Big Island Bowls — Restaurant in Newberry

I try to eat healthy and my brother and I were looking for something for him (omnivore) and me (vegan) to eat and this seemed like a good option. The place was kind of empty and we asked the young lady behind the counter for some additional information about a couple of the menu items and it was really hard to hear her replies because she is very soft-spoken and (yay!) wearing a mask. We ended up ordering a couple bowls and I also ordered a smoothie. We seated ourselves and someone brought out our bowls. They were okay -- not the best or the worst bowls we've ever eaten -- and when we finished, I went up front to inquire about my pending smoothie. When the cashier appeared, I asked how my smoothie was coming. She quietly responded and I apologized, saying that I couldn't hear her. She quietly responded again and I leaned in and repeated that I couldn't hear her. She seemed to be upset at my inability to hear her and shot back, "It'll be ready in two minutes." Two minutes later, she set a smoothie and straw on the counter and I wasn't sure if it was mine or for the guy waiting at a nearby table, so I asked if it was mine and she nodded. Uh, okay. I took it to my car and, sitting down, realized that the lid didn't fit the cup at all and the smoothie was dripping down the side. I tried a little of it, but tired of cleaning smoothie off my hands and shirt and pants, so I set it on a table out front and left. Fortunately, there are many more places available for me to...

Big Island Bowls offers a nontraditional take on a pokebowl, but not necessarily in a good way. Unlike other pokebowl restaurants, Big Island Bowls does not make your meal in front of you to your specifications (i.e., in the style of a Subway). Bowls are made through your choice of a limited selection of options. This departure from the traditional formula seems to have created an issue with efficiency in the restaurant with my wait time at lunch being roughly 30- 40 minutes, whereas my experience with other pokebowl restaurants taking about 10 minutes. Their food preparation also alters the formula, with the rice being hot and some of the vegetables (mainly the cucumbers) being cut way too large. With all my complaints being addressed, I did enjoy the flavors and freshness of the pokebowl. I was especially happy with their generous helpings of avacado. All the flavors in my teriyaki bowl blended together nicely with a taste on par with most pokebowl restaurants. In summary, Big Island Bowls offers a fresh and ultimately tasty meal. Unfortunately, the experience of the wait time, the inattentiveness of the staff, and the strange food preparation choices retracts from the overall experience. Big Island Bowls has the potential to be a 4 or 5 star restaurant, but is lacking in the fine details that separate a good restaurant from...

I would not recommend eating here at all. First of all the food is way over priced. $60 for a family of 4 without drinks just take out. They pay using square where the ipad they give you to sign is covered in food. Second they rang us up wrong and charged us for Tuna bowls instead of chicken bowls, when they went on to say "I didnt know there was a difference" so who know how many people they over charged. They didnt know how to issue the refund and had to call their manager (who was at home). When waiting for the 4 bowls to be made there were two breaks taken by the employees to review their text / social media on their phones when one proceeded to say "they can only get a 32 passenger bus" (which sounded like a party bus). Finally getting the food the rice was way undercooked and the chicken was dry to the bone. How do you under cook rice when you have a rice cooker?! I called to speak to a manager no response. I left a message, no call back, I left a comment on the Square transaction no call back. So yeah please feel free to patron at...