Poke Boba — Restaurant in Charles Town

HI! I felt compelled to write my first ever (needlessly thorough) review after visiting today. This. Place. Is. COOL. I think “cool” is the best word for it. The inside reminds me of the 2000s Frutiger Aero futurism mixed with the kawaii-core randomness from 2010, (complete w a kawaii pink creature our kids took a photo w, great place for a unique pic). im not explaining it very well haha-but its v unique & trendy looking w/ tons of natural light. The tall booths felt private while still leaving the room open & bright, a true feat! It was casual, but also a sitdown, which was a nice upscale twist (most boba places i see are“Panera-style”:order at the counter,get ur food,sit if u want) GREAT FOOD! Menu has many unique creations w multiple cultural influences, all noticeably yet gracefully blending Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, American, & other flavors & culinary traditions. All dishes, including boba, were aesthetic & vivid. Like All the boba, but Lavender was a v tasty option Ive never seen! We got our kids fries & popcorn chicken, expecting premade,frozen,moulded nuggets- Nope! unground, battered, crispy, delicate& menu-aly harmonious. the seasoning was the star: slightly sweet blend of spices-AMAZING. Even the adults were eating them! I had Ahi poke: good, fresh. My parents both got chicken poke, a choice I was a little wary of, expecting a clash of American fried chicken against pacific poke freshness, but it was a shockingly tastefully composed creation. the freshly cut crispy strips seemed hand-breaded w panko, recognizably reminiscent of Katsudon, an again, graceful & surprisingly genius way to marry both cultural influences into a memorable dish. Even the containers were awesomely unique. TBH it’s the main thing that made me want to write a review. The pokebowls came in…well..pokeballs! They were like clear spheres- So cool! coolest bowl ive ever gotten. Couldnt stop looking at it- loved it! Reminded me of a gotchapon ball, or a futuristic food bubble! & Doubled as a To-go box. I wanna go back just to get another poke-bubble! The boba cups were also high-quality, possibly reusable, & megacute. Mid lunch, I asked if I could have some water, & they gave me ANOTHER one of these cute cups, which was surprising& super nice of them. This brings me to my FAVORITE part of the visit: THE STAFF! They were SO nice. The employe (masculine adult w/ glasses I believe) who greeted us, without being asked, pulled over a stool for my dad on crutches; such a thoughtful gesture. In addition to the extra water cup (can u tell I liked the cups?Haha), as we were leaving (& not sure if this is typical, dont mean to create an expectation) the same lovely person brought over a box of plushy-keychains, & let our kids each take one! It was so kind, & the employee’s genuine smile as the children picked their treat was really touching- like they really were happy & cared about this. Made my day. Long story short: Nice inside. Good boba. Great food. Unique details. Incredible service. This is a truly nice restaurant that love has been put into. It’s clear they care about their craft, & the community, & you can taste it in...

I’m going to start this by sharing I was one of the folks SUPER excited for this restaurant to come to Charles Town. I spent two years living in Asia and boba with tapioca pearls is one of my favs. Plus, poke bowls are fun and a great healthy alternative to the many fast food places we have in town. Folks, I am not one to typically rant or focus on the negative but I’ve now had two disappointing experiences here and have yet to even try the food.

First, I placed an order online on April 21st only to discover the restaurant was closed due to a shortage or food. As far as I can tell my credit card was never charged and the owners likely didn’t anticipate the sheer volume of folks who wanted to try the restaurant, so ok — soft opening. I get there will be bumps. No worries.

Second, today I went to eat here for lunch with my son. The “Open” sign was lit and the door was unlocked so we walked in not thinking to check the time. Unfortunately, we walked in just before opening. We had no expectation of being served early. What we did expect was to be treated with courtesy, but we were not. The employee who “greeted” us at the door informed us the restaurant wasn’t open yet and were then very rudely asked to leave and return when the establishment opened. We were treated as if our being there was some sort of imposition when we had inadvertently walked in a few minutes early. Again, we would have totally understood we needed to wait. What I do not understand is a customer service establishment completely lacking in customer service. There is NO excuse for treating your customers poorly.

A better solution would have been to politely notify us the restaurant was opening soon and if we could just wait a few moments we would be helped shortly. Customer service is a zero stars, but rating a one star so Google will...

if i could rate 0 stars i would. theres so much i have to make a list: received a broken drink cup placed in an unbroken drink up. was spilling everywhere went back to ask for a new one. was not acknowledged at the counter despite the employees standing there for 5 minutes conversating, until i had to say something was refused a redo of the drink due to it losing 1/4 of the drink itself, because the cup was broken and spilling. this wasnt even my fault it was broken, it was theirs. they only offered to pour it in a new cup. ok. the new cup came back dirty. what?! requested a new cup, in which they came back once again with a cup "cleaned with soap & water" and finally, the boba tasted terrible. all this trouble for boba tea that tasted artifical, like watered down artifical sweetener type of tea

so yeah first time coming here in my life and the first time ive ever felt the genuine need to actually write a bad review of an establishment. if i could in the moment, as i was so pissed and disrespected, i would have burned the place down

ladies and gents it sucks because on the outside it does look like a cute and warm tea shop. which makes it even more disappointing as to why its staffed by the most disrespectful food service staff ive ever experienced. so im giving one star for atmosphere for only that reason

only go here if youre fully prepared to receive disappointment

not to mention spending 15 dollars on two of the worst bubble teas ive ever tasted. so bad it left me with a headache, and had to pour it out...