507 Poke Bowl — Restaurant in Mankato

*Edit: Additional star added for restaurant thoroughly responding to this review. They care! But they're still wrong about comparative pricing (I'm a professional procurement/sourcing manager).

Upper quality poke, fair service, irritating pricing.

Let's get the negative out of the way so I can talk about the food. I've been here four times now and had matching experiences each time, however it's advisable to avoid the noon hour. 1. Parking is atrocious. You can find a spot if you wait a few minutes, but the draw here is too high for parking planners. 2. The menu pricing is overreaching for our region. $7 for a bubble/boba tea? $15+ for per bowl plus add-on's? If you're seated, unlike other poke bowl restaurants, you get the full server experience and that means a tip. $2.50 for a soft drink is pretty standard, but refills will cost extra. Expect to drop $20 minimum per person. If you wait and go to a Twin Cities poke restaurant, you'll save money. 3. Service is fair. The female server does a pretty good job noticing people, but the two male servers were oblivious each time.

The food. As an avid Japanese and Hawaiian food lover who's had very high-end sashimi and great maki, nigiri, and temaki, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of ingredients at 507 Poke. Mango was ripe, veggies were crisp and fresh, and most of the fish was recent, although my last experience with the tuna was a bit disappointing as you could tell it had aged. As long as they keep up their quality control, I'd expect to have a continually fresh experience. Portions were good and the rice was top notch. The sushi burritos were alright, but they could use a bit more creativity there as the rolls my friends and I traded tended to taste alike.

Again, if they dropped their prices by a buck or two, this place would...

No food at this restaurant is Hawaiian as it states when you Google it. No siamin, no haupia, no musubi. These are Hawaiian food stamples. Poke that looks like cat food. I know a place in Iowa that has Ahi flown in from Honolulu fresh. It can be done. The ahi & salmon here are frozen at this place. You can get fresh salmon at grocery stores but this place cant get it to make poke!?! I did try to go in a few times. All I wanted was some food from home so bad. When you are from Hawai'i, all you want is food from home. I'm born & raised on the Big Island of Hawai'i. The restaurant was opened by someone whose been to Hawai'i a couple of times & because there isn't a poke a place around they opened one. We have a word for people like this that starts with an H but I dont want to be called racist so I'm refraining. The food is more Japanese then anything. People in Minnesota think it's great because they don't know what real poke & Hawaiian food tastes like. It's difficult for islanders like myself to want to eat here. I've spoken to many of my ohana, hani ohana, & local transplants who feel the same as myself. I did start to second guess myself because of all the negative comments but after speaking to my ohana & transplants, I stand my ground. They feel the same way.

I'm sorry you don't like my critique. It's honest. When the people who work there can't even pronounce poke correctly, it's...

My wife loves their ramen so I called in and ordered her a bowl and a side of white rice. I was told 5-10 minutes arrived 5 minutes after ordering and paid. I was told a few more minutes while they finished.. 35 minutes later server comes and asked if she could help me. I responded that I was waiting on my call in order (looking surprised) she asked for my name on the order. I gave it and then 3 people from the back come out. Ok just a few more minutes and we will get it to you I was told. 10 more minutes go by and my bag is brought out, no explanation of why it was so late and no apologies. I’m thinking they gave my order to someone else. Again food is good according to my wife but service tonight was as bad as it gets! Simple apologies and explanations go a long way! At least I got 45 Minutes of straw sward-fighting play in with...