Tommy's Restaurant — Restaurant in Hampton

One-Star Experience at Tommy’s Restaurant – Disrespectful Owner and Poor Quality Food

After church, I decided to take my relatives out for breakfast and made what turned out to be an unfortunate decision to drive 41 minutes to Tommy’s Restaurant at 3406 W. Mercury Blvd in Hampton, VA. I was hopeful for a good meal and a welcoming atmosphere. Unfortunately, our experience was neither.

Upon arrival, we were greeted not by a warm welcome, but by a stiflingly hot breeze from a fan in the entryway. Handwritten signs posted throughout the entrance informed patrons that the restaurant accepted cash only—a detail that would have been helpful to know ahead of time. Despite at least nine visibly open tables, we stood waiting in the overheated vestibule for approximately 25 minutes before being seated.

Our waitress, who was clearly exhausted, did her best to manage the situation, and I want to acknowledge her effort. I ordered country ham, two eggs over medium, and fries. After a considerable wait, everyone at the table received their food—except me. All I was given were fries. When I asked about the rest of my order, I was told, only at that point, that they were out of country ham and I would need to select something else. It was disheartening that this wasn’t communicated during the long wait before the food was served.

As I was considering my options, the waitress returned to inform me that they actually did have country ham, but it needed to be thawed using a "rapid" process. I asked whether this would compromise the quality of the meat and was told it would not. That turned out not to be true.

When the ham finally arrived, it had an off-putting, peculiar flavor, which left me concerned about its safety. Meanwhile, the fries were cold, and the ketchup had a thin, watery consistency and little flavor. I had to remind the waitress that my eggs were still missing. When they were eventually served, one glance told me they were undercooked—watery and runny. I demonstrated this by tilting the plate, and without me saying a word, the waitress whisked them away and promised to have them cooked “harder.” When they returned, one egg was marginally improved, but the other remained unpleasantly runny.

At this point, with cold food, questionable meat, and no meal that I felt safe or satisfied to eat, I politely told the waitress I didn’t want the food. That’s when the situation truly escalated. The owner approached the table in a confrontational manner. He spoke with a thick accent, and while I tried to explain my concerns, he repeatedly interrupted me, telling me to “hurry up” because he was busy. His dismissive tone and aggressive posture were deeply unprofessional and made both my party and nearby diners visibly uncomfortable.

Ultimately, he agreed to remove the ham from the bill but insisted I pay for everything else—even though I had not eaten it. Out of a desire not to cause a public scene, I paid and left quietly, but I could not in good conscience allow this experience to go unspoken.

To be clear: I understand that restaurants have off days, and I sympathize with the staff when they are overwhelmed. But there is absolutely no justification for the level of rudeness and disregard shown by the owner. The waitress, despite being overworked, made some effort to correct the issues. But the food quality, lack of communication, and the owner's behavior made this one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had.

I give Tommy’s Restaurant one star—only because the waitress showed some professionalism. Otherwise, it...

I came with me & my bf and everything was okay. Before we even came in the parking lot was packed so we thought we was finna grubbbbb.

When we came in they had a thing that said cash only but they had an atm right at the door so we was good.

We was waiting for a good minute for someone to even take our order & drinks. But they were asking us as they walked by to attend other ppl and our waiter was really sweet and apologetic about it. I did not get her name but she made sure to make sure we were good.

I got the eggs, bacon, sausage patty, grits & i got pancakes he got French toast. The waiter we had was really sweet, and she was considerate. I asked for cheese on my eggs and I think there was bc I saw a small piece of cheese in it but it didn’t taste like there was cheese and they had little to no flavor and were dry. the grits, eggs had no flavor. I’m also really picky with my eggs tho so maybe it’s js me but it just wasn’t good.

The fried apples had too much nutmeg and cinnamon. It was no sweetness js the flavor. I added sugar to it and it did get a tad better but all that nutmeg was throwing it off.

This seems like a good spot to go with your family, but not for good eats. The pancakes and the bacon were really good tho. I added some whipped cream on my pancake and it was good. I got me some apple juice also to drink and I’m ngl that juice had me NEEDING to check my blood pressure lol. It was extremely sweet.

This is a good place but if I was to ever come back I would edit my order a lot to make it taste better than what it was. Or I’ll just pay attention to see who in the kitchen cs not everybody know how to put love in every...

Hole in the wall diner… It’s definitely been around a while- and I can see why. The food is great and even though the restaurant was very busy, we were sat immediately. The staff pride themselves on turning tables quickly with very good service! I ordered the Tommy’s Combination Breakfast with eggs and it comes with your choice of 2 sides(I got hashbrowns and applesauce), bacon, ham, or sausage, and pancakes or French toast. I ended up with bacon and French toast (they even have a turkey bacon option). That item was 10.99! My husband got the Toasted Turkey Club with a side of hashbrowns; and loved it! The food was really well prepared and delicious, only about a 10-15 minute wait for our food to come out.

Our waitress, Billie, was ON TOP OF IT! We didn’t even need to ask for anything, it was like she knew what we needed when we needed it. On the other hand, when it’s time to pay, she gave me the ticket and I went up to the cashier “window” and they have designated waitresses for certain spots, so the one who was supposed to be there, wasn’t. And when she did actually come up to take my money, she was on the phone, and instead of hanging up, she just stuck her hand out for me to hand her my ticket and my CASH; didn’t say anything. Just stuck her hand out and looked at me. Then when I did pay (for me and my husband to eat inside our bill was $29), she gave me back a $20 and walked away- but I needed change to tip Billie. Another waitress saw me, and was able to give me change.

FOR NOW, THE PLACE IS CASH ONLY, but in the coming weeks they are preparing to take cards as well.

Overall the place was great. We...