Poke Bowl — Restaurant in Austin

(review contains reply to their response as well)

I have come to this location on THREE separate occasions across not only SEVERAL different months, but different days & TIMES of day

every time I come in attempts of using the deal they provide through Zupp (app for college students to get local deals)

yet every single time without fail they tell me they can not serve me because they do not have the proteins required for the coupon!

once I went around 3pm on a friday & they loosely told me they don’t serve the proteins on certain days, also went another time at night (3 hours to close) a few weeks ago & was told that they would not be cooking any more of the proteins for the rest of the night so they could once again not serve the deal

it’s honestly ridiculous to have certain proteins limited to certain times of day, certain weekdays in general, or just flat out stop cooking well before close…

they should better advertise that certain proteins are time limited & communicate with Zupp as well if they’re going to be misleading & waste students time going to a location that will not provide service for the deal they agreed to provide (Zupp is an OPTIONAL partnership, they choose what deals to provide, other business are specific about times & days certain deals can be redeemed; ie BOGO burgers mondays & wednesdays 10-3pm)

EDIT: responding to their reply saying they don’t even know Zupp or have cooked proteins, I’ve attached photos of the Zupp deals clearly showing the correct address & name to this establishment, once again Zupp is an optional partnership & I’ve never been told they are not affiliated with Zupp & can’t provide the deals/ coupons, only that they don’t have the proteins for whatever reason! I remember once a worker told me if anything she could give me a 10% discount instead of the offered 50% discount from one of the two deals, so they are obviously aware of the app, pretending to not even know when they had to set up a profile & set up deals on the app is insane to me omg, just tell Zupp to pull the business from the app if you don’t want to offer...

I don't ever like to write bad reviews but I had to for this one. This business and it's manager are so wrong and unprofessional for unsanitary and unsafe service. The establishment is firstly in sever neglect of basic cleaning and is still adorning decor from season past where you a visibly see the layers of dust and grime accumulated over the serving area. There's a filthy fish tank omitting a offensive order. And while the young man serving myself and my companion was very polite and understanding the manager who I spoke with over the phone because they wanted to protest my request for a refund after we found human hairs in our food. We only got a couple bites in before horrificly pulling the hairs out of our bowls. The young man said he didn't know how to refund so he called his boss who had him on the phone for 20 muinets before demanding to speak to me directly. I took the kids phone and the manager immediately starts to apologize saying it has only ever happened a couple times before. But would refund one of The orders. When we told him there were two instances he became angry and refused to accept it. After going back and forth he demanded I put his employee back on the phone. He shouted at his employee and demanded he himself pay for the meal he did yell at him some more and then hung up. At this point the poor young man was visibly upset and I did feel bad for him. But we did not even eat close to half a meal and we're on the verge of being sick standing there in the restaurant. And we still did not receive a refund. But I do believe this establishment needs to be visited and inspected. The food is raw not...

This is a great place. I read many of the 1 star reviews - most of them related to price, atmosphere, friendliness, maybe related to fresh fish or not.

Honestly, if you are ever running a restaurant , it is very very dificult.

The prices are not meant to be cheap. This isnt Applebees or Chilis - this is specialized Pacific Island food. And they are generous in their portions. And the taste is consistent in quality - my girfriend go here often as we can . We love it.

The atmosphere is nice - its not over the top, but it has character , and is a good "date spot" Its often very clean sometimes previous guests dont wipe down - so I dont feel its proper to complain because you see a few rice spots on a table. Just wipe it off. People need to lighten up.

These friendliness isnt over the top, but they are direct and get the job done well. They seem like they work long hours so I never really worry if I felt welcomed. This isnt a church peoples. Its not even a server based restaurant they have just a minute of conversation with you. Personality within a minute along with long hours for these workers is understandable. They do well - plus it appears some of the workers primary language isnt english. So it makes sense. I would not talk french, in France, if its my second language, I would be sparing as well, so I sound brief and professional. Being friendly really would be exhausting and daunting. People just need to chill and appreciate the small things .

Im not a fish conniseur however the fish Ive tasted was always surpisingly filling and enjoyable. 5 stars Pokebowl! ...