Review of Sweet Tomatoes

maggiew

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
8,956
We went to Sweet Tomatoes yesterday after church for lunch. DH & I have both been a little under the weather and he said he wanted soup for lunch. So I suggested we go to Sweet Tomatoes. It just opened up in our town. I've been wanting to try it out since I know a lot of people go there while at Disney. I was thinking about including it on our next trip to WDW but I wanted to try it out first.

When you walk in there is a big salad bar. Think cafeteria line with trays and a plate. They had many selections. For the lettuce they had iceburg, romaine and I think spinach. Then they had all the normal fixings and more - celery, carrots, cheese, croutons, mushrooms, bacon bits, etc. Plus they had cold sald stuff like macaroni salad, etc. There were many types of dressings. I can even begin to remember all the stuff. I tend to like my salads plain, so I didn't use all the items so its hard to remember.

Then at the end of the salad bar you pay. I had a coupon for $7.19 for lunch (the dinner coupons were $7.99). Our DD is 12 and I guess is included in the kids price. He said up to 12 years old. But we did have to pay extra for soft drinks. But there were all kinds of juices, coffees, teas, etc. at the self serve bar. Those might have been included??? Because he asked how many soft drinks we wanted. DD just drank water. They had a nice water spout for the water in the drink area.

After you paid, there was the hot items and soups. I had a baked potato and there were many toppings you could choose. I put on cheese and bacon bits. But they also had sour cream and chives and butter. It was all self serve. The potatoes are in foil. And the toppings are in a sort of topping bar set up. My potato wasn't cold, but it wasn't hot enough to melt any of the cheese.

There was then a bakery area. They had muffins and bread and foccacia type pizza. My DD had about 3 muffins. I had some bread and it was soo good and soft. The whole thing was like the nice fluffy inside of a dinner roll! And they had honey butter. YUM! The pizza was good too. It was cut into sort of thin strips. But it was nice and fluffy and good.

There was also a big soup bar. I tried many of them. My favorite was the chicken pot pie soup. It tasted like the inside of a chicken pot pie. I also had the chicken noodle. I wasn't really impressed. It had huge hunks of chicken. They were hard to eat (too big) and it was difficult to try to cut it up with a soup spoon. There were also noodles in it. The noodles were good. They tasted like home made noodles. But there was nothing else in it - no carrots, celery, etc. And the broth looked kind of watery. But it tasted ok. It reminded me of a won ton soup from a chinese restaurant. I also tried the potato leek soup. It was good. I added cheese and bacon bits to the top of this. (These were found at the end of the soup bar.) They also had little oyster crackers there too. DH tried the chili and said it was good. There was also bean soup and Capitol bean soup and black bean chilli. That's all I can remember.

There was also a hot bar that had macaroni and cheese and also eggplant sauced pasta and also steamed veggies. None of us tried those, however, so I can't comment.

There was also a dessert bar. We didn't eat any, so can't comment. But there was brownies, muffins and a make your own sundae type bar.

There was a lady who came around and picked up empty plates, etc. But other than that it was all self serve. I didn't think about it until now, but we didn't tip her?? I wonder if I was supposed too???

I enjoyed the meal. I was still full until dinner time.

Would I go again? Probably. It was a nice light meal. No heavy meat, etc. It wasn't all vegetarian (obviously with the chicken soup, chilli, etc.) but there weren't big hunks of meat around. So it would depend on what you wanted. I was satisfied. It actually would be a nice place for cold winters. We might go there a couple times this winter. I'm not sure how it would be when we go to Disney in July, however! I'm kind of torn because a nice light meal where you don't feel like just hopping into bed for a nap afterwards is great for Disney. But I'm not sure soup in the summer is ideal?? We might keep it in mind and if the mood strikes us try it out while at WDW. But I probably won't "schedule" us a time to go there.

I'm not sue if the one at WDW is run exactly the same, but I thought I would give a heads up. I've been curious about this place for a long time based on things I've read here on the DIS. And now that they just opened one here, I thought I would try it out.

Oh, by the way, they did have "To Go" containers at the entrance. You could buy a couple containers, fill them up on the buffets and then head out.

