POKE CAFE — Restaurant in Charlotte

Poke Bowl is wonderful for a fast, fresh, and healthy bite to eat. So many fresh choices to choose from whether you customize your bowl or if you order a "standard" choice.

I ordered a custom large bowl, because I'm picky. My base was the spring mix. For toppings, I added cucumbers, edamame, and avocado. For protein I added two scoops of salmon and one scoop of tofu. My sauce was cho gochujang. And I threw some crispy onion frizzles on top for good measure too. The gochujang was spicy and flavorful and brought all my selected ingredients together. The salmon was cubed evenly and you could tell how fresh it was. The tofu was light and absorbed all the deliciousness of the sauce.

The staff was friendly and helpful, for sure. Two or three employees were busy fulfilling what I assumed were online orders when I first arrived. They politely let me know they'd be right with me. And once someone was ready to help, they explained the options and choices. I picked seaweed salad as a topping, but my helper explained that that costs extra (even though it wasn't listed as such on the menu yet). Everything done with a helpful smile.

During the meal, the manager came out to check on everything. He visited each table, explaining that Poke Cafe is under me management and thanked each of us for coming for lunch today. He then gave each table an order of chicken dumplings (which were super tasty). He also mentioned that Poke Cafe has an expanded new menu, with treats styled as Korean street food as well as a make-your-own ramen station. All seemed like great ideas and are worthy of exploring during the next visit. Can't promise you'll get free food every time, but it's nice to see customer appreciation like this even once in a while!

The atmosphere was fine. A few cool decorations adorned the walls, including a nifty neon lettered sign. One TV was showing KPop music videos (although the music coming out of the ceiling speakers didn't match the videos). The chairs and tables were just okay. The chairs aren't easy to fit under the tables, especially when sitting on them. And along the wall, the seating felt cramped with 3 parties sitting back to back to back.

Overall, for a quick and fresh lunch, I highly recommend Poke Cafe! Fresh fish, tasty ingredients, and flavorful sauces....

We visited within a week of our coupon expiring. They denied use of the coupon, which is highly unusual and set a bad tone. The experience was miserable. When you spend $13 a plate at a fast food counter with bare tables, bare floors, cafeteria style service for what's billed as very fine fresh blue fin tuna, your expectations are higher. This is hole-in-the-wall high school cafeteria ambiance. To watch them fill a bowl is to hold your blood over a flame waiting for it to boil. They begin by nearly filling your bowl with rice. In my case, greens, leaving almost no room for anything else. Were I not with a guest, I'd have walked away before the process began. After the rice fills your bowl, they stingily, using the smallest size scoop imaginable, shaking out every piece extending beyond the scoop, and scraping off anything over the top ridge of the scoop, measure out the cheaper filler items and sprinkle them into the bowl. We ordered the large bowl, so what they pinch into your bowl is barely noticeable and adds no flavor or texture. Given the quality and freshness of the tuna, I cannot complain about the portion size of tuna, although you bet your life watching them stingily virtually counting each cube of tuna they put in your bowl, feel cheated. Hotels serve larger portions of high quality tuna poke in an upscale relaxing atmosphere for about $2.00 more. We didn't try every sauce, but their "special poke" sauce tastes like pure soy sauce: pure 100% regular sodium soy sauce. It was like removing the top of a salt shaker and inverting it over your bowl. The owners have no idea how important gracious service is. My guest, less critical than I, said she'd never return. It was unpleasant, run by people who behave as stingy and cheap, and too expensive to enjoy fine blue fin served in a high school...

This restaurant is under new management as of a week ago. Be ready to be up-charged for almost everything. This restaurant also only offers water bottles for purchase instead of free water cups.

The poke bowl consisted mostly of rice, and the toppings were served with a bartender’s mixing spoon, resulting in very small portions.

Once the very bubbly employee finished making my bowl, I asked for extra edamame since there was quite a lot of space left on the bowl, but I was told it would be an up-charge since she had finished making it, though the bowl was still behind the register.

The toppings were fresh and tasted great, but when we got down to the rice base, we noticed it was a bit dry and hard. We asked for extra Ponzu sauce and were told that it would be a 75¢ up-charge. The owner, who was sitting at a table, said he would allow for us to get an extra serving of Ponzu sauce for free.

The owner and employee were very nice, and the place was very clean and modern. However, the best word I have to describe the service is “stingy”.

Below are the items this restaurant up-charges for, which are not typically seen in a poke restaurant: -water (only bottled water available) -extra standard toppings -extra...