Halo Hawaiian BBQ & Poke Bar — Restaurant in Arlington

I have never in my life been treated the way the employee at Halo Hawaiian BBQ & Poke Bar in Arlington treats humans. Let me start by painting a picture of the scenario... my mother and I drove 25 minutes with my baby and discovered a very empty restaurant. As I got my baby out of the car, I had my mom run in to ask if they allowed seating inside, like they usually do. The boy at the counter just said, "No." We decided since we were already there, we would take them to go and find another place to eat. We walked inside and were immediately stopped by a sign 20 feet from the counter that says to wait. I had my mask fully on and my mom was digging hers out of her purse because she had been pushing the stroller. As she was looking for it, the boy says, "Put on your mask!" She replies that she's getting it. The restaurant and entire atmosphere was already super uncomfortable and strange with no seating, no music, no other people in sight, and plexi glass from counter to wall to ceiling. There was even a glass box where you had to put your money and have them open another door on their side to grab it. This was the most extreme establishment I've seen and I've dined in and picked up from over 100 places throughout Texas, Ohio, and New Orleans since March. After he "allowed" us to approach the counter (still never greeted) we placed an order for 2 poke bowls and my mom paid with cash. He took her cash through his plexi glass door with his plastic glove, gave her change, and then walked to the poke ingredients to start making our bowls... using the same glove to pick up the lettuce. My mom then pointed out that he never changed his glove after touching the money and this is where his attitude started to escalate drastically. He said we were wrong and started lifting boxes of gloves up, like that proves anything. My mom's mask had fallen below her nose at this point so he switched the scenario to telling her she better pull it up or he won't continue making her bowl. I had enough at this point and said, "Just give us our money back." He threw the bowls down and started waving and saying, "Bye!" over and over again. I pulled my mask down to speak sternly about getting our money back, which he was avoiding by immaturely and unprofessionally waving us off. He then said we will not get our money back until I put my mask back on and he continuously kept making the "talking" gesture with his hands while mocking me. Another woman employee walked in from the kitchen and I said, "Ma'am, we would just like to get our money back, can you please help us with this?" She quickly turned around and ignored me completely. Finally, an older woman entered from the kitchen and silently asked the boy to return our money without speaking to us at all. He then opened the plexi glass door and threw it at us... coins and all. As we picked up our money to leave, he kept screaming that we were inconsiderate idiots over and over, louder and louder, until the older woman had to push him into the kitchen. This was not really the lunch experience I wanted to have with my mom and my 10 month old little girl. On the way out, another gentleman was entering and he left as soon as we told him what happened. There was absolutely no reason for a situation like this to take place and no customer should ever be treated the way he treats people. It's quite obvious he has an attitude in his everyday life. This employee should be terminated and this business should not be open if they're that petrified of people and COVID. Luckily, we went back to a place we've enjoyed often times before, Ahi Poke Bowl, which had an inviting atmosphere, plenty of customers, friendly employees, and...

I do not recommend this restaurant. As much as I enjoyed coming here, I’ve decided to stop. Including my friends and family. Coming from Oahu, I was really excited to eat some meals that I had back home. But to be completely honest, it’s nothing like it. If you want a quality experience and food, I’d say it is worth the drive to L&L in Plano. Because not only is the food mediocre, the service is quite terrible. The cooks in the back are friendly, but the people that they’ve hired especially the girl with black hair and glasses need to be evaluate or fired. First off the poke bar is far from sanitary and if health inspectors came in there, I’d assure you they’d find something. Because I legitimately felt horrible after eating the poke and I never have before. The girl I was talking about was being really rude, and not even really saying anything but just acting rude and making degrading faces at me. She was also handling the food in a weird way and when she dropped my salmon on the counter, she proceeded to put it in my bowl. She just made me feel stupid when I was putting in my order, and she’s done this several times. I get that it’s hard to hear through a huge border between us due to covid, and mask included but it isn’t my fault. I have seen several people have problems with her, and I think this needs to be addressed. I would come back if they worked on their shop more, the food isn’t terrible. I’m sure if the service changed and the space felt more inviting, it would be...

My new favorite place for lunch and dinner: I usually get a grilled Spam musubi (or two) to go along with my grilled Spam saimin. The saimin is the closest to what I get when I go to Hawaii, complete with fish cake, dashi konbu (kelp), along with some dried fish flakes as a topping. The noodles are purported to be Hawaiian, and definitely taste like and have the texture of the Sun noodles that I've eaten in Hawaii. The broth is a little chickeny and a little shrimpy, definitely flavorful. The serving is rather large, and I get two meals from one bowl, though my husband usually finishes his bowl in one sitting. Another bonus: the saimin comes in a reusable, lidded plastic microwaveable bowl.

The grilled Spam musubi is good, though I am unaccustomed to having the nori still a bit crunchy when I get the musubi. The Spam has a light teriyaki glaze when grilled and it flavors the rice in the musubi.

My husband likes to get the loco moko, and he appears to enjoy the 2 grilled beef patties atop the two scoops of white rice, crowned with two fried eggs, and topped with brown gravy. He's an intrepid eater and can finish the entire thing in one sitting.

The food is prepared when it's ordered, so if you're looking for fast food, look elsewhere. What you WILL get is freshly prepared, flavorful food, reminiscent of what you can find in Hawaii. I DEFINITELY recommend Halo...