Poke Loulu — Restaurant in Burbank

I heard about Loulu from a local merchant so I took the postcard {discount coupon} in for the discount and to support local business. I brought my kids, we love poké and our hopes were up , but it proved to be a great disappointment and quite a bizarre experience.

We arrived and it seemed very clean and new. We looked at the menu, limited, no soba or noodle options, and there was only 1 person working there. But the basics of suburban poke were available.

No one greeted us. No " hello, welcome please have seat, will be right with you...."Nothing. Completely ignored. Not even a smile. It's was confusing, hard to determine if they were really in business.

A few small tables, but we assumed we had to order from the bar in the corner. Think of Baskin Robbins. There was a glass case with a quiet teenager behind it.

There were 5 women already in a line at the serving area. They were milling about. They were in uniform, possibly from a local beauty college?? Couldn't tell. They ordered one at a time. Each order took 5 to 10 minutes. We left after the 3rd order started, realizing that it would be quite a while until we could interact with the only employee.

We left after 10, 15 minutes of being ignored.

My children and I tried to get in line or put in an order but the employee would not recognize our existence. He seemed intensely nervous. I used to work in the food industry and it was evident that the young man had never really been trained or experienced in food handling.

This place is not a restaurant, but more an ice cream stand with tuna and rice involved. Again think donut stand or maybe food truck, but with just one employee.

Poke is a fad. We love it, but it's clearly not a food inspired by passion, but by profit.

Considering it's raw fish, I'm not that comfortable with a tasty freez level of comptentence. Service quality this low I really don't trust with for that needs careful handling

I tried to make eye contact with the sole employee or speak with him. He would not engage with us.

There was no one else in the store. Except the women and me and my young kids. I politely tried to ask if we could come back later, again the employee wouldn't make eye contact and in fact one of the patrons suggest I take my kids and leave. Maybe this women are regulars and didn't want other customers around.

That seemed bizarrely aggressive and the employee did not care. I said thanks and good bye

Really strange place. A gang of women, one employee not making eye contact and raw seafood of dubious origin and handling.

I won't be trying a...

Origianl Review: If you wanna buy a bowl of rice with essentially no fish to fill up on heres the spot you wanna go to. Service is fine. I called and asked a few questions and they were great at answering. I ordered door dash. What a disappointing dinner.

I never like leaving bad reviews like super rarely will I ever do that but this was atrocious.

I'm showing the BOWL OF RICE I got the fish was at the top but it was a super thin layer of it. like it was not brimming with ANYTHING. It's a BOWL OF RICE. FOR 18 DOLLARS. I hope you get your moneys worth from this scam until you last or rename yourselves. How ATROCIOUS.

Edit 1 Date: 11/18:

Super fast response! I applaud you for trying to reach out by review to defend this bowl of rice.

I don't think the point that I was trying to make came across properly. Let me clarify that by saying that the rice to fish ratio is SO off because I'm paying for a BOWL OF RICE essentially. I hope my photo show how much rice you're getting with that nice small layer of fish on top of it. While it may be the most pristine rice available that can be offerred from any other poke place (let me reiterate again just in case the point is coming across well) that the ratio of it to the fish was so SAD you might as well just be selling me RICE.

Again, just call it a rice bowl.

Edit Date: 11/19

I'm so glad you updated the list the ingredients used. Let me repeat just in case: FOUR proteins (double ahi tuna and salmon), crab, edamame, seaweed salad, furikake, masago, crispy onions, and garlic).

Now looking at that bowl and how much rice there is compared to how much should have been given for the rest of the ingredients it is super suspicious that more than half the bowl is rice. That bowl is 3/4's rice is what I've been trying to showcase this whole time. It's not a misinterpreation of your bowls.

Like you've said before you checked the camera and the bowl came in pristine condition. There was no tampering of fish or anything like that. The store is likely in the cleanest condition since it's so new. Let me repeat my only grievance with this whole thing: the ratio of rice to fish given. It was MORE RICE than fish or anything. It was a bowl of rice I was given.

I'm going to repeat this just in case my point isn't getting across: this is more a rice bowl than an actual poke bowl. You can show the top part of any photo. You can show how pretty the bowl made from the top view but when you take those parts out this is how much rice you're getting versus...

*Delayed post from May ‘25

Stopped in for a quick and easy to-go dinner around 8:30pm that did not disappoint. My visit lasted less than five minutes and the server/preparer was very kind. The location is very convenient for people in the area around McCambridge Park. It’s on the corner of a strip mall with a laundromat, car wash and dry cleaners. There’s plenty of indoor seating with paintings on the walls and all over the windows.

Food wise, I appreciate the customization of the poke bowls, with plenty of cold and tasty topping options to choose from. I ordered a small protein bowl with spicy tuna and shrimp. The shrimp had a good texture that wasn’t overcooked or rubbery, and came covered in a mayo sauce. The spicy tuna had a bite to it, which I appreciated since it can easily become mushy if not stored properly. The bowl also came with a scoop of crab meat, either regular or spicy, and you can choose your base of rice, mixed greens, or a mix of both. I love how many different sauces they offer as a topping, as well as fresh vegetables. To finish off the bowls, they also have sesame seeds and other crunchy options like peanuts and fried noodles. I recommend the ponzu sauce for a tangy, yet...