Tommy Moore’s Cafe & Deli

I enjoy coming here because the folks are always quick to look you in the eye and give you a smile along with a friendly ‘Hello’, ‘Good morning’, or ‘How are you?’ It’s definitely a way to greet the customers and for me, it goes a long way.
The breakfast is uncomplicated: eggs, grits, bacon, waffles, biscuits, gravy… Coupled with the usual morning offerings: coffee, OJ, etc… The prices are really very low and I tend to have a big appetite in the mornings and can get full reasonably easy here.
Parking isn’t bad, the place is accommodating, and I enjoy spending a lazy weekend morning here. This place definitely has its regulars too so don’t be surprised when you hear folks getting called by their first name and being asked, ‘…the usual?’ or not even being asked but getting served right away. This doesn’t detract from the service to their non-​regular customers though. It’s just that kind of an environment.
The 1^st Saturday of the month also carries an «All you can eat» buffet of which they serve until they run out of everything. The menu consists of mac & cheese, fried pork chops, potato salad, chicken wings, fried chicken, catfish, collard greens, banana pudding, and the works. It runs from 11:30AM-3:00PM and I think adults eat for about $ 13.

I have enjoyed dining at Tommy Moore’s for breakfast and lunch on many occasions. I have never had something I didn’t enjoy! The fried chicken is absolutely AMAZING! The atmosphere provides a great amount of African American history/​heritage, very unique and something that I enjoy about eating here. I see or learn about something new on every visit. I give this restaurant 4-​stars because of the varying levels of customer service. While the waitstaff is never rude, there are times when it’s packed an you have your food/​drink refills immediately and then there are times there are very few customers and you have to ask for drink refills/​checks. Overall, absolutely worth a stop in. It’s location is perfect, just outside of downtown!

Have visited Tommy Moore’s several times since moving my office to the South Town area. It seems to be a cross between a museum/​shrine and restaurant. Mr. Moore seems to always be there with a friendly hello and the fried chicken is delicious! I have had the enchiladas, fried chicken, wings, and chicken and waffles and have enjoyed all of them.
The only downside is the service can be pretty hit or miss. I have been and had great service and other times waited a long time for food or for a refill.
I recommend checking this place out for breakfast or lunch, whenever you are in the downtown area!

Tommy Moore’s has been one of my favorites for a long time, but my visit today shocked me. Thursdays are enchilada special days, and I’ve always loved the enchiladas this place served. They reminded me of the ones I enjoyed in high school. Served with rice and beans, Moore’s version was filling and delicious. Unfortunately this was not true today. The trouble started when it took almost 35 minutes to get served from the time we placed our order. It was lunch time and about half the place was full when we arrived, so while it got busier, it wasn’t terribly so until we’d been there about 20 minutes. One member of our party was served his pork chops about 15 minutes before the rest of the food arrived. Then the rest of us just sat and waited. When the food arrived, the enchiladas were but a ghost of their former selves. Not worth the wait at all. The waitress was nice enough, but it took her 15 minutes to bring the one to go box we requested. What a disappointment this lunch was! The place gets one more try just because it used to be so good, but that’s it.

My first visit to Tommy Moore’s and it was refreshing. It was Saturday about noon and they were busy. Tommy Moore greeted us at the door. I was impressed.
Mrs. Moore stopped by our table and chatted a while. I was more impressed. I had fried chicken which was excellent; enjoyed reading the wall hangings and would go back just to read more. The food was served and I was hungry.

Came here on a whim a week or so ago when working in the area. Not sure it’s worth mentioning, but I was with two coworkers– one an AA who comes here fairly often by her accounts, and another older white woman.
We walked in and seated ourselves at the front, and despite being seen by several of the waitresses, our AA member had to approach one of them for service and let them know that we needed menus and drinks. I’d really like to assume this was simply due to us coming in at a busy time and perhaps all of the employees each just assumed someone else was taking care of our table.
Placed our orders– all of us had the meatloaf special with macaroni and cheese, and different various sides (one greenbeans, one cabbage, and one mashed potatoes). We mentioned that, due to not being addressed for the first several minutes of our visit, we were now in a little bit of a hurry, so waitress immediately brought our waters and took our orders.
Meatloaf and other sides were received within 5 minutes, and we all agreed that the dish was tasty and simply wished it were a bit larger. It wasn’t until the rest of our plates were cleaned that the waitress returned with our individual portions of mac n cheese– they were steaming hot and had just come out of the oven. Wish the timing had been a little better, as this is a dish best when let to settle for a bit. As we had it, the mac was super cheesy but the dish was piping hot to the point that it wasn’t easily enjoyed and the sauce was very thin and runny.
Despite being disappointed by the mac and our initial lack of service, the waitress we had was super sweet and communicative and the rest of our order was spot on. For the lunch special pricing of about $ 8, it can’t be beat.

Great food, and fast lunch special. The staff were really nice and the decour was ecletic, but I liked it.

A clean little restaurant whose décor was more memorable than its food. The menu items, although billed as «Southern,» lean a tad toward «Urban Texas.»
I found the scrapbooking memorabilia presentation a sterile curiosity, like a museum or shrine. The atmosphere was friendly like a decorated Jim’s or Denny’s.

Tommy Moore’s is a southern-​style home cooking restaurant (not soul food as many may think… and yes, there is a difference). Hours are Monday — Saturday, 7:30 A.M. — 3:00 P.M. They are located in a historically African American area of the community, in a building that used to be a Church’s Chicken training location. Mr. Moore actually worked at that specific location of the chain in his youth. The walls are covered with snippets of eastside history and memorabilia. Lots of really neat facts to discover if you aren’t familiar with the area.
This place has great food when they’re on, still okay when they’re not. The fried fish and fried chicken are the stars of the menu that stay pretty consistently good, although the meatloaf is also very tasty. Sides are rotating, so there are usually about 10 things you can choose from, but they may not be the same each time. Everything I’ve tried as far as sides goes has been good, but isn’t guaranteed to be the exactly same each and every time, much like my home cooking. The cornbread is just okay, which is only a little let down because it’s such a staple to southern meals.
Service can range a bit from good to great, and does suffer if there are any large groups dining in. Dine in portions are much more generous than take out (which is typical), but can be significantly smaller if you go earlier– seems like later in the day they worry less about running out of food and get more generous. Daily specials are a really good value, which would dictate why they do such good lunch business with folks heading over from downtown. Monthly brunch buffets with varying selections/​themes are offered the first Saturday of each month.