Maggie
 
Yes, you should have tipped her. Just like a buffet. $1.00 a person would be fine.
 
We've eaten at the one near Disney several times, including just last week. Yum. It is just as you described. We love it there. Think it is a great deal. Good food and reasonably priced. And yes, we also tip at buffets like this. $1.00/person.
 
I don't want people to think I'm normally a bad tipper. I am not!! I tip at buffets, like Chef Mickey, etc. But I've never been to one like this that was more cafeteria style with trays and lines and stuff. Now I know!

Maggie
 

Yes, you should have tipped her. Just like a buffet. $1.00 a person would be fine.

We've eaten at the one near Disney several times, including just last week. Yum. It is just as you described. We love it there. Think it is a great deal. Good food and reasonably priced. And yes, we also tip at buffets like this. $1.00/person.


Is the $1.00 a person rate for tipping at a buffet standard? We don't usually eat buffets, but when eating out tip 20%. I guess it might work out the same, for the six of us 20% of our bill would be $6.00 at Sweet Tomatoes.
 
Didnt think you were a bad tipper, just tought you werent sure what you should have done.
 
When you walk in there is a big salad bar. Think cafeteria line with trays and a plate. They had many selections. For the lettuce they had iceburg, romaine and I think spinach. Then they had all the normal fixings and more - celery, carrots, cheese, croutons, mushrooms, bacon bits, etc. Plus they had cold sald stuff like macaroni salad, etc. There were many types of dressings. I can even begin to remember all the stuff. I tend to like my salads plain, so I didn't use all the items so its hard to remember.
You didn't mention the Sweet Tomatoes specialty tossed salads in your post. I'm wondering if perhaps they didn't have them at your location? They're my favorite item to eat at ST. They're usually at the very beginning of the line. I love it when they have the tossed salad with pears, walnuts and bleu cheese.
 
Is the $1.00 a person rate for tipping at a buffet standard?

I'd say it depends on the place. At some buffets, all they do is clear your plates. That gets $1.00/person in my book. At others, they also bring your drinks, come around and refill your water glass or your coffee cup, etc. I'll give a little more at those kinds of places.
 
You didn't mention the Sweet Tomatoes specialty tossed salads in your post. I'm wondering if perhaps they didn't have them at your location? They're my favorite item to eat at ST. They're usually at the very beginning of the line. I love it when they have the tossed salad with pears, walnuts and bleu cheese.

Actually, I was thinking the same thing. I had that same salad they other day when we were there. Yum.
 
You didn't mention the Sweet Tomatoes specialty tossed salads in your post. I'm wondering if perhaps they didn't have them at your location? They're my favorite item to eat at ST. They're usually at the very beginning of the line. I love it when they have the tossed salad with pears, walnuts and bleu cheese.

Yes, they did have specially mixed salads. Sorry I didn't mention that. As I said, I like my salads plain (not even dressing, just a little squeezed lemons), so I passed by them. But I did notice them because I pointed them out to DH because that is something he would like.

Maggie
 
Sweet Tomatoes is great! I'm a vegetarian, and I love having unlimited access to such a great salad bar.

... we did have to pay extra for soft drinks. But there were all kinds of juices, coffees, teas, etc. at the self serve bar. Those might have been included??? Because he asked how many soft drinks we wanted. DD just drank water. They had a nice water spout for the water in the drink area....
All drinks (except tap water) cost extra. (I think it was maybe $1.79 to buy a beverage last time I was at the Sweet Tomatoes on International Drive.) However, once you pay for a beverage, you are entitled to unlimited access to beverages for that meal. For example, if you have a lemonade with your salad, later you can have a coffee with your muffin for no extra charge. You just need to tell the cashier that you've already paid for a beverage, and ask them for a coffee cup. (You could probably ask for both a coffee cup and a soft drink glass at the time you pay, but I don't think I've done that.)
 
Sounds like a place DD and I would love!

Where is hte one near Disney. We'll be in Orlando starting a week from Sat.


herc.
 
Sweet Tomatos is located at Kirkman and International Drive. Close to Universal. You enter from I-Drive...it's a little tricky to figure out how to get into the parking lot, but well worth the drive! It's such a nice change from regular restaurant food and super reasonable...
 












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