If you are reading this title and think – where the heck is Tomato Fresh Food Café – clearly you weren’t alone.
In early June 2007, after 17 years on Cambie Street the Tomato Fresh Food Café relocated to the heart of Kitsilano nestled just off Broadway at 2486 Bayswater Street.
After 20+ years of business the restaurant has shut their doors. If you pass by the restaurant today you will see a press release on the closed doors stating that despite their larger premises, the cafe didn’t manage to pull in a high number of visitors to sustain them there.
I know I am regularly shopping on that strip of Broadway and frequently would pass this restaurant but for some reason never felt the draw to go in. Maybe the rest of Kits were with me. Curious to see what will happen to the large prime real estate location – sadly I predict a chain or food franchise will likely take its place.
Last modified: June 6, 2011
To be honest, despite the great reputation they brought with them from Cambie, I was never that impressed. Last time I went there (on my own with a baby) I got pretty lacklustre service, and paid far too much for a very ordinary sandwich.
Wow! That’s a shock. Their service was always questionable, but I always loved their breakfasts and turkey sandwich.
I agree that overall that place was bad and am glad to see something new in its spot. Tried it twice and was disappointed each time with bad food and bad service.
I ate there a few times – really wanted to like it, but service was spotty and menu was uninspired.
I agree, ate there few times. No real value. Boring menu, and the food is not great, high price… service so so… With so much choice in Kits they had to try harder that that… Maybe on Cambie there was less competition, or maybe they had lower prices… Not going to miss them…
Hopefully Mark’s Fiasco resurects there! Miss that place
Good riddance. I knew they will not last. They deserved their fate. Terrible service and mediocre fare. This is a wake up call to the management who ran that place to the ground.
I wanted to like it too, I gave it four tries, each visit was worse than the previous.
I have never seen such terrible service in a place that had enough staff. The owner guy was freaken clueless as well, I suspect he was a “hobby” restaurant owner.
Good central kits location, an excellent opportunity for something good to emerge from the Tomato ashes.
I disagree with the above comments! Though the prices were a bit high, I always got great service and food, and the atmosphere was nice. One of the adjacent shop owners told me this week that the entire building (including the clothing store) will be ripped down for a condo. Too bad, I really liked the skylights and trees growing inside the space. It’s kind of sad that slowly but surely the Broadway strip is turning into a McNeighbourhood… I believe the Hollywood is also slated to be torn down and made into a condo.