Tony Roma’s

Good riddance, you sucked. I’m glad you closed and I hope you never open in SF again.

This location has CLOSED. The Oakland location in Jack London Square is still open.
It was popular with some office workers who don’t know good BBQ, or seafood, or salads, or sandwiches, or anything else they served. From my few dining experiences here, when my office was located in the Embarcadero Center, the food was never very good. This place was previously a Pizzeria Uno, which closed several years ago. It seems that the location might be unlucky for food chains.

I lunched here with 4 co-​workers.
Normally, I wouldn’t eat here, but my co-​workers wanted RIBS.
«Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want.»
I would have suggested another place.
«But I’m a creep,
I’m a weirdo
What the Hell am I doin’ here?
I don’t belong here»
Hostess flies by while saying that she would be back.
«I want you to notice
when I’m not around
You’re so fucking special
I wish I was special»
We stood for what seemed like eternity on a lunch hour, but really was probably 10 – 15 minutes.
Impatient Liz would rather not wait in a place that sucks.
«She’s running out the door
She’s running out
She run run run run…
run…»
In my world, I would have escaped IMMEDIATELY.
But, when you are with co-​workers (Corporate World), you respect the majority. Oh yeah, that’s everywhere else, except where I’m Queen. (at home)
So, we stayed.
I had the Fried Chicken Tenders Salad ($ 9.99) HUGE MEH.
1 star for the waiter because he was funny. Make me laugh, get a star.
1 star because my co-​workers enjoyed their ribs.
I was the odd one out spouting «mehs».
“I’m a creep. I don’t belong here…“
Overall: This place is for people who LOVE MEAT and have time to kill. Which evidently means that I fail to meet the criteria for their target audience. So, Meh.
References:

We come here to unwind after a hard day’s work, so we could care less about anything, its the one time that we catch up chit chatting with all the happenings at work and with the personals…
Whatever small stuff that happens that doesnt affect the taste of our food and booze its all okay.
The staff had always been cognizant of our needs, they know when to break those conversations amidst the hand gestures and turned up volumes. The ribs are alright and everything that goes with it.
No complaints, all good.

CATERING:
Another lovely day in the classroom, and although the delivery company took its time, we loved the Tony Roma’s barbecue. The baby back ribs were fall-​off-​the-​bone well-​done, and the cole slaw was great! The baked beans were a little too wet for my taste, but the fried green beans were just right. They also sent over an extra bottle of their own BBQ sauce.
It would have been even better if the delivery company were faster.
Classroom training is over, diet resumes tomorrow.

I had lunch here this past Saturday after we visited the Festival of Sail. I haven’t eaten at Tony Roma’s in years and I have to say that we did not have a bad experience. We got there before it even opened, so we had to hang around for a few minutes before the doors were unlocked. We were seated immediately and our waiter was very attentive. We got our drinks right away and he was excellent at refilling. It did take a while for our entrees, but we had split a sampler appetizer, which came out fast, so our wait really wasn’t long at all. The food was good for a chain restaurant like Tony Roma’s. No complaints from me!

«I’m Unilocaling this place. I’m so Unilocaling it.» That’s what I told myself while waiting forty-​fivvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve longggggggggggggggg minutes for my bleu cheese burger. No one came to check up on us. No one said what was going on. She came back to tell us our food was ready in 2 mins. Then she came back 7 minutes later to tell us they were assembling the food. And then 15 minutes later, the manager came out with our food (w/​out the ranch on the side requested). Ummmm, can I get a box and the check.
Skip this place if you don’t have 2 hrs to kill during lunch. You are better off going to Bistro Burger.

OK so I know that the food is not the best but hey at least they have beer.
My friend and I went there a week ago and we ordered beers and noticed they were served in two different sized glasses one looked like a pint glass but had more glass at the bottom. When we asked the manager about the problem she told us they don’t serve pints.
They charge anywhere from 4.50 to 5.00 for beer however, the glasses they use are only 14 ounces. They do have actual pint glasses but those are reserved for soda.
Looks like they are out of redeeming qualities. Skip this place there are other places in the Embarcadero to get food and beer.

