so you can always get a table.

this is a self seating restaurant. Glad i read a review that told me that because there is no sign when you walk in.
Greeted right away when we say down and there were quite a few tables occupied.
i ordered the dottie… biscuits & gravy but it left much to be desired the gravy seemed like chicken gravy with pieces of ham. The bacon was crispy & good. Hubby got the chili omelet which was mediocre but potatoes were yummy. If we come back we will definitely try something else. Not worth the $ 30 we spent.

The parking lot was deceiving, it looked packed, but the restaurant was pretty empty.
It was seat yourself, but it took a little over 5 minutes for them to bring us a menu. Which I find funny, since there were so few people in the restaurant itself.
I didn’t really care for our server. She wasn’t friendly, and didn’t seem to care for our table. Though there were 5 of us, she only brought 4 cups of water, and it took 3 trips for her to bring us the last cup of water.
When we received our meals, none of the food was hot. Just kind of luke warm.
Server never came back after food was served. Our water was never refilled.
The food was less than desirable (minus my boyfriends French toast which was pretty delicious), and the service was not wonderful.
I gave this place a chance, but I will more than likely not return.

Avoid this place if you can. All bad.
Service: ignored me as I waited at the front, then without looking at my just dismissively said «anywhere you like.»
Coffee: tasted like an ashtray.
Food: pancakes from a box most likely. Eggs Benedict had brown sauce, likely from a mix. Disgusting.
Way too expensive.
Never again.

I should’ve known to turn around when my feet stuck to the floor and I could see the filthy kitchen walls. I could tell it was an older place and it was fairly busy so I gave it a go. I ordered the fried steak and egg plate. The gravy for my steak was GREEN with lumps. Maybe it was the dim lighting castin such a hue? I took one bite and couldn’t take another. So, I moved to the «home fries», all I could taste was bell pepper. Gag me. The potatoes weren’t cooked evenly either. The coffee tasted like warm, brown water. The service was sub par and no one at my table was pleased with their meal. Save your money, health, and gas and go elsewhere.

Horrible food, poor service, overpriced, and dirty environment. 1 chicken breast and a small portion of potatoes with side coffee $ 12-​$ 15? An entire cooked chicken at Costco with actual flavor cost me $ 6. Hello? wouldn’t recommend this place to my worst enemy. Lower the food prices and up the environment like a clean wash towel and bleach.

Tommy’s is a nice restaurant and one that my hubby & I enjoy eating breakfast at when we are in the area. Their restaurant has an island feel & their service is excellent. In all the times we’ve visited them, I don’t think they’ve ever kept us waiting very long to be served. Their portions are pretty large and fairly priced. I recommend Tommy’s for a good home cooked breakfast!

Pro — the serve food. Prices arenlow in comparison to other local options.
Cons — Walked out prior to ordering. Filthy. Scrapped gross oily film off table top. Floor slippery with grease. Everything coated in grease film. Should not be open, could not pass a health department inspection.

This is probably my one thousandth visit here and I still get spoilt for choice here. Almost all of their food is really good and if you want a funny and warm server, ask for lynn. You won’t forget her.

They make a great breakfast.
The way I see it, there are two types of breakfast restaurants: 1, predictable, and 2, unique. One is definitely not better than the other. I went to Tommy’s hoping for predictable breakfast I just wanted an old-​fashioned omelet with some toast. That’s exactly what I got!
If I wanted to see em and tofu pesto Eggs Benedict, I go somewhere else. But for an old fashioned predictable breakfast, you should totally go to Tommy’s. I really enjoyed it! Keep in mind, though, it’s a very busy place during the rush hour in the morning. They’ll all treat you well.

It seems like Tommy’s Café has seen better days: the place is well-​worn and a little dingy, the entire dining room slants to one side a bit like a listing (or sinking?) ship, and it’s been nearly empty each time I’ve stopped by for breakfast (at 9-​ish am). None of this really matters as far as I’m concerned, however. When I stop in I’m just looking for a decent breakfast, and they do have that.
In my opinion, dining at Tommy’s is nothing to get too excited about. It’s a classic ‘greasy spoon’ American diner located right next to the busy Rainier Ave. in Renton, WA. This restaurant’s location just happens to make it a convenient place to stop when I’m working in the area, and it’s a lot better than any of the fast food crap on every other street corner in the area. Prices are reasonable (most breakfast entrees are in the $ 7-​$ 12 range, food is OK, the coffee kind of sucks, service is quick and efficient.
So far, the entrees I’ve tried are «The Margrett»: biscuits & gravy with bacon or sausage and hash browns or home fries ($ 8.75) and «The Mess»: ham, sausage, green pepper, onion, hash browns, eggs, cheese, with toast ($ 9.75). Each one was filling and tasty enough; certainly did the job!
All in all Tommy’s Café is a mixed bag that equals «A-​OK»… but not much better.

breakfast
food: eggs benedict. the portion was nice. the eggs were overcooked. the hollandaise was too thick. my only complaints. other than that, it was overall decent. its a simple meal that fills you up, not here to be fancy. ***2/​5
service: similar to the popular chain diners. you seat yourself where ever you want and walk to the front counter to pay. the servers were great. they pop up at the right time for ordering and water fills. ***4/​5
value: the price isnt bad for what you get. if the nearby diner chains are packed, it may be a good alternative. i wont come here specifically for anything special. ***3/​5

Expensive, terrible flavor and horrible service.
We came and ordered 15 min before a «regular» costumer and yet our food arrived 5 minutes after his.
I had to ask to have my coffee refilled– my boyfriend never had his water refilled.
This is the first and last time we will ever come here.

