FOOD REVIEW: Tom+Chee

(The Fleets Arrive - Sam Hulick)

So, my friend Christi sent me a link to this Tom + Chee place the other day while we were at the office, and when I started to explore the place, the first words out of my mouth were, "Are you kidding me??"

Actually, there was an F-bomb in there too.

This is a restaraunt wrapped around the concept of, I shit you not, tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

I'll let that sink in for a moment.  This is, as a society, where we've arrived.  Gourmet Grilled Cheese.

Once that bit of contemplation is done, however, you should go look at their menu, because at first glance, this place looked AWESOME, goofy-ass pretense or otherwise.  It looked good enough that I had to swallow the laughter that threatened to erupt at the thought of gournet - dare I say 'artisan'? - sandwiches, and take a trip.

But should you?

 

THE SHORT VERSION:

One trip, maybe.  Two?  That'll have to be up to you.

 

THE LONG VERSION:

 The first thing that you'll notice when you get to this place is that they are BUSY.  And I don't mean 'doing a brisk trade' either.  I mean long lines and full tables busy.  People must love this stuff!  It must be incredible!  I took that as a good sign, and we stepped in.

Tom + Chee is a fun little environment full of smaller versions of lunch tables and those plastic seats that you may remember from classrooms.  Everything is appropriately sturdy, even for someone as lard-assed as myself, and the sheer amount of seating available in the store is rather impressive.

Ordering is entirely done ala-carte, which is a little off-putting in a culture where we've learned to work with value meals and combo meals and whatnot meals, but the serving staff there are pretty good about outlining the process to you.

Saying that Tom + Chee is a grilled cheese joint is a little misleading from the standpoint that as soon as you add something other than BREAD and CHEESE to the sandwich, it becomes something other than a grilled cheese.  That aside, some of the things that they're willing to serve up at this place are outstanding.  I ordered The Flying Pig, which is a grilled cheese on sourdough with turkey, bacon, and pickles.  Was it gourmet?  No.  Was it comfort food?  Without question.  The same could be said for my cup of Tomato Bisque.  My friends had similar results with their sandwiches as well, and Christi even ordered a S'Mores Donut, which was every bit as good as it sounds.   The soda fountains had good choices too.

All in all, Tom + Chee is a great place to go for a bit of outstanding comfort food that has decent variety.

...Or it would be, were it not for one very small thing.

The price is so very, very out of hand.  The clever individual will notice that there ARE no prices on the menus that they post online.  Then there's that ala carte thing.   My sandwich alone was $7.  That's before you order any kind of side OR get a drink.  By the time I got my sandwich, my soup, and my beverage, which was not a considerably large cup compared to other places, I had racked up a $14 tab.  Want a dessert donut?  That's another $6.  Christi walked out after dropping a $20.  I'm sorry, but that is entirely too much money for the amount of food that you get.  That's so much money that it makes Tom + Chee an experience that is limited to rare novelty visits and special occasions.

Think I'm over reacting here?

Mr. Goodcents - $10 for a 16", a huge drink, and WAY more food.

Chipotle - $10 for a burrito bowl with guac and a drink, and WAY more food.  Add two more bucks and you can get double meat.  Pay $7.60 for a normal bowl with a water cup and you'll STILL get more food.

McDonalds - $7 and change will get you a Double Quarter Pounder meal, which is about the same amount of food as you'd get at Tom + Chee, for around HALF the price.

Mi Ranchito - $13 gets you a Steak Super Burrito platter with beans, rice, pico, and one of the best burritos that you can get from a mexican joint.  Plus a 20 percent tip.

Buffalo Wild Wings - $13 gets you 12 boneless wings, a generous side of potato wedges, dipping sauce, and a 20 percent tip.

See where I'm going with this?

Sadly, while the food was, in general, quite excellent, the price makes this restaraunt a place that I will most likely never return to, even on special occasions.

Comments

[Michael J Zupon]

We made grilled gourda on sourdough with deli ham and bacon tonight. Seeing as it all came from Costco, it was probably a $3 meal each....

Comfort food is all very well, but I'm not paying prime rib prices for hamburgers.