Pomaroma Cafe

Hello my Unilocalin’ ass friends, my name is Javier Magallon. I was born and raised in San Francisco. I currently bartend on Broadway and Kearny most of the time so if anyone has a problem with what I’ve stated, well than you know where I work.
First of all, I was one of the fortunate, original employees at Pomaroma and I have to say it was a true blue pleasure working for Edward, the owner. It’s unfortunate this venture didn’t work out for him.
What’s more unfortunate is that a piece of garbage like Kenneth P had to bother to post his condescending review after this restaurant was closed.
If anyone was to blame for the lack of success for this establishment, it’s Kenneth P himself. The Great Homo Gourmet. Well maybe not the Gourmet part… This is a man who claims he’s Italian but his food sure never indicated that. LOL HAHAHAHAHA. That’s the real joke here. Kenneth P is the real joke. This delusional prima donna had us all refer to him as CHEF and nothing else. We all tried to work with you and you treated the staff like trash, which we’re not.
I hope whoever is ignorant enough to employ man like this understands exactly what they’re getting. You’re a line cook. Nothing better.
See my face in my profile? You see who I am. Everyone had a long consistent laugh at you behind your back. This laugh at you lasted several months. It’s still going on you piece of garbage.

I have been here many times and enjoy the food. The gnocchi is very good. It is very rich and creamy. The wait staff is very friendly and always helpful. The bill can get pretty expensive so keep an eye on what your ordering when you are hungry.
If you are fan of Italian food it is definitely a solid choice.

The food is ok, but I had a waiter that was so rude and so incompetent, that I’ll probably never go back.

spacious establishment with good lighting. reminded me much of the typical pasta pomodoro chain restaurants.
bruschetta comes in 5 options of toppings of which you can choose 3. we went with the roasted pepper and arugula, fresh mozzarella and pesto, and the sundried tomato and basil. when our plate came, we got everything except the sundried tomato and basil. instead, caramelized onions and goat cheese was on our toasted bread. we were not fans of the goat cheese. the toppings were all a bit bland and the bread was not warm or toasty. i was quite disappointed in something that should have been an easy signature to accomplish.
after much debate, i decided to go with the toscano salad which was proscuitto with arugula and cheese. the presentation was very nice but the salad was completely underdressed. the proscuitto was getting dry and hard on the edges and the cheese was sparingly sprinkled on the arugula.
we also ordered a spaghetti bolognese. the sauce was not very meaty and the tomatoes used were not sweet. it was too tart for my liking. the pasta was cooked aldente which was pleasant.
service was attentive and accomodating. unfortunately it is just not enough to keep me coming back when there are a handful of other better italian restaurants a block or two away.

LIke the large space and full bar area… too bad they’re not open later. Guess they have to follow the restaurant zoning guidelines or something. Great rosemary bread to start with. I really liked the the prosciutto wrapped prawns. The spaghetti and meatballs were good but not distinguished amongst the others I’ve tried at various places. THe assistant manager is a super nice guy and they have a really good music selection of all things. I’d like to give the other items another try to sample some of the other fare. 3.75 stars.

Go to Pomaroma only if you want great food and better service. Relatively new on busy B street where parking can be challenging but you can get lucky like I was to get front door parking.
We sat in the area where floor to ceiling heavy curtains are used to create private or semi private areas — a nice touch. Our waiter, Joseph had excellent table manners and if your party is open to recommendations off the menu or the history of the restaurant, Joseph will give you all the facts. We asked if we could eat family style so that we can all try more of the yummy menu items, no problem.
Appetizers that can’t go wrong — Calamari, Crab Cakes & Prawns wrapped in bacon (although the prawns were slightly overcooked.
Joseph also highly recommend the linguine in white sauce with scallops, Parpadella Fruitti di Mare but my favorite was the Osso Bucca (Oooh Sooo tender and tasty Boookah) with mash.
They allowed us to share the salad that had blue cheese and candied pecans.
We were treated to some really nice dessert selections but my favorites were the Panacotta and the fruit crumb cake with ice cream, don’t go home without trying one of these delights!
All in all the evening was relaxing due to the great service by Joseph who made us feel as if we were in his home and the menu selection is excellent with food quality to match.
Pomaroma Café’s food earns 4 stars add another star for service = 5 stars in my book.

