Tom’s Burgers & Grill — Restaurant in Arlington

Let me start by saying, I’ve been in North Arlington since 1987. I’ve seen restaurants come and go and was always amazingly impressed with Tom’s food quality and service. That being said…

Tonight after a 13 hour work day, I ordered food to go for my mom, my wife, and me. Two BLTs (one w/soup), and one California Chicken Sandwich. When I got home, one BLT had no bacon (asked for applewood smoked), chips instead of a side of soup, and a chicken sandwich with chicken so undercooked, I couldn’t tear it apart with my hands. I called to ensure my order was correct and was told, “Oh man, I got you next time. I remember you.” After realizing the other problems with the order, I returned to the store to simply ask for a refund. I was met with animosity, sarcasm, and laughter in my face regarding the mistakes on the order by their waiter, Tom Lee. No apologies regarding the raw chicken or completely wrong order, only laughter and a nonchalant attitude while leaning carelessly against the wall laughing at my frustration. The manager, although apologetic for the wrong order, saying, “mistakes happen”, never seemed to deem it necessary to correct or apologize for Tom Lee’s behavior. I eventually received my refund after excessive complaining and describing the problems with my order, but only while I continued to be mocked and treated as though it was my fault that the order was completely incorrect and/or uncooked. I’ve met Tom on many occasions, most recently at the gas station at Kroger to talk about things such as how much I loved his restaurant. Unfortunately this won’t happen again. I wonder if Tom even knows who is working there or what quality of food and service his patrons are receiving. Multiple health code violations over the past few years (public information; look it up) would make me think not. It actually saddens me to know that this long time North Arlington eatery will most likely soon close due to experiences like this. Sorry Tom. Your unobservant ownership and people like Tom Lee did it. Might think about that for your...

Well, I don't believe in racism. I just believe in good/ bad and right and wrong. But when I tell you my experience here was like a movie of a blk man ending up in a part of town he shouldn't be, this was it lol. And I was soooo craving a burger or breakfast. But I walked in, and NO ONE, I mean NO ONE, greeted me. I sat at the bar, and NO ONE I mean absolutely, NO ONE acknowledged me. No water and napkin, no "Hi, I'll be with you in a second!" NOTHING!! Hell, even the cook back there looked at me with utter disdain, as if he was thinking, "Why are you here?"

At the time, and I'll emphasize, AT THE TIME, I was the only colored man in there. The families were eyeing me with looks like...."Boy, what are you doing." Like legit, I thought I was in Jim Crow South Alabama.

But the straw that broke the camels back was when I turned to my left after what felt like 20 mins of sitting, unacknowledged, I turned to my left, seen a big belly cop, sheriff, police, whatever, looking at me, chewing on snuff or something, legs wide open, radded back in his seat, and WOULD NOT I MEAN WOULD NOT TAKE HIS EYES OFF ME. Staring with a look that could burn you like sunlight in a magnifying glass.

Well, at this point, I got the message and told myself, " I don't think you are supposed to be here." I picked up my keys and left the building.

Since I moved to Arlington, I been seeing this place with the silver roof and telling my lady, "hey I believe they may be cooking some dern good food in there and I've always wanted to go." I went, mouth watering for a pecan smoked burger, and I was met with that experience.

I could be wrong and over thinking, but what made me get the notion that something wasn't right was the fact I sat right at the bars end , close by the register, and the waitress passed me up more than 10 times, didn't blink at me or even say hello. No water, no nothing....so I felt I wasn't welcomed. But booooooy, I wish I could've had that pecan smoked burger. Lmbo 🤣but...eeh,...

My last visit (the evening of 5/27) was very disappointing. A 40-minute wait for the waitress to take our order. I don't know why. There were a total of 5 seated tables in the entire place at that time and she seemed to be just hanging out up front. Brittany was our server. I'm not sure what happened, but 3 of the 4 meals were cooked all wrong. Well done when med rare requested. Onions on one burger when specifically requested no onions. Wrong sides were also served. Everyone was given diet soda when only 1 of 4 asked for that. The manager (a young female) didn't seem interested in discussing anything. A young man was going from table to table apologizing to the customers for long waits, mistakes, and incorrect orders. One table was complaining their food had been sitting on the window for over 20 minutes. They ended up getting it served cold to them. Should have been remade at that point. Not sure who the server was for that, but again, the young man ended up apologizing. Again, this SHOULD have been the manager. We were headed to a baseball game and ended up missing out on the giveaway that night due to the extended wait. I brought a guest with me and was thoroughly embarrassed for even taking him there. This place is great when the owner is present, but when he's not.. not a good experience. This time, no one finished their meal and even when we mentioned the issues, the manager would not come to the front (for us or the table before us who also had issues) to even try to make it right. $71 ticket, and left us needing to go elsewhere to get something to eat. I think the manager sent Brittany to just apologize, but I'm not sure if it was Brittany herself or her being told to. Either way, I can't see...