Conscious Cuisine: Tommy's
By Maggie Busser

A group of teens giggles and bickers over homework and a plate piled high with French fries. A toddler takes a crayon to a colorable placemat while his mother cuts bites of bear-shaped pancakes for him. Another youngster splits a sizeable, old-fashioned milkshake with her dad. A couple shares an intimate conversation and a salad. A businessman reads the newspaper as he munches on a sandwich. At Tommy's Restaurant in the Coventry neighborhood of Cleveland Heights, everyone seems to get what they want.

Now in its 35th year of operation, Tommy's has certainly discovered how to make people – especially families – feel comfortable. The menu features everything from tofu and tempeh to meat pies and corned beef, and the selection is enormous. Influenced by his experience working as a soda-fountain jerk while in high school in the late '60s, owner Tom Fello says, “It was the groovy hippy days. Lots of vegetarians would walk in the door and ask about the food my Lebanese boss was eating for lunch.” When Tom took over and evolved the establishment into an intimate restaurant, he began offering these same vegetarian items on the menu.

However, Tom let the customers decide upon the combinations that they desired – add cheese, hold the sprouts, do not forget the mushrooms. The regulars always requested the same specific orders, so Tom soon named the dishes after them. Nearly every item on the menu still bears a person's name. Tom explains, “Those people are scattered all over the world now. It is fun when they come back and see their names still on the menu.” Tommy's continues to encourage patrons to personalize their orders. As Tom says, “I treat my customers the way I like to be treated. If you don't like the tomatoes, just speak up! We won't make you eat tomatoes.”

Vegetarian food here is not an afterthought. The menu boasts dozens of items with tempeh, tofu, seitan and veggie burgers, plus an astounding collection of salad options. These salads are enormous, and romaine or mixed greens can be substituted (of course!) upon request. Those who have specific eating requirements – vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, gluten-free – can sit down with family or friends who have totally different requests and enjoy a happy, harmonious meal. Tom points out that although the menu is 75 percent vegetarian, “Meat remains on the menu in order to serve the entire family.” (But do note: the meat and the vegetarian items are cooked on entirely separate grills.)

Between the relaxed atmosphere and Tom's irresistible urge to make sure that everyone can find something great to eat, Tommy's is a justifiable family hotspot. “We're very proud of that,” Tom shares. In fact, on Thursdays, Flower Clown, a local celebrity with kids, has a long-standing dinner-entertainment engagement. (For more details on Flower, see the article in our I Love My Job! department this issue. Flower is currently traveling in distant lands, but will be back at Tommy's again beginning mid-May.) Tom, himself, adds a twinkle to every child's eye with a free plate of bear-shaped pancakes. “It makes them feel special,” he notes.

While I am above the age-requirement to garner some bear-shaped pancakes, I was delighted to sample a smattering of the items offered on Tommy's impressive menu. I began with an appetizer plate loaded with Middle Eastern delights including hummus (a dip made of pureed chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice and garlic), baba ghanouj (a pureed dip of charbroiled eggplant and sesame tahini) and falafel (a fried bean cake). The thick but smooth hummus was wonderfully heavy on the tahini and garlic. Tom shared an interesting statistic with me: the restaurant sells 40 quarts of hummus each day! The baba ghanouj tasted delightfully smoky, and the crunchy exterior of the falafel revealed a tasty, moist center. I washed my appetizer down with a healthy soda called Ginseng Up, which contained no artificial ingredients or sweeteners.

Moving on to the sandwich options, I highly recommend sinking your teeth into a Delaney. Two crispy slices of grilled rye bread were piled high with moist fried tempeh, spinach, tangy sauerkraut, mustard, Swiss cheese and pickles. The contents oozed from the sides with each delicious bite. Even the devoted meat eater would find this sandwich delectable. A plate of extra crispy, thick fries accompanied my sandwich, and they were easily some of the best in town. (Plus, I felt even better about eating them since Tom told me that the discarded oil is turned into biodiesel or pumped directly into cars with fuel converters.)

I also sampled one of the many spinach pies on Tommy's menu. The “IRS” had spinach, mushroom and cheese filling nearly spilling out from between the folds of its pie crust as it was placed in front of me. Between the layers of crispy, tender dough, I discovered that the mushrooms imparted an earthy flavor to the lemony spinach and slightly salty, extra gooey cheese.

Regardless of whether you relegate milkshakes and malts to the dessert course, one or the other is a must at Tommy's. Tom still makes them exactly the way he did when he was a soda jerk in high school. He combines local ice cream (Pierre's) with local, organic milk (Hartzler) in a seemingly infinite number of combinations to create an old-fashioned delight. I opted for a chocolate malt with fresh banana. It was creamy, thick and wonderfully rich. And one of my friends assures me that the root beer milkshake is out of this world, too. Do not plan to tackle one of these alone – each one is more than enough for two to share.

Another dessert highlight was the chocolate brownie that can be ordered with or without ice cream, hot fudge and whipped cream. Delivered to the table warm and soft, this delicious delight will be extremely difficult for me to resist when I visit in the future. It tasted like moist fudge brownies just pulled from the oven.

Whether you plan to stop in for breakfast, lunch or dinner, alone or in the company of friends or family, you are sure to find something on the menu to suit you. Cook A.J. says, “If something that you want is not on the menu, speak up. If you like something, tell Tommy. He totally depends on his customers.” She enthusiastically concludes, “It's Tommy's! You get what you want.”

Tommy's is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is located at 1824 Coventry Road in the Coventry neighborhood of Cleveland Heights. For more information, call (216) 321-7757 or visit www.tommyscoventry.com.