The Tomato Shack salad & pizza co, West Chester — Restaurant in West Chester

We just moved to the area and this was our first time visiting this restaurant. Decor and atmosphere are nice for a casual lunch. The one staff member who took our order was very friendly and seemed happy to answer our questions.

I'm vegan and nut-free and my husband is vegetarian so we were really hopeful based on how accommodating the menu appeared. You can sub tofu or seitan for meat in any sandwich and they offer vegan cheese (although I would recommend just skipping the cheese entirely unless they change to another brand!).

Menu clearly states that all spreads are "plant-based, gluten-free, and nut-free" and that the vegan cheese offered is also nut-free. A board on the wall said the vegan cheese was from Kite Hill — known for their nut-based products — so I asked the guy taking our order. He said it was a nut-free option from them, then corrected himself to say it's actually Miyoko's now (also known for cultured nut-based cheeses) but definitely still nut-free and made from watermelon seeds? I tried to google both while waiting for our order and couldn't find any mention of nut-free options from either brand, but maybe it's something they offer for restaurant supply only? My allergies aren't life threatening so I decided to try it, but it didn't make me feel super confident.

We each ordered a sandwich with a bag of chips. My husband got a fountain soda and I went for the house-made lemonade, which was cloyingly sweet. The chips were fine but nothing to speak of. Plain variety was unremarkable and salt and vinegar ones were very very mildly seasoned.

Our sandwiches were delivered to us at our table on paper plates, which struck me as odd. Both sandwiches were soggy to the point of dripping, incredibly messy, and yet somehow also on somewhat stale bread. We both subbed seitan onto our sandwiches for the meat and while the flavor was good, the ground meat texture was strange and out of place for either sandwich. Seitan comes in a variety of preparations and can be sliced like deli meat, which would have made way more sense. We both felt that we could easily have made better sandwiches at home with a few store-bought ingredients and little effort.

The biggest offense was the vegan cheese. It was cut in a slab and had the texture of soft-set jello. Wobbly, wet, mushy, and utterly tasteless. I've been vegan for over 15 years and that was the grossest excuse for vegan cheese I've ever seen. I ended up trying to pick it off the second half of the sandwich (something I can't remember doing as an adult) and it just sort of squished and disintegrated when touched. It didn't seem like there were multiple options but I've got to hope they're using something else on pizza and other menu items. There are so many vegan cheeses on the market now that have textures and flavors that are pleasant AND fulfill the requirements of being both gluten- and nut-free. I can't fathom why they would choose to serve that product.

With the number of vegan-friendly restaurants in the borough (including the PHENOMENAL vegan sandwiches at Love Again Local), we won't be in a hurry to try this spot again...

We ate at the Couch Tomato for the first time about a month ago, and my husband, almost 2 year old and I were all impressed- both with the taste, the friendliness of the staff, and the commitment to whole, natural, organic ingredients when possible. We decided to order food from here for my daughter's birthday party, but since we live about 20 minutes away, I arranged to have my sister pick it up. There was a little snafu because I signed up for their points card, but my first order discount had expired, but the managerial staff kindly took care of it and still applied the discount no problem- great! My sister picked up the food, but when she was on her way to my house, I got a call from the manager on duty- Brenton, I think!- stating that he realized they had sent the wrong salads with my order. Usually, when a restaurant makes a mistake like that they a) don't call you and b) if you call them, they will exchange it but will want YOU to come back to pick up. NOT THE CASE AT ALL HERE. Before I could mention that it was not possible for us to return because of the party, the manager offered to send out a driver to deliver the missing items. I tried to decline- there is no way our house is within their normal delivery range, and there is pretty serious construction going on causing a detour, making my house more difficult to find than normal. The manager insisted, and as promised, promptly delivered the salads to my door himself. My mother in law intercepted him and I did not get a chance to see him and thank him myself, but I wanted to be sure to share what AMAZING customer service we received. Not to mention, the food was all delicious. Everyone loved it, and loved the kind gesture of Brenton's even more. We will drive 20 minutes for pizza to support this great local, delicious, and wholesome...

I came here with Mayur C. after he showed me around his beloved WC area.. and he even paid for me aww :D

We decided to split a salad and make your own pizza. The cash register guy was really patient in explaining allll the options. It's a pretty standard menu like salads, sandwhiches, pizza, but there are a lot of options, and they're accommodating with switching out, etc. It's a little overwhelming, but if you have a certain taste pallette, it's prob ok.

We got the veggie house special and tried the veggie chicken on top. The chicken wasn't my favorite..but that's probably just my taste. The veggies and taste otherwise were great. I was surprised with the size though, on the smaller side. The pizza's are made fresh, so unfortunately it did take a while..keep in mind if you're in a rush.

We also got the santorini salad, basically greek salad, and it was delish! Definitely nice to have with the pizza. Splitting those two with two people.. STUFFED so nvm about my small pizza comment.

We sat outside on the roof deck which was super cute. If it were dinner, since they're BYOB, a delightful place to bring some wine or beer!! The lights are so cute. Only sucky part was that we waited up there while the pizza was getting ready, and they don't have a buzzer thing, or speakers, so we kept having to go downstairs to check if the food was ready. tis ok!

Overall, I enjoyed myself, thanks Mayur for showing me...