Red Tomato Pizza — Restaurant in Barre

I first heard about Red Tomato from a local resident of Barre, who knew the owners. He told me what a great restaurant it was & how the food was excellent, encouraging me to try it. He worked at a gas station/convenience store nearby, that had menus for the place, so we decided to give them a try, not long after they first opened. First time we ordered from them, we got a cheese pizza. Awful! This was quite awhile back, so I cannot remember what exactly I didn't like about it, but I was very disappointed with it. They did get the order correct & I will give credit that the pie was done when they said it would be, think about 15-20 mins, which is pretty average for pizza. Staff also seemed friendly. My children also did not like their pizza & wouldn't eat more than one bite. Just to explain, they normally love cheese pizza, so that says something. We were surprised at how much we all disliked it, after that young man ranted & raved about how great the food was. Nice of him to try promoting the (new at the time) business, but obviously he was exaggerating the quality, or has pretty low standards. I felt bad that we weren't happy with our food, so we decided to give Red Tomato one more try. Thinking maybe they had an "off night". Second time we ordered something different, and went with the chicken marsala pizza. I just want to add that as a dish, I absolutely love chicken marsala, and it's a meal I order frequently when dining at restaurants that serve this. And I've heard of chicken & broccoli alfredo pizza, which I'll say in my opinion is very tasty, so I thought why not try the chicken marsala pizza? Maybe it'll be better than the plain cheese pizza we had gotten the first time. Not only was I extremely disappointed again, but I also ended up getting a horrible stomach ache after eating only a small amount of the pie. I figured it wouldn't be exactly like chicken marsala (as a dish) but honestly, it didn't taste anything like chicken marsala, and it was probably the worst tasting pizza I've ever had before, no lie. The stomach ache after eating I'm assuming was not exactly the restaurant's fault, but I would blame their heavy use of garlic as the culprit for my pain. I love garlic, don't get me wrong, but it was WAY too much! And I do sometimes get an upset stomach if I have too much of it. So again, cannot entirely blame them. But I do suggest that if they're going to continue to have chicken marsala pizza on their menu, to put in a bit more effort into actually making the pizza taste more like it!!! I'll be surprised if others who have ordered this have not complained about it, or at least weren't impressed by it. I do credit them for a nice variety of menu choices. I also heard that portion sizes are plentiful, but this came from the same young man who also bragged how good the food was, so I can't confirm or deny that, seeing as I've only tried pizza from Red Tomato. I hope that they've since improved on their quality of food. After the second time of being disappointed, we have since decided not to order from here again. For those in the Barre area, if you're looking for great pizza, I would actually suggest Barre Pizza (within walking distance of Red Tomato) or even Northeast Pizza (next to Dunkin Donuts). I'm sorry, but I had such great expectations for this restaurant, after hearing such a great hyped up review, but it was obviously just because the person was biased, because he was familiar with the owners, whom I was told are a married couple with a baby. I occasionally pass through Barre, and this restaurant still appears to be open, so there must be some people who like it. It does seem harsh to give them only 1 star, especially when I've never tried other selections besides pizza, but to be fair, I did try two different kinds of pizza & neither was good at all. I always try to give the most honest reviews possible. If owners or staff read this, please don't take offense...but rather, use it as constructive criticism. Best luck! If readers do plan to try this place, I recommend you avoid...

I've discovered a jewel in Barre, MA. The chef and owner Steve, who we met this night started his business in Vernon CT in 1975, had success and grew to a bigger resturant in Manchester, CT, before coming here to Barre, MA in the last year or so. Connecticut's loss is our gain. Steve is up early in the morning making his special homemade tomato sauses and other homemade foods to delight his customers. The first visit had us hooked on Stuffed Peppers and homemade meatball grinder with peppers, onions, and 2 types of cheeses! The first bite and I could tell we had a winner! This food is the craft of food at its best. More than food it's ART! This place is one of those gems, worth getting the familly together and taking a drive. I can't wait for my next visit. If my review helped you decide to go, please honor me with a like. Enjoy your meal at the Red Tomato, where there is something for everyone to eat. Prices are family friendly and nice clean place in...

Needing to travel on a day we would have rathered stayed in due to a snow storm and wintery mix, we were so fortunate that Red Tomatos was open. Thankfuul to take refuge for a little bit and have a warm meal, our food and service was better than imagined. If you haven't eaten at Red Tomatos, you need to! The food was so delicious - broccoli bites were creamy and cheesy, the chicken orzo soup was comforting and yummy! Tasted like it came from my granmothers kitchen. Grlatlic bread was buttery, soft with a great crust and the warm marinara dipping sauce was so goo! We had the scallop dinner and a large steak pizza. The scallops were fresh and cooked perfectly witha side of fries. The pizza had a crunchy but soft crust and steak and onion toppings were generous. The staff were friendly and engaging. We feel like stumbled upon a gem of a restaurant. Prices were more than reasonable. Must...