Poke Bar — Restaurant in Berkeley

I'm not a broke college student but when I go to Durant St. I automatically switch on my broke-college-student-thinking cap and look for the next best-affordable-cheap meal. Since poke bowls are on the rise in food fads a few have popped up after sushrittos done their number.

Poke Bar is one of a few poke bowl places that set up shop near the Berkeley campus and I was excited how they would do compared to other poke bowl places nearby.

It's like other poke bowl places where you stand in line and fill-out your choice or you can tell them yourself once you're up at the counter. There are three different sizes: small, medium and large. I chose large for my appetite and my motto when trying a place "Go big, or go home". My friend also went with me and she bought a medium.

Well as I was going through all of this I watched as my poke bowl creator delicately assembly my bowl. The protein portion part was one I looked closely and with that they did a great job not skimping on the rice to protein ration. It was at the end where my excitement for this place plateaued and quickly descended. The girl was light on the sauce, which I didn't mind and when it came to the crunchy toppings she pointed it out we can put it on ourselves. . . which was by the cash register.

The toppings by the cash register is almost equivalent like the cashier giving you cash and you putting it in your wallet. There is a small anxiety where you have to hustle for the next person to be served. Oh! Then when I asked for more of the spicy mayo sauce, the girl gave me a small squirt. GDHTHJRHTJGHJTR!!! Thought that was frustrating and then I looked at what my $14 bought. . . . it was a large bowl with what looked like the same amount as a medium size bowl. It wasn't filled to the top. . . .T___T

I could have saved myself a few bucks to get the same amount as a medium bowl. My friend had a different person and she assembled my friend's bowl like she was a college student, some extra loving. I was not given the same amount of love. The bowl didn't even taste special, nothing really stood out in flavor or texture.

This place is found convinently with other eateries around so you do have other options. If you're craving poke bowls I would venture to downtown or even off of Telegraph but this place amongst others isn't for a college-student-friendly budget. . . . unless you get the small. Still, I wouldn't come back here, you can get a lot further with your buck somewhere else. Happy...

I've enjoyed getting lunch here once a week for a few years. I was disappointed to see the arrival of touchscreen ordering recently, and even more disappointed to see it go to touchscreen only in tandem with higher prices today. The first time, I saw a customer spend several minutes making their order, nearly the entire time it took me to fill out a paper form and have my bowl prepared; a large line formed behind them. The second time, there was no paper option; the customer behind me gave up in frustration after a little while at the screen and left, and the staff could not even be bothered to call my name when my order was ready, resulting in yet another place with absolutely zero human interaction involved in the experience. This does not make me want to frequent any place. Please bring back the paper forms and consider lowering your prices; $20+ for a medium bowl...

NOT allergen safe. Beware that if you have an issue with a delivery order, it’s impossible to get in touch with them for help. I specifically asked for no mayo, stating clearly that I have severe allergies to Eggs, Dairy, & Nuts. I did not order anything in my poke bowl that would, to my knowledge, contain mayonnaise. Yet 1/3 of my rice was soaked in some sort of mayonnaise sauce, and I ate a couple bites of it before realizing! Now, I’m having an allergic reaction to my food, and Poke Bar’s phone number is out of service so I can’t get help! I called a different location in my area, number disconnected. Finally a location in my state picked up and tried to help. Issue...