Tommy’s Asian Bistro and Grill

Just happened to find this place by accident while shopping at Montecito Shopping Center in central San Rafael-​boy am I glad I did. Wonderfully fresh Chinese food, large portions and great prices in this locally owned restaurant. One of the best in Marin County and off the beaten path. Lunch for two under $ 20-can’t beat that and DELICIOUS! Give it a try! The lunch menu offers a wide variety of 4 item plates at just $ 7.99!

Really good flavors! Love how my boyfriend and I can go to this place without having to argue to get either Thai or Chinese. Lunch specials are great! $ 7.99 each!

Didn’t have many choices on Christmas eve. Decided to give this place a try. Apparently they serve both Chinese and Thai food. Very friendly staff. The food was AWESOME! Real spicy! We ordered Pad See Ew and Shui Zhu Beef.

The restaurant really can’t decide if it wants to be Chinese, or Thai. The menu features both, however the dishes are not that distinctive. I felt that the flavors were underwhelming, although the food was hot and fresh. We did try two Thai soups and the chicken corn chowder, and all three were very good.

I’m surprised to see some less than stellar reviews here. I’ve been getting takeout from Tommy’s at least once or twice a week for the past couple of years and have never had a problem. The food is delicious! I tend to stick to the same few items: Singapore Noodles with chicken and shrimp (I am addicted to this dish), Seafood Tofu soup, and Hot Mok with cod. I’ve also had some of the Thai dishes (eggplant basil & spinach/​peanut sauce) and they were scrumptious as well. I’m very picky about my Asian food after living in New York and San Francisco and this is one of my favorite places in San Rafael. The restaurant is cozy and the waitstaff is kind. Give it a try… I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Food amazing taste buds I didn’t know I have song a beautiful song. Thai iced tea was great. Waiter was great. Very happy

Today, I was in the mood for larb and damn if I wasn’t disappointed! Tommy’s makes it different from Thai restaurants. It had papaya, tomatoes, shredded carrots and cucumbers in it. None of those things are in it at most Thai restaurants. The menu said it would have the usual mint in it and I didn’t taste or see any. I called the restaurant to ask what the white noodle-​looking things were in it and was told papaya. He apologized several times.
One of the things that will happen in restaurants with larb is it will be made with lemon juice instead of lime juice even though the menu will say lime. Maybe lemons are cheaper than limes and they think no one will notice the difference. We know the difference, people!
Also, they may leave out cilantro or mint or basil even though the menu will say there is some in the dish.
I will not order larb there again but I will go back and give them another try sometime.
I can’t imagine anyone who likes larb to like Tommy’s larb. In my opinion, they have messed up a dish that is perfect the traditional way!

The service sucks. The waiter ignores you and will give you things you didn’t ask for. They will give you your food and not come back until they give you your check. I have been here twice and not a fan. Only went the second time because it wasn’t the worst and I was really hungry and didn’t want to get something worst.

Orange chicken was good. My kids enjoyed their soup and the staff were very friendly.

Nice place. Quiet for lunch on the weekends. Take out orders are quick and always accurate

I came here with my friend during lunch time. I love that they have variety of Asia foods. Their foods is very tasty and yummy. I love their chicken pad se ew, very delicious. I will be coming back soon.

Just to make things clear, I’ve had plenty of dishes here and there has been ups and downs, like in all restaurants. I think the business hit a mild snag when they added thai cuisine, but thats my opinion not a fact (friends I bring here love there thai dishes, it just wasn’t wow-​ing to me). What separates this restaurant from other Chinese restaurants in Marin is the Szechuan menu. Mapo/​Mabo tofu here is very good and spicy, but not made with the traditional Szechuan peppercorn. That peppercorn is known to give a numbing tingling feeling and adds a lot of heat, (I feel they tone it down to cater to the demographic). The star of the show is the amazing Fish in red chili oil, you’ll find it on the Szechuan page of the menu. Lightly fried fish fillet swimming in a sea of red chili oil and broth, with a heaping pile of greens on the bottom, covered with a mound of garlic, cilantro and red pepper flakes. The lunch menu is set up great as well. order something from the Chinese section A, B, C, and D or something from the Thai L section.
OK now service. something I don’t find debatable in this restaurant. I’ve been coming here for years and I will be coming here for many more because the food is great and the service is nice, friendly and all around fast. Each employee has there own personality (like everyone in this world) and I connect with some better then others, but every single one of them are attentive and professional.
Like I stated earlier, I’ve had ups and downs in the flavor aspect here, thats on my tastebuds not of the quality of ingredients or freshness (both have never been an issue EVER)
this place truly deserves a higher rating.

We had lunch here. The food was average at best. The server was very obnoxious and intrusive. He kept coming to us and talking non sense and asked direct and personal questions. Very unprofessional.

