Pokeworks — Restaurant in Oviedo

My wife and I dined here a few times when it first opened. The food was great but often times there were some items on the menu that were unavailable. Lotus chips and garlic spam musubi are always hit or miss here and we had grown accustomed to this. But these experiences were dine-in so it was easy to order or settle for something else. The last two times we’ve ordered here were for pick-up as a result of the pandemic as we can’t order delivery as we’re too far away. Its always been a treat for us and took advantage of eating here when we were in the area. The orders were done via their app. On one of the orders, we discovered that although we ordered lotus chips in our bowls, we had none upon opening them at home. It was disappointing but it just reminded me that it was always hit or miss on this item. So we didn’t bother to call to complain. I was just surprised that they didn’t have the courtesy of at least letting us know that they were out when we ordered it because they called us to verify the type of dressing we wanted in each bowl. For our last order, we were on the way back from the beach when my wife placed the order on their app. We stopped by and she went in to pick up the order while I stayed out in the car with my infant son. She came out with a sealed bag which is probably the new protocol during these trying times and she never once thought of looking inside. We get home, set the table and open up the bag. Instead of 3 bowls, we get 2 (the 3rd was intended for my Mom). I didn’t take it too well and my first instinct was to blame my wife for not checking the contents of the bag before leaving. I almost immediately regret feeling and acting this way. Dinner plans in my eyes were ruined and she and I lost our appetites over the argument. After cooling down a bit, I called the Oviedo store and explained what had happened. They apologized and explained that they were swamped which contributed to the mistake. There was some confusion as to how they could make this right. They kept assuming we used a delivery service like Uber eats. I just wanted a credit for the bowl since I was so far away and didn’t know when I would be in the area again. They tried offering me free dessert or something else if I went there to pick it up and they just weren’t getting it. I finally got “Spencer” on the phone who promised to reach out to his GM because since the transaction was done on the Pokeworks app, only the GM would be able to sort it out. The staff was always professional but just seemed to have their hands tied in this particular situation. He assured me that I would hear from his GM the next day. The following day while at work, I received a voicemail from “John” stating that I would see a credit for the bowl and that if I didn’t see a credit by the end of the week, that I should call back (but left no direct number to contact him). I waited a week and even checked with my wife to see if perhaps they issued a credit via the app and not directly to the credit card, but there was nothing. I called a couple of times and just missed Spencer and with no direct number for John, I had to explain the whole story again to “Samantha”. She was very professional and apologetic and promised I would hear from someone the following day. 3 days have past so here I am in my hotel room (I’m away a lot) at 1am writing this review in the hopes that I just put this whole experience behind me once and for all. I’ve given up on the idea that Pokeworks understands Customer Service Recovery. Hopefully no one else has to go through this. With so many new food options you would think that we as Customers shouldn’t have to worry about making sure all of the ordered items are in the bag. That’s specifically why we order via an app. You hope that it eliminates the possibility of miscommunication and something like this STILL happens. It’s all about the details. Hope no one else goes through this. Time for my wife and I to go out of our way once again to find a new Poké place that will put a smile on...

Let me start with the one positive thing here, the food. The poke is fresh and the quality is great. Unfortunately that is where the good stops for me.

I have tried numerous times to order food through the mobile app and it has more bugs than an ant farm.

My experience tonight was less than enjoyable to say the least. It started with the errors and app crashing for the start of my mobile order and the pain unfortunately did not end there. I placed my order for my poke bowl and left a note in the instructions for a few extra sauces on the side and to put heavy sauce on the bowl. While this should be a very simple request this caused such a commotion when picking up my order.

I requested as follows, HEAVY SAUCE, SAUCE ON THE SIDE, and I also paid the extra $0.75 for the extra sauce on the side. I also put in my special request " go heavy with the sauce on the bowl and 2-3 sauces on the side. "

The reason being is that on several occasions when ordering online they tend to be very light with the sauces, so I have tried and tried to figure out how on earth they will give more.

While this has been frustrating for the past few visits I continue to order from Pokeworks, unfortunately the interaction I had with the staff today will likely cause my visit tonight to be the last.

Here is what happened. I checked my order before leaving the restaurant and discovered that they did not prepare the food as I ordered. I received a bowl with No sauce on it and 1 sauce on the side for that bowl, which is not at all what I ordered or paid for. The person working there said if I wanted more sauce I would have to pay for it. So once again I paid an additional $0.75 for 1 more sauce. I told here that she didn't dress the bowl and she said I can use the sauce I bought for that. The employee made no effort to listen or understand the error made with my order or any attempt to fix it.

Customer service score - 0

Times are tough right now for restaurants, unfortunately they will not be getting any more...

I really liked eating here with my partner, but the last two times we’ve eaten here has been rough. We place our orders before 8:15, tip 20% or more, and are kind when we pick up the food but the employees there have been so rude. When the owner is in, he’s really sweet so it’s upsetting to write this review. We have always asked for the spicy salmon to be cut in smaller pieces since my partner has ARFID and the owner said it was and never will be an issue, just ask for it. The second to last time we were there, employees gave us attitude for picking up our food to go around 8:30pm, even though they close at 9 (I understand, I’ve been working in restaurants for almost ten years now but that’s why we place the order an hour before close and we pick it up 30 minutes before doors lock, never eating inside), employees said they couldn’t cut it smaller and gave a lot of attitude about it. We told them the owner said they would cut it smaller if asked, and immediately the response changed to “okay”.

We haven’t eaten there in almost two months because of the incident, but tried again tonight and I asked for the spicy salmon to be cut smaller. They didn’t cut it smaller, and they gave grey pieces of salmon in the bowl which makes it inedible, we’ll be looking out for food poisoning and contacting the health department. My partner has ARFID and we paid almost $50 for two bowls including tip, this isn’t fair to them because now they’re too skeeved out to eat tonight, and we definitely won’t be back unless we’re getting service from the owner/franchise owner.

Not to mention we paid double avocado and they just put an entire avocado in the bowl, we had to cut it up ourselves. It’s really sad because the owner seems to be trying his best since the place isn’t busy, but his employees are costing him major money. Other reviews pretty much...