I’ve walked past this place hundreds of times and never felt like coming in. My husband and I finally came here for lunch today. I had a pomegranate lemonade and a mozzarella & arugula panini. The panini was burnt, and the cheese was very m’eh. It came with fries, so I didn’t go hungry. My husband had the carmelita salad and enjoyed it.
The service was good — very friendly and expedient — but I would rather not come back. Our server did tell us that come July they would have live bands on the patio, so maybe that’ll tempt me back. The food certainly won’t.

I absolutly LOVE this place. The food is excellent and the staff is wonderful! I personally think that for the price, this restaurant is the best Italian place in San Mateo. And I have been to them all… Spiedo totally overpriced and moderate food, Acqua Pazza WAY overpriced and the food was auffle, Cappellini’s is good but pricey.
If you go to Pomaroma try the Gnocci’s, there delicious! I’m Italian so I know what I’m talking about! You will definitly get the most bang for your buck here, so give it a try.

I love this place. I’ve taken many people here who come to visit San Mateo. The food is reasonably-​priced and I absolutely love the service. Each time they seem to remember us and treat us well. The environment is pretty relaxed but also nice and classy.
Good drinks and food also!

I love Pomaroma!
Customer Service: 5 stars
Food: 4 stars
Cost: 4– stars
Atmosphere: 4 stars
5 stars for outstanding customer service! The bartender, Thomas is FABULOUS — and he remembers us every time we come in, and the manager there is really great too! They really go out of their way to please you — and I appreciate that to no end. I’m picky, and they make it happen with a smile– which I love!
The food is great– I’d give it 4 stars.
Its a weekend go-​to for my husband and I now– we appreciate the delicious drinks (basil mojito or fresh blueberry/​pomegranate martini anyone?!) in their not too loud/​crowded/​stuffy atmosphere. Looking forward to sitting outside in the Spring/​Summer :-)

3.5 stars.
Went here recently for a friend’s birthday and decided to check this place out since none of us in our group have been here before (Kingfish and Central Park Bistro was our usual go-​to dinner spot). From the outside, it looks tiny, but on the inside its bigger than I thought and simply but nicely decorated.
I have to say the cocktails here were great. I had the key lime pie martini, which really tastes like a key lime pie and the basilico– citron vodka, lemoncello, simple syrup and fresh basil… mmmmm. my friends had the mochatini, the pomagranite martini and their version of a bellini which was also yummy as well.
as for their food menu, the prices were pretty reasonable, with the most expensive entrée being $ 23 for an osso bucco and they had a pretty good variety of salads and paninis. i wound up going the basic route and had the bolognese, which was fine, but nothing special.
while i think this would be a better place for lunch, i’ll definitely come back here for the cocktails!

Went here last night after going to Kingfish and being told, quite rudely, by the hostess that they were simply too crowded for our party (will adjust my previous very positive Kingfish review to reflect my dislike of their always snotty and bitchy hostesses.)
We were able to get a table for 4 by the window, and more importantly, the Christmas tree! The waiter was pretty on top of things — got our drink and appetizer order quickly and kept checking in. No water though. I asked for it once and he didn’t bring it and then I forgot about it until we were almost ready to leave. Not a big deal and I could have asked for it again.
I was in the mood for a burger so getting a delicious one at an Italian place seems odd but I really liked it. I got the Gorgonzola burger with garlic fries — yum! They were the skinny fries too — I love those! I split this with my husband as he arrived late (we needed to leave for a movie.) and it was the perfect amount for me to be full and not stuffed.
The table shared the 3-​cheese spinach artichoke dip appetizer — this was very good. And I don’t like artichokes.
There were quite a few things on the menu that I want to try. So not a place where you find just the 1 thing you want to eat. They had a mix of paninis, salads, pasta, pizza, burgers and meat entrees. A good mix for someone like me :)
They had a decent by the glass wine menu. And 2 inexpensive yummy bubblys by the glass. I had one of them and thought it was very good (the California one.)
I liked that the place is set up so you’re not elbow to elbow with the next table, joining in on their conversation. Very roomy between tables. Big plus.
This will definitely be a pre or post movie spot for me now that Kingfish has annoyed the hell out of me.

