Wok's Up — Restaurant in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

My first time into Wok's Up was both inspiring and disappointing. The food was outstanding! It has been outstanding on two of my subsequent trips, as well. On this last trip, however, I left without ordering. The disappointment I felt on every trip was that they are perpetually out of certain menu items (peanuts, chinese cabbage, and pork) and in fact have never yet had them. Apparently they are having issues with their supplier and cannot get these items for some indefinite period of time. While understandable (to a degree), they have neither changed the menu, which is printed on plain white letter size paper (there is no menu board on the wall or anything) and is not costly--it appears to be simply a Word document--nor have they been bothered to post a sign by the register informing customers of the shortage. The employees are not apologetic about it, either. One man in particular, whose name I do not know, just looks at me blankly and says "We don't have that" in a flat, expressionless voice. I did ask to speak to a manager on my 3rd trip to the restaurant, who was somewhat--I repeat, somewhat--apologetic and explained the shortage to me. I have to say that a little customer service would go a long way with me, and I feel that it would with others, as well. They should at least post a sign on the front of the register, and should train employees to try to act like they care even just a little bit about the experience customers have there. Really, with the situation being as it is, they should just print new menus since they obviously have so little money invested in the document. I think this place has so much potential and really great tasting food--if it was any less than fantastic, I wouldn't have kept trying it so many times--but I fear that if many other customers leave this place feeling as I have about interactions with the staff, they are destined for failure, which is a terrible shame, since Wok's Up could very well be a model for fast, fresh, healthy Chinese style cuisine. If these guys had the customer service that I have experienced at, say, Groove Burger next door, I would eat here a LOT, in spite of chronic menu shortcomings. FYI, the reason I left this last time in was because they were out of dumplings as well as the other items, and the same guy I mentioned earlier did the same old thing, which is beginning to really grate on my nerves now, and I had kind of had my heart set on dumplings anyway, so the decision was easy. I will probably try it one more time at some point in the near future, and if my experience with the people is not any better, it will be...

I'm a fan and I went today for the first time.

I was happy with the concept of building your own dish from different rices/noodles, sauces, vegetables, and proteins. Everything was cooked properly, and care was taken in the presentation. For the price (which is great, by the way), you're given a decent sized portion that most people wouldn't be able to eat in one sitting, so be ready to take it to go.

A few flaws, which don't ruin it at all.

-They need to find a way to add tofu to the menu. Vegetarian options are important for any Asian-esque restaurant. If that isn't possible, allowing a substitution for proteins for extra veggies would be smart.

-The fried rice I had was a little underwhelming in terms of flavor. This was easily remedied with YumYum sauce, which is the typical yellow sauce in this type of cuisine. I just feel like rice shouldn't be a throw away and add condiments to make it edible thing. If you're going to season it, season it. Can't fault them too much as most places are guilty of this.

Place was out of pork when I went. Luckily, the steak was more than enough to make up for it.

-You have this wonderful restaurant with great food, but no viewable menu. I had to wait until I was at the register to grab a menu to even know what there was. They have a ton of real estate to do it too. It was almost notably missing. I wonder if one is in the works?

All in all, a great job with a few kinks to work out. I will be returning and probably many times.

Update: A return on Jan 31st earns a promotion to 5 stars. It's almost like they read my review. Still no overheard menu, but menus are available before the pay counter now. Rice was flavorful on its own this time, and the steak was fantastic.

Place was still out of pork, but that's not enough to overcome the positive qualities and continue to dock them a...

UPDATE* Ever since Lin left, the quality has declined. The water in the drink dispenser especially you can tell hasn't been cleaned properly, as the after taste tastes like soil. (Its definitely mold from improper cleaning) I've been in the restaurant industry for over 10 years to know what a dirty drink dispenser tastes like.

I initially went and spoke kindly to the newer lady in front to let her know about the water, and she replied it's always tasted like this. I said that we've been here for Months, longer than she has been employed here, and it NEVER tasted like this until Lin left. He was always cleaning, serving, and helping everyone, and the water always tasted fresh.

I wasnt even going to make a new review, especially if it gets fixed. Things happen. But Simply from the negligent response about the water, unfortunately my family will no longer be coming here, as we noticed a decline in quality since Lin left, and dirty water can bring health issues if not managed/cleaned properly. It's a shame cuz this was one of our family's favorite places.

This place is THE BEST spot for a healthier fresh option for stir fry and fried rice. We LOVE the food Here, and Lin always makes us feel welcome and comfortable when we are here. He remembered us after only coming ONCE!

We come everytime we are in Athens, and I will go out of my way to eat here.

The amount of food for the price is GREAT as well! Very helpful for our big family. Our kids over it here too!

Don't listen to the negative comments, we've been here easily over 20 times and have never had a bad experience. Their customer service AND food quality and taste are...