moonbowls (Healthy Korean Bowls- SOMA) — Restaurant in San Francisco

The food is good if not great. I go for the discounts because I go to literal fast food places since I’m broke like a lot of people. Um, in case you haven’t been to moonbowls, they operate out of ghost kitchens I think. Which means there’s not gonna be a place to sit or whatever. At this location, it’s gonna take a while for the orders to come out since people don’t even get tips. Which is messed up since the people working for food delivery apps don’t get much tips either (even though the broke mofos ordering food might actually be able to tip, or at least give people cash tips). I go to moonbowls for the discounts, since I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth, but buy one get one discounts aren’t really all that good for the workers. They’re basically having to work twice as hard for maybe less tips, and it’s the managers that decide that. At this point, I might just bring diy tip jars, and place it at the desks just so people will place tips. I don’t think it will, but some people might tip out of guilt. That’s kind of the double edged sword with ghost kitchens: people can pay at a tablet and feel less bad about not tipping. But when someone is standing right in front of them, and can see that they’re not gonna tip, then I feel like that guilts people into doing the right thing since it really is about economic justice. I’d give people an envelope with money in it, but I don’t want people to think I’m paying them for anything sketchy and get them into trouble. You would think that they get paid more because it’s a ghost kitchen, but I don’t think upper management even visits these places or even understand what it’s like to work a short shift at a ghost kitchen. More about the food now. It’s a western Korean fusion, I would imagine. So you’re not gonna get Korean food that you would get at a family run business white-people-who-go-to-the-mall. There’s nothing wrong with Panda Express or P.F. Chang’s, but you don’t see those places in China town for a reason right? Exactly. So think about moonbowls in the same way. It’s a double edged sword: why aren’t you supporting small family owned Korean businesses or going to Korean churches when they do a church sale like in that “Kim’s convenience” tv show episode (which is based on a play, and no one is paying me to say that, but you don’t have to believe me). If you want culture, you’re not gonna get that from a ghost kitchen. Someone should have told the moonbowl owners. Don’t make a trip way out of your way to go to this location unless you have a folding chair to sit in, because you’re gonna wait for a while and that’s not the workers’ fault. I don’t mind waiting, but if you’re in a rush, you might as well check out somewhere else nearby. Or guess what, you could order something cheap literally right across the street (tip well) and then pick up your order when it’s ready. I don’t have the monies to place large orders, but if you’re ordering for an entire office full of people, it’s probably gonna be ready in an hour or longer, I don’t know. A lot of people flip out about having to eat at their literal desks I guess, so people at ghost kitchens are not really gonna tell people, “hey, your order is gonna take way longer than you think,” so plan ahead people-who-have-break-rooms-and-other-luxuries. That’s kind of the whole point of a ghost kitchen: there’s not really gonna be a place to chill. It’s a place to pick up yo food and leave, which is a bit bleak, but there’s ways to make the most of a sh*tty situation (until workers have more rights and we transition to a “gift economy” like the kinds that Jackson cooperative is working on and Robin k. author of “braiding sweet grass” talks about in a certain chapter). Maybe find a moonbowls where a park is close by. Why are you in such a rush? Anyways, you can get foods according to your food sensitivies and food allergies (they are not the same) so that’s a benefit. But this ain’t some place that’s been around for decades. If you wanna actually find a place that’s been around for decades, shop...

I ordered for pick up, and the wait time was estimated to be 20 minutes. I biked to the location, where it appeared to be a ghost kitchen. I was able to get my meal from a locker not even 10 minutes after placing my order. So first pro, it was fast. The taste of the vegetables were really great, the noodles were good (a little bland but probably because they weren’t doused in sodium or overly sauced which is good if you’re looking for a healthier noodle option I suppose). Kimchi was also good and I’m picky about my kimchi. Con to it being fast, quality of ingredients and preparation was subpar. The tofu looks good in the picture but in person it wasn’t as vibrant as the picture makes it appear to be. Instead it was shriveled, hard, and looked like it was overly baked and had no flavor. The bowl was cold, so even though the taste of some of the other ingredients were good, it felt like I was missing something. When I finished my bowl I lacked the satiety you feel after having a good meal. So 3/5 because the tofu together with the coldness of the other ingredients just gave me a weird feeling and for the price I was pretty unsatisfied. Maybe if there was a store front where I feel like I’d be getting a more freshly made meal with fresh hot ingredients I’d try again.

Edit: 3.5 stars but Google only allows single stars so I'll leave it at 4 for now. I'm changing the rating because they are proactive about reaching out/responding. So maybe in the future...if I try it again I'll...

Imagine spending thousands of dollars on a massive order from this ghost kitchen for staff lunches… and the manager has the audacity to verbally attack my lovely coworker for picking up the order in a Prius/asking if the staff could help bring the literal dozens of to-go bags to her car. Seriously. This manager stood by her car to watch and berate my colleague. He called it unacceptable, “my staff worked hard to make those bowls beautiful and you’re just tossing them into your car. Why didn’t you bring a bigger car, why didn’t you bring more people to help load,”

My colleague does this for a living. She knows how to pack her car to the gills while still ensuring the food doesn’t get thrown around in transit. And she still maintained professionalism when the manager continued his power trip and demanded to know who she worked for. Maybe he wants to blacklist us from ever ordering from them again, but trust and believe that you don’t need to worry - we certainly won’t order from here again. Happy to share that the bowls arrived safely without any issues.

Zero stars for the shitty manager working yesterday 10/6/25. I give a star for the lovely counter staff and another star for the tasty bowls (though the...