Tom's Famous Family Restaurant 24 — Restaurant in Vista

When I think of “famous” and “San Diego” and “food”, I think of Phil’s BBQ. Nowhere in that previous statement does the word “best” or “Authentic” or “delicious”. So as jaded as I am knowing Toms Famous Family Restaurant has some small shoes to fill and fill it they do.

Lets first look at the location and actually all the Toms locations throughout Socal. They are in older, less up and coming cities. Lancaster, Rosemond, Apply Valley, Lynwood, South Gate, Vista. Not exactly hubs of any booming industries now. So this place is tucked deep in the heart of Vista, between recently expanded mixed use office space and rural back country’ish roads. They have a good sized parkinglot they share with other small business, but the drive thru, what is with the super long parts. It’s funny seeing first timers try and order from the window and either drive around or back it on up. It’s a Diner, that’s it, A diners menu with a diners expectations from food, service to décor.

They are supposedly famous for their popular steak sandwich, it’s totally inconsistent and honestly not that good. Some orders are tough and other s are tender, very little seasoning. Select Ribeye is never as good as choice London broil. This must have been around before the Carne Asada Burrito took over as the #1 item ordered besides the hamburger at drive throughs. Get the burger it’s much better, more, flavor, juicy and to me more filling. Cooked on the flat top, they use a thick cut of cheese which I like. The fries are non descript that wreak of old oil. Plus they are the frozen steak fries which were never good to begin with. The Pastrami pales in comparison to the same at The Hat, mustard is not fresh made, the pastrami is dry and yes they do put a good amount, but the bread doesn’t hold up. BLTA on sourdough is a go to because it’s pretty hard to ruin that. They tend to over do it with the lettuce.

Breakfast is as standard and non descript as it comes. They don’t have the panache of Norms, or the reach and mediocrity of Denny’s, or the dessertiness of IHOP.

Prices are reasonable for a chain that hasn’t changed much in forever.

The thing that keeps them open is their proximity to other food places and also their hours. For long stretches in any direction there is nothing and as the night progress’ this becomes even more isolated so by default locals, and beer loving drunks from the local breweries come here, not by choice, but by hunger and necessity.

Forgettable, but not quite...

First time here and it was mediocre for me. I did like that they had a huge menu but sometimes too many items on the menu brings down the quality of the food.

Grandma was moving so I ran out to grab dinner for everyone. We ordered a cheeseburger, some onions rings, BLT and a salad. Everyone wasn't raving about their food but was happy with it. I personally ordered the BLT and I wouldn't again. I'm a person that likes my bacon crispy but this bacon seemed to have been sitting out and was very chewy. The bread was also stale and wasn't toasted enough. And the onion rings were way over greasy. It completely soaked the bag and got all over my car seat which I was extremely annoyed about because I had some cleaning to do. Mind you, I only had a 5 min drive back to the house. Maybe they weren't drained properly but they should be double bagged, add more napkins or something.

Also, being a drive thru, I expected to get out of there pretty quickly. I was the ONLY person in line. I still had to pull my car to the front and wait an extra 15 mins for it, which I was not happy about. Not their fault, but I had a crying 7 month old in the back so it was not the ideal situation and had to take her out of the car seat to console her.

Anyway, I personally wouldn't go again but if grandma was craving a burger specially from there, I might just go grab her one and not...

I work close by, pass by here almost daily. Decided on a burrito and wanted to try the onion rings. Menu is expansive, definitely something for everyone. Good prices for what it is. Onion rings are old fashioned, delicious. Breakfast burrito was definitely worth getting too, salsa it comes with compliments well, fresh. Wasn’t greeted by the girls, and seemed absent for words even upon leaving. Maybe their first job, but honestly should know at least the basics of customer service. On their part it wasn’t terrible, just wasn’t existent whatsoever. Almost walked out. Probably why there’s a Now Hiring sign posted 🤷‍♂️ On the contrary, the cook was super cool, he came up after I’d stood there at the menu for a minute and asked me if I had questions or decided on my order. Also served as well, definitely a good asset to the team from what I can tell. Would give 4 stars but the food was good, I like local businesses, and overall happy with my first visit. Will come more for sure.

Quick update the hostess today was more than useless. Order didn’t come out correct and I had to ask for the correction twice, since she didn’t punch it in correctly or tell the cook until the 3rd time I asked for grilled onions. I’d get new FOH staff. Gotta love...