I was on the search for a good Caldo de Res and I happened to come across El Tomate. It is hands down one of the BEST beef soups I've had in San Francisco. The broth is rich and full of flavor. There is a good amount of tender beef that isn't riddled with fat or gristle. The vegetables are tender but NOT mushy. It is absolutely delicious. I came back the next day and wanted to try their other items. I got a carne asada sopes, crispy taco and a side of rice and beans. Amazing! The masa base on the sopes had good structure to hold all the savory ingredients. The crispy taco stayed perfectly crispy and filled with tender, flavorful steak. Their rice, beans and salsa must not go unnoticed. Incredibly FLAVORFUL and all have wonderful texture. Rice is moist but not sticky, the refried beans are smooth but not runny or dry and the salsa is so tasty. Perfecto!! I highly recommend this sweet spot for authentic, delicious and well-prepared Mexican eats!!

$8 burrito special in the city??? Impossible I was on my way over to El Farolito when I walked by this place and decided to look at the reviews. Sure enough people gave praise, so I decided to get a burrito special. The Carnitas was amazing, very large chunks of pork. It was so tender that you can pull it apart with your fingers, keep in mind this is not a super burrito (no guacamole, sour cream etc) but still very satisfying As for the lack of photo, I devoured the burrito before I could take a picture!

So happy to know that El Tomate survived the Covid shut downs! We popped in for a lunch of menudo and icy cold beers. Absolutely delicious! The broth is so smooth and richly flavored, and meats succulent. It's a salty meal, but delicious for a treat. It definitely helps to speak Spanish or use a translation app,. We will certainly be back!

Um... I meant to take a pic but was si hungry, this is all that is left of my Chile verde. Oops. It was to die fir, btw.

What a pleasant surprise! This is an unassuming, unpretentious restaurants, in a part of san francisco with plenty of hipster joints. There aren't a lot of people there, and not a lot of gringos, even better. Its easy to just walk past it, and the giant popcorn machine sized machine of chicarrones next door. When you go in, looks like a diner. The menu is the perfect range of classic mexican and texmex options. Get the fajitas! They come sizzling hot and come with all of the sides you desire. Delicious. Huge portions and good value by san francisco standards.

Love their chips n salsa and their enchiladas! Why I was here // I was craving some authentic Mexican food so my bf and I decided to stroll through Mission and we stumbled upon this gem. Service // Service is friendly, there was only one waitress so it seemed a bit short staffed. Lots of waiting, which is not terrible but I was also slightly hung over and pretty tired from the day. Atmosphere // homely, casual, warm and welcoming. Food // Amazing and delicious food and drink! -Drink // Jamaica // 4.00 // not overly sweet and has a slight tartness, love the color (my only irk, was that our waitress spilled some on the table and didn't wipe it up for us. When I asked for some napkins she only gave 1 napkin each....) -Complimentary chips and salsa // super bomb! The chips were sooo good and the salsa has a kick! -Enchiladas rancheras // 12.00 // I enjoyed this very much! 2 chicken filled enchiladas with a yummy house-made red sauce and served with beans and rice...ooooo yummm! -My bf got a mole chicken plate and I had a bit! The mole sauce is smoky and has notes of cinnamon? Nonetheless, also a hit for my bf. Overall // pretty solid place for Mexican food

wow, I love this place! I'm a regular at my favorite Taqueria next door called La Espiga de Oro. (I go there at least once a week for my super burrito carne asada and chicharron). some of the staff in the kitchen wearing the El Tomate shirt (uniform), but I didn't really pay much attention to that. every week, I kept seeing different person wearing the same said shirt and I got curious .. this afternoon I decided before getting my burrito at La Espiga de Oro, I would stop by and having lunch here. so I did. this place is cozy and homey. so inviting and feel so right. I sat down on one of those comfy booth by the window and started looking at the menu. not too big of a menu, but it feels like something that was written in honest. no gimmick, just real down to earth home cooking. and friendly prices too. I ordered Menudo Chiapas. the stew was delightful, the portion was great, the flavor and the tortillas were hot and came at me in full loving embrace like a beautiful Mexican lady inviting me to have dinner with her parents. I promised her, I will always be by her side.

Ah! Chihuahua...El Tomate is a brand new place run by the family who owns La Espiga De Oro, the tamaleria and Mexican deli on the same block of 24th. Jamie W. and I decided to come here after a particularly strenuous workout at the gym. OK, it wasn't particularly strenuous, but there was a sweat stain on the back of my T-shirt. See? Right there. No...there. Clearly such activity would make the mere sedentary ravenous and indeed it did for me. I threw culinary caution to the wind and decided to guide us there for some down-home Mexican dishes big on fresh ingredients and full flavor. By the Mission's standards, it's an unusually sedate sit-down place with a menu full of temptations targeted to gluttons like myself. Brush up on your high school Spanish because the menu isn't in English. Things started well with fresh, warm tortilla chips served in a little, Cost Plus-style basket along with a fresh, kicky tomato-based salsa and a more creamy, calorific dip that looked like chicken spread and chopped carrots mixed with sour cream (see photo). I didn't care because it was good stuff and well, the serving bowl was small. Because we are admitted penny-pinchers, we took full advantage of our Yelp check-in and ordered a free appetizer, the Nachos Supremos (normally $7.99), which was quite a plateful of tastiness with melted cheese, refried black beans, red peppers, tomatoes, jalapenos, a dollop of sour cream, and a big scoop of fresh guacamole covering a pile of warm, crunchy tortilla chips that were far thicker than your average Chevy's creation (see photo). For our shared entrees, we first went for the $11.99 Pollo Mexicano, a saucy confection with diced chicken breast sauteed in butter with onions in a special red sauce accompanied by rice, guacamole and tomatoes (see photo). Accompanied by a stack of their thick flour tortillas, nicely charred (see photo), it was quite delicious in a home-style way and also a good alternative use for the chips leftover from the nachos plate. But our favorite was the robust $9.99 El Tomate Salad, a thing of beauty as it had refried beans, cheese, pork, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and cream all piled high on one of their homemade deep-fried flour tortillas (see photo). It finally struck us after all our gluttony that fresh, handmade tortillas are their specialty because neither of us had quite had such substantive tortillas before. So much for our workout. FOOD - 4 stars...obviously homemade goodness with their fresh tortillas the standout, hefty portions for the indiscriminate AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...low-key and a nice change-of-pace from other eateries in the area SERVICE - 3.5 stars...the waitress treated us pretty well TOTAL - 4 stars...the fresh Mexican dishes will bring us back, especially those tortillas...ah, the carbs