01/03/09

Very disappointing food at Dona Tomas

by natasha16

Mexican food is a favorite of mine but most of it in restaurants is bareley edible. I looked forward to Dona Tomas as i saw the bit on Eye on the bay t.v. program. It is a 70 mile roundtrip for me so I made a reservation well in advance. We arrived and went to the bar and after a short wait( 20 min.) were shown to a table in a small room in back of the patio. There was a party of 14 and we could not hear each other. It was a poor pace to seat a party of 2.A brown grainy flavorless "salsa" was served with chips. Next course was ceviche and a fried shrimp appetizer. Ceviche was served on corn chips and the very sour soupy consistency made the chips soggy and there was nothing to the ceviche but sour taste. no spiceness. The breading on the shrimp was glutinous flour. The entree courses were scallops and carnitas. The scallops were very good with a exceptional sauce. The carnitas were very dry and extremely stringy with nothing to moisten them. I lacked the dessire to have dessert. Their margaritas were very good. The staff was friendly and very efficient. Our tab for 2 was $117.00 . I was very disappointed in the food as i would love to have great mexican food again. The last was at Ramona's Reataurant in San Rafael.

• Pros: Very poor quality food badly prepared
• Cons: good margarita and nice staff

10/30/07

Dry carnitas, terrible seating, poor service

by la1974

I love Mexican food and was excited about the carnitas at Dona Tomas. People told me it was their best dish so I was very disapointed to find it was incredibly dry and there were a lot of questionable pieces that I did not eat. I actually like my meat dry so for me to say it was too dry means the average diner would have been appaled. Despite a long standing reservation we, three in our party, were seated at a two person table right next to the bar. We objected to the seating and were told that was all we could have unless we wanted to wiat for at least 30 minutes. There were only two chairs and two place settings at the table and no one brought us a third chair for our third person so we had to find an available chair ourselves. Our server was preoccupied and completely unconcerned with us. Many requests for glasses of water went unanswered. The worst part was being seated next to the bar--people's rear ends were only inches from our faces as we ate. A$$ in your face was symbolic of the entire dining experience. I will never give this place my patronage again.

• Cons: dry meat, poor and seemingly inexperienced service

07/31/07

Avoid anytime

by izverg

We came beacuse of the good review on here. Possibly the chef has changed but this place was way below average.

We go to restaurants almost everyday so we know the value of good food. This was slightly above Taco Bell both in quality of food, presentation, and mainly the service! The menu does not describe items accurately, the lavishly described mashed avocado with lime for $7 was merely a very substandard guacomole with chips.

When we asked for a piece of bread we were told they do not have any bread and ALL of their appetizers come with chips. The waiter was extremely rude and this ws the first time in my life that I didn't leave any tip. Absolutely not recommended! Oh, and extremely overprized as well.

• Pros: The fish was ok, but nothing special for $20
• Cons: Service, price, ambience, food