Tomo Japanese - Atlanta

After several good meals over the years we recently had a quite poor experience. The food was fine, but the service and atmosphere showed that Tomo seems to be suffering from complacency. Here are some of the issues: 1. They sat us next to the busy water refill/silverware cabinet, despite many other tables being available. The waitress (who was actually one of the few highlights) graciously allowed us to switch tables, but why would you even sit people there to begin with when there are better options. And yes, we had reservations, despite them not being necessary. 2. Imitation crab was served with the sashimi lunch entree. Really? I was fine with letting the chefs choose the specific fish, but apparently that trust was misplaced. 3. It ended with the disinterested hostess looking up from her phone to say no, they do not validate parking for the garage next door. Maybe these wouldn’t be issues for some folks, but if Tomo wants to keep its reputation for being a decent sushi place it will wake up and spend more energy on the experience it gives diners. Until then we’ll go elsewhere.

When we walked into Tomo, we weren’t sure why Tomo was on so many top restaurants lists, but now we really don’t know why. Our first red flag should have been the fact that they had so much availability on a Friday night in Buckhead, but we figured since college is out, maybe it’s quiet this time of year. Our second red flag should have been the laminated menus, but we thought maybe it was a no-frills purely good food experience we were in for. Boy were we wrong. After eating our appetizers and while the waiter was standing at our table, I noticed a cockroach crawling on the booth next to me. I told the waiter, and the response of the restaurant staff was gravely unprofessional and unapologetic. First the waiter walked quickly to the back, then a gaggle of restaurant staff stood behind the counter staring and whispering. Our waitress came over with a napkin, chased the cockroach around the booth, and then crumpled up the napkin and walked into the kitchen. I’m only about 50% sure she actually caught it. Another staff member tried to explain that they had just bug bombed the restaurant the day before, so that’s why they were all coming out. Um, why are you serving food if you have a roach infestation? We then had to physically approach the staff gathered behind the counter to ask for the check, and the waitress actually asked us if we wanted them to take the food that hadn’t come yet off the bill. Then a manager came out and immediately started saying, “Oh it’s because of remodeling the sushi bar,” and when we mentioned that this is a health violation, he then said we wouldn’t have to pay for our dinner. Also, the roach was not very big, maybe the size of a nickel, which indicates it is young and probably has many siblings around. In the end, we did not even receive a single apology from anyone working there.

Woooh wow. The food was super tasty and I had really great time there. The price was super expensive of course because I guess that’s the hype of fusion Japanese food. However, the servers, food performance, cleanness, and taste was so good. Just be aware, it’s very expensive! But it’s definitely worth it for some celebration.

The portions are small and pricey but very very good. It is an experience to go and have such wonderful food prepared. We went with mostly fish and it was all delicious. We did try the lamb chop and it was amazing. Because we were there for the first time, we wanted to try a variety of dishes, so we concentrated on appetizers. The meal would have been far less expensive if we had had more main dishes, but it was a great dining experience and I would not change any of our decisions.

This place was amazing! 10/10 the food made me feel like I was in Japan because of how fresh and well executed everything was. Definitely try the Omasake experience here. The service was amazing, always checking in and making sure our glasses were never empty!