Is it possible to give negative stars? If I could, I would.
I always thought of this place like this: Tomy Roma is to ribs what Chevy’s is to Mexican — with both the positive and negative connotations attached, but today, a new low has been reached.
We arrived at 12:15. We were seated in an empty section. We ordered almost immediately. Our iced teas arrived promptly. They don’t have Spenda which doesn’t matter at all to me, but my dining companion found that completely unacceptable. For my own part, I know aspartame is poison, so I figure Splenda can’t be any worse. I am informed that there are actually people with medical conditions who can use neither sugar nor aspartame.
Anyway — I digress. Go back and re-​read that last paragraph. Then read it again about 60 more times. Has half an hour passed yet? If not, go back and read it a few more times. When 30 minutes have passed, please continue reading this review.
Now you know exactly how long we waited for a salad and a grilled portobello to arrive. In fact, more accurately, now you know exactly how long it took us to stop waiting. The food never came. We left $ 6 on the table for the iced teas and left. Nobody ever approached us to tell us the kitchen was backed up or to ask why we were leaving.
Iced tea: 2 stars
Service: negative 2 stars
Food: I wish I knew.

Good.
The best 2.5 star restaurant I’ve ever been to. This place has some darn good ribs. You can complain all you want about the other stuff, but seriously, Tony Roma’s is about ribs. Anyone coming here should respect that and stop complaining about the items they put on the menu to placate people that don’t like ribs. In fact, those people should be thankful that Tony Roma’s has something at all. They could have let you go hungry.
I just hope they bring back the endless slab promotion. That would be worth a sixth star.

Yes, I know this is a place for ribs, but for lunch that gets a bit heavy. I like the salad with the fried chicken tenders. Ranch dressing of course. Great portion size. Fried chicken AND I get my veggies for the day. Who could ask for more? They put pieces of bacon in it too. Not the world’s healthiest salad — but ah well.
My husband had one of their lunch special salads. I’d say it was Santa Fe style (sorry, forgot the name) and it came with what could be described as half a quesadilla. It was pretty tasty.
Service is friendly and quick. I don’t come here often, but for a rib place it really satisfies my ‘naughty’ salad craving.

So Easter Sunday, I had just gorged myself on ham and quiche at my aunt’s house for Sunday brunch. The boyfriend and I decided to see a movie and ventured down to Embarcadero Center to get dinner and a movie. (We had really wanted to see this movie and it was only playing at the Embarcadero cinema). It was between Fuzio and here (sadly Chevy’s was closed). I’ve been craving a hamburger since the beginning of January so Tony Roma’s it was.
We talked about how depressing this place was. Mostly tourists… you come on vacay to San Francisco, one of the finest food cities in the world, and you come to Tony Romas?! For some reason, I’m allowed to eat here, because I’m a local. And I appreciate all the fine dining in the city. But when you want a burger close to the theatre on Easter Sunday, you’re not left with many options.
So I think they were understaffed or something because our food took FOREVER. But I was pleasantly surprised. I got a burger and it was really tasty. He got the salmon (made me feel guilty for my burger) and his was really good too.
I mean it was Tony Roma’s good. I doubt I’ll ever come here again. But it wasn’t totally disgusting.

Food = okay, consistent with the rest of their locations across the board. I like their sauces…
Service = okay for sit-​down, not great.
Prices = makes a good dent in your wallet
Try it once, and if you don’t like it… move on to another place.