It was exactly what it was, a breakfast dive. Service was fast and friendly, we got seated fast, even though it was packed. The sausages and bacon were AMAZING! Everything was cooked exactly as we ordered it, eggs, pancakes.
Lost the stars because the biscuits and gravy were a HUGE disappointment. The biscuit was small and flat, soaked with way too much gravy for it’s thin slice. And the gravy was mostly flour, with a couple bits of chopped sausage in it. This should be an easy winner, since biscuits cost nothing to make you should use a good size biscuit, and gravy out of a can is better. A diner should not have weak B&G.

Gotta admire a quaint, family-​owned diner that throws you back to an older age (or for younger folks, allows you to imagine one).
They’ve got typical breakfast and lunch fare. Unfortunately they sorely lack vegetarian options. That means no vegetarian griddle options, no vegetarian burgers, no vegetarian deli sandwiches.
Their dinners offer only meat options: cow, chicken, seafood, pig, and meat sauce spaghetti.
I didn’t see any options for vegetarian substitutions.
If you’re vegan, the preponderance of eggs will leave you disappointed.

Went to breakfast with a friend who was visiting from college today, and had to make do with the Renton area. I took to Unilocal,and discovered Tommy’s Café. After GPSing it here, I realized I’ve passed this place probably 20 times but have never really noticed it because they just have a roadside sign. They definitely have a divey diner feel, but that’s something I’m usually into. The inside of the place is kind of random — the tables are covered in ads laminated under the table top, and the parts of the table top that isn’t covered in ads is peeling… Super weird. There’s also a couple fish tanks. The staff, however, is really nice and welcoming. We were seated right away and our waitress was very attentive throughout our entire meal. I ended up getting the Eggs Benedict since I’ve never had it and I’ve wanted to try that dish forever. I feel that this probably isn’t a place to try Eggs Benedict for the first time. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t that great either. The eggs were meh, the english muffin was good (I mean, you can’t really mess that up), but the sauce was just… Weird, gooey melted cheddar slathered all over the eggs. Once it started to get cold, the cheese developed like a film on top and looked all leathery. Speaking of cold — our food didn’t come that hot and it cooled down very quick. For the price ($ 9.99), I guess I got what I paid for. The hashbrowns were good, though. It’s almost impossible to mess those up. Although my experience wasn’t completely terrible, I probably won’t come back in the future.

Im going to blast this place a ⁵⁄₅ because of the following:
1. excellent customer service experience
2. good food and variety on the menu
3. chill Dennys vibe, like when you have late nite muchies or post night of drinking breakfast with that special someone who has to have some bodily fluids somewhere here or there.
4. its not as dingy as i would expect for a diner in Renton
5. I can easily see myself coming back.
The french toast is more homemade style than your thick restaurant style, veggies im the omelet not as well diced as usual, and coffee was nuetral, but those. are good qualities in a diner.

Went here about a week ago, I always drove past it but never really recognized it was there.
The place and everything was very old school, pretty cold and not as clean as I thought it would be. I decided to take my mom, grandma & son for breakfast, to try this place out instead of IHOP all the time.
The food… You get what you order nothing special, lacked of flavor & the cooks are Vietnamese which I thought was kind of weird. I felt like everything was over priced but I guess you can say you get your money’s worth portion wise. I asked for 3 coffees and apple juice, coffee was gross, tasted like they brewed a new batch on top of an old one, so it came out almost warm! Disgusting! I didn’t want to be too difficult about that. Honestly I felt like I could cook a better meal at home & I can’t believe I’m saying this but Denny’s might be better. At the end I ended up paying 50 $ for eggs Benedict, a SENIOR omelette (which my mom & grandma shared) & my sons french toast that pretty much taste like scramble eggs with cinnamon for 6 $?! Not coming back.
Service was great though, my waitress was super sweet & was good at refilling the coffees that we we’re trying to get rid of. Lol which is why they get two stars for service!

Local diner. it’s a local diner. that’s all it is… it’s just a local diner.
I don’t know what else to say about it.
The food is very basic here and what you see is what you are going to get. Nothing fancy, nothing special, just basic breakfast food.
Not that this is relevant but I think the cooks and owners are Vietnamese. It’s funny because I hear them speaking Vietnamese in the background. I guess it made me think they would offer some phở or shortribs.
Oh well, Diner food, locale, easy, basic,. not a bad place to go.