Happpened up on this place one night while driving around downtown San Mateo looking for someplace to eat… it looked promising, big bar, nice wood furnishings, a clean/​crisp look to the place. What I failed to realize is that is was nearly empty on a Friday night at 8pm… prime dinner time and there were only 3 other tables. What can I say? I was hungry, craving pizza and the menu looked good.
Service was okay — not great, not bad, kind of just half-​assed. I have low expectations, so even if the service was crappy I wouldn’t have really noticed. My pizza was ok — not great, nothing to remember. My husband’s osso buco was just. meh…okay. There was nothing really wrong, nothing to complain about, but it just wasn’t good enough for me to ever go back.

This place is so cute! Bf and I went here because we pass it by it all the time when we’re in downtown San Mateo so we thought we’d check it out. We started off with a bruschetta appetizer which was amazing! We chose the 3 different «toppings» for the bruschetta: tomatoes and peppers, mozarella and pesto, and candied pecans and (bleu?) cheese. All of the toppings (separately on a piece of bread, not all piled together) were delicious!
For entrees, I had the special mussels with linguini in a garlic and light tomato sauce and my bf had a chicken pasta dish. The entrees were just okay, but because the atomosphere and service was great I give it 4 stars! We will definitely come back here to try another pasta (or pizza) dish, and maybe it will earn 5 stars :)

I only noticed this place since I get egg puffs next door at dessert republic and this is the back side of the restaurant which is where we came from parking in the parking structure behind
the rosemary foccacia was ok — it was a bit dense and doughy
we ordered the trio bruschetta which was very good but the bread was the same and again dense and doughy — perhaps thinner slices and toasting the bread would have been better
my husband got the skirt steak (after the server went on and on about the osso bucco and they had run out so he got the steak) — was actually excellent. he substituted a salad for one of the sides and got a caesar salad which was large enough to share
my spaghetti and meatballs was ok — the sauce was great but the meatballs were not seasoned at all
overall meal was good and we’ll probably come back

This is actually a 3.5 star rating
had 90% off gift certificates, so I decided to buy one for this restaurant and try it out. Pomaroma Café has a nice atmosphere. The food was actually really good, my husband had a panini and I had spaghetti and meatballs. The fries were really good and the spaghetti sauce has a sweet taste to it. Service was at best fair. Parking can be difficult as downtown area, use garage across from theater. Would eat here again.

I caught an early movie last weekend to avoid the heat and ran into this place on the way out. We found the rear entrance that is near the Parking Garage in Downtown San Mateo.
The place was empty when we were there early on a Sunday evening. Food was good, but even a week later, I can’t remember what I had. It was good. Just not that memorable.
We were sitting close enough to the kitchen where I heard a waiter ask the Chef what dishes had no garlic in them as the customer was very allergic to garlic. The chef politely told them that almost every dish has garlic in it and all of their pots/​pans have been used to cook garlic. I kind of felt sorry for the chef… I mean who in the H3ll goes to an Italian restauraunt if they are allergic to garlic? WTF?
Their pizza looked good and I plan on going back to see what else their menu. If you are in the area, they are one of the better restaurants that are not too expensive.