How incredibly sad for Tony Roma to have this as a remberance of his wonderful legacy .
I definitely remember visiting the NY place in the 90’s. It was GOOD.
Sadly no longer. In fact they can’t even make a mashed potato look good. SAD

The ribs are good… the service is beyond awful. If I had to point out a positive about this place it would be that you can walk in with a large group ANY day of the week… ANY time and be seated right away.
After you are seated this is how your meal will go…
1. You will wait forever to order your drinks…
2. After what will feel like a lifetime you will then get to spend the next five minuets going… who ordered the diet Pepsi. I think mine is regular… wait. so it mine… I think I asked for sprite… no one got a sprite…
3. Then at the point when you are thinking… when the hell is the food going to come out… you will notice you still have a menu in your hand… and you have not even ordered.
4. After stopping someone to order you will notice that everyone at the table has finished their drinks. Do not worry… no one will be back to your table until your food is ready… AND that will take an inordinate amount of time.
5. Once your food arrives you have about 10 minuets to enjoy it before you have to do the whole drink exchange once again.
6. After you are done enjoying your ribs make sure you flag down the next employee you see and ask for your bill. You will need to do this 2 more times to get the actual check. I recommend you pay with cash or you get to enjoy this process 2 more times trying to give them the credit card… and then once again to get it back.
Long story short. if you work in the FIDI… want ribs AND have 2 hours for lunch. THIS is your place!

I usually try to stay away from places like this like the plague but I was offered a free meal and well, let’s face it, a free meal is a free fucking meal innit?
So of course I accepted and I went in expecting crap food based on the numerous times I ate at Tony Roma’s as a kid. Maybe this is a fucked up location or maybe I caught ‘em on a fucked up day but I remember the ribs being a hell of a lot better than this. They were all crispy and pretty much burnt to shit. I got the rib sampler platter and none of the sauces seemed to stand out as great, they all tasted pretty much like standard store bought bbq sauce. The bread was just some plain ass rolls. It all seemed so pre-​packaged, etc. You can tell no imagination went into it.
I guess I shouldn’t expect so much from a chain restaurant but it just seems like you could do a lot better for the money.

Carl Perkins Original Sun Greatest Hits CD
Price: $ 8.59
Rock/​Pop/​Country/​Rockabilly/​Oldies
Rhino Records (USA)
1. Blue Suede Shoes
2. Honey Don’t
3. Boppin’ The Blues
4. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
5. Movie Magg
6. Sure To Fall
7. All Mama’s Children
8. Perkin’s Wiggle — (bonus track)
9. Put Your Cat Clothes On
10. Matchbox
11. Your True Love
12. Lend Me Your Comb
13. Dixie Fried
14. You Can Do No Wrong
15. Glad All Over
16. Gone, Gone, Gone — (bonus track)
My review of Tony Roma’s?
…Track #2.

last minute dinner gathering… large group with no reservations… the pickin’ a’ slim… tony roma’s is always a safe bet for large groups… clean. chain…joint…“i want my baby back ribs~~”…you know the jingle…
if you are training for the ifoce. no better place than tony roma’s endless ribs for about $ 20…side of sweet french fries… or a «loaded» baked potato… and cole slaw (can be substituted for a large corn on the cob)…enjoy with a beer… or a spirit…

Yay For Tony Romas! They turned our rotten evening completely around!
After a miserable experience at the Chevy’s, next door, where we left without being fed, my boyfriend and I picked Tony Roma’s. I was already seething about the shitty service at chain restaurants but this was nearby and we were starving.
WHAT A GREAT SURPRISE! We were greeted by a cute, friendly hostess who seated us and had our drinks on the table before we even had a chance to get our menus open. The food was all great and the service was absolutely outstanding! They didn’t miss a beat! Who would have known?

I actually like Tony Romas.
there’s no culinary ground being broken here, but if you want a full slab of baby back ribs with an onion loaf, Tony Romas can fit the bill. Of course they drown anything they make from ribs, chicken, etc in their bbq sauce, but the ribs are solid.
There are other bbq options in the city, Memphis Minnies is my fave, Tony Romas can be a back-​up worth hitting for not that much money.