I have rarely been unable to finish a papaya salad and red curry with chicken (and I’ve rarely given bad reviews). In fact I don’t think there has ever been a time when I had to retreat from a restaurant as rapidly as I did from this place. My Unilocal friends tried to warn me. My mom and dad tried to hold an intervention but alas like I fool I went here and ran out. Sometimes you have to fall on your own fork. This is one of those times.
The papaya salad had parsley and onions. Something I had not encountered before. For good reason as it turns out. The purple onion was sharp and pungent. The parsley was well it was parsley. Which is to say it had no business in my papaya salad. There wasn’t enough lime or fish sauce but then nothing could save this thing from the compost heap.
I turned my attention to the rather large serving of red curry with chicken. I wish I hadn’t. The chicken was just short of pink but still had that rubbery not cooked enough texture. The curry sauce definitely came out of a bottle. And not even the kind you can buy at Trader Joes a few yards away. It would have been better had they ventured there. But as it was I could barely force myself to have a few bites. Visions of salmonella and all sorts of other bug danced through my head. This madness had to stop. Bad food is not worth getting sick over.
My waitress was a schoolgirl and was busy discussing all the cancer types she could think of with another server. Pleasant conversation to say the least. Since she wouldn’t stop her pressing dissertation another guy walked over and gave me the bill. I would have paid anything to get out. I forked over 20 bucks plus even a tip. I can’t break decorum for some reason –although this time around I had good reason to say «get this garbage out of my face.» Should’ve could’ve. The best reaction was to keep my game face (yea it is a heavy responsibility being a Unilocaler) and flee.

I was there tonight w a friend… shes loves this place. I was overwhelmed w the menu thai, chinese, vietnamese and other asian foods. I was too confused too order… I had the coconut tofu soup small, mango salad med spicy & moo shu pork… I loved my meal!!! The moo shu was salty but it was plum paste. Great service… good food ill b back.

Great lunch special, got takeout for 5 people in the office and the total was around $ 50 with tip! Everyone’s food was spectacular and the cute lady giving me the order gave me a drink to go even though I didn’t ask or order one because it was hot out! I will certainly order from them again!
Also, they are pretty fast, they had the order ready to go in less than 20 minutes from when I placed it.

The first time we went into this restaurant, earlier this year, we were greeted with enthusiasm by the owner. The food was fresh and delicious, and we were happy to find a good Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood.
Based on our previous experiences, we decided to return a couple of weeks ago for lunch. I ordered the Pad Thai Lunch Special ($ 6.99), and my husband ordered the Malaysian Curry with Beef Lunch Special, with brown rice, ($ 9.99).
My Pad Thai was okay, just average though (we’ve traveled extensively, including to Thailand), but my husband’s dish was very disappointing.
The beef in the Malaysian Curry was old, and tasted funny. My husband put all of the beef pieces to the side, and as he was hungry he ate the vegetables and rice. When the waitress came to take our dishes away, he told her the beef did not taste good and was old. She didn’t say anything but took the dish (with all of the beef pieces) back to the kitchen.
When she brought the check, she said to my husband, «Next time order the shrimp.»
What kind of customer service is that? She did not inform management (if they were there), or apologize, or take money off the bill, or do anything at all about the bad beef.
Unfortunately, this was probably our last visit to this restaurant.

Most times I go out for Chinese food, I get grossed out by how greasy it is and how poor the quality of the meat is (chewy, lots of nerves, etc.). Tommy’s ain’t playing that game. This food is fresh: the chicken is organic and free-​range. The veggies are crisp and the dishes aren’t weighed down by oil. For all the differences between this high quality food and standard Chinese take-​out fare, you would expect a bigger check at the end of your meal, but Tommy’s prices are comparable to those of most Chinese restaurants in Marin.
I keep speaking about Chinese food because that’s what I like and what I ordered, but Tommy’s offers a plethora of Asian cuisines: Thai, Cambodian, curries, and more. The menu is pretty extensive.
Highlights of our meal: combo fried rice (chicken, BBQ pork, and shrimp) and Mongolian beef.
Misses: sweet and sour pork and chicken chow mein.
The service is SO friendly I can’t even believe it.

Several times when I needed a quick meal, I ate at their old Szechwan 7 restaurant on the opposite side of the Center. The prepared food was mediocre, and because they had a cheap buffet selection, they got a lot of high school kids for lunch.
I was really surprised to learn that the new restaurant is now doing Chinese and Thai dishes. Best of all, they got rid of the buffet.
So far, they do a pretty good job with the Thai curries I have had. One word of caution. If you like your food spicy, tell them mild. I can take the heat; but, for this chef, when you order your curry spicy it’s going to come out much spicier than you’ll probably be prepared for.
For the Chinese dishes, I really like their regular Mixed Chow Mein. The BBQ pork slices in the dish are really really good. I was pretty sure they come from a great BBQ pork place on Clement in San Francisco; but, the server said it’s made in house. If true, the chef really knows how to prepare it well.
When I have ordered the Chow Mein Hong Kong Style (Crispy Noodles), it’s not nearly so good.
The Mongolian Beef is pretty good.
I need to try more menu items to figure out their final rating.

We were in the area after a morning of hiking and we decided to try to place out. The food was delicious. My friend got a pineapple fried rice and the presentation was unbelievable. It was served over a real carved pineapple, which was awesome. They have a good deal on lunch specials. They offer a wide variety of foods. It can be overwhelming at first because of the many good choice. Once you know what you want, you are good to go! We had a 6 person group and we weren’t aloud to individually pay with card or split the checks because of their system. If they did split the checks, we would have to pay more.
Overall, it was a pleasant experience and the food was good. However, I wouldn’t eat here again because I don’t live in the area. I’ll recommend coming here for the lunch specials! (I haven’t gone here for dinner) If you are craving for a variety of asian cuisines, definitely check this place out!