Large generous rectangular pizza … puny puny salads for $ 15. They figure … hey, you’re trying to watch your weight … so we’ll give you 12 pieces of lettuce and make some good margin.
I got some salmon with my salad (+$ 6.00) and it was dry and overcooked.
But since I was having such a great time catching up with my friend, we ordered dessert. The chocolate brownie biscotti was soooo very good, I’m willing to eat it and withstand additional comments from my dad about «hey, tubby, looks like you’re putting on weight again»

Ever since I saw some contractors work on the opening of this place this past summer, I’ve been wanting the check this place out. Although the reviews up to now have been mixed, we wanted to check it out anyway.
The restaurant has a large bar on the left with a large 52″ flatscreen tuned to ESPN. Large dining area with wood floors, many free standing tables that could seat parties of 4 each, and 3 booths. There’s an area where it could be curtained off for a semi-​private party. Also, there’s a patio in the back, facing the San Mateo downtown garage, and people can enter the restaurant from there.
As we entered the restaurant, we were promptly greeted, and were seated in one of the private booths. The front desk person handed us our menus, and some crayons and paper to keep the kids busy. Server came by a few minutes later to drop off a loaf of foccacia, and a little dipping bowl of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and told us the specials. Good variety on the menu. Kid’s menu has some pretty good choices for them as well.
Here’s what we ordered:
–bruschetta: 5 different kinds, choice of 3. We chose goat cheese with caramelized onions (very good, creamy and tangy goat cheese went well with the caramelized onions), pesto with fresh mozzarella (good too), and fresh tomato, sun dried tomato, and basil (marinade from wine overpowered the tomatoes).
–2 small Caesar salads: still pretty large. Big croutons made of foccacia, nice dressing, but the lettuce still too wet
–cup clam chowder: creamy, large chunks of clams. Very tasty
–kid’s mac and cheese: shell pasta, very cheesy. Youngest was happy. Even happier with the French Fries.
–kid’s chicken panini with fries: thick bread, sliced chicken, cheddar cheese. Good bread, not dry. Fries were pretty good, very crispy, but not dry or over fried.
–Ravioli special of the day: chicken ravioli with caramelized onions, sun-​dried tomatoes, mushroom caps in an light tomato cream sauce. I had this, and it was pretty good. Ravioli was cooked just right, and sauce was not overpowering.
–Pomegranate Lemonade: This was OK. Seems like the lemonade was from a mix or concentrate, with Pomegranate juice added. There are refills for this, however.
The service was very friendly and attentive. As one of the Unilocalers mentioned, it’s kid friendly without being a kid haven (like Chuck E. Cheese).
Some misses, but overall, not bad. Good neighborhood restaurant, and very close to the Century 12 Theatres. Overhead some other diners say that they were going to the movies afterwards.
Worth checking out again.

food: for an interior with as much potential as this restaurant, I would have expected much better food. The touted having fresh pasta. For a place that supposedly specializes in fresh pasta, I would also expect the chefs to know how to cook the pasta correctly — a bit al dente. 3 mins vs 5 mins, big difference.
I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, T ordered chicken penne napoli. We also got a cup of the soup du jour (minestrone — gee thanks for the special).
Let’s start with the drinks. In an attempt to order some thirst quenching beverage, I try for the pomagrante lemonade, which sounds lovely. We were informed sadly that they were «out of lemonade». Who is ever out of lemonade? There was just enough lemonade for T to get his Arnold Palmer. Fine.
Minestrone — When I think of minestrone, I want something that’s rustic with chunks of vegetables and beans. I got something that was «thick» and pasty. It was as if someone food processed tomatoes and dropped some giant shell pastas in there and tried to pass it off as a traditional minestrone. When after the first bite, the first comment that comes out of your mouth is — «dude this could have come out of a can,» you something’s not right.
Meatballs were more like meatloaf than meatballs — pureed meat and no bread crumbs etc. strange, but ok.
Something else we noticed — the front of the menu talks about having brunch at the restaurant — eggs and stuff.. . but the table sharing the patio with us asked the server for a brunch menu and it turned out they didn’t actually have one — what gives with that? Makes no sense right? Don’t advertise what you don’t have, that just makes things worse.