Poke Bros. — Restaurant in St. Charles

Beware the Poke Bros. location in St Charles

We've been coming to this place off and on since 2018 and never had a problem until tonight. Beware their stingy customer service. My experience tonight has me never wanting to return again.

We ordered two bowls. When I got home, one of them (my mother in law's) had bad salmon in it and she didn't eat more than one bite. The second one (mine) had spicy salmon and tasted ok at first, but the more I ate it, the more it tasted fishy, so I stopped right away- I ate maybe 1/3 of the bowl, but that wound up including most of the spicy salmon. I took both bowls back to the store and the person on duty agreed to refund the first one. I asked for a replacement for the 2nd one (but with a different protein). She agreed to do it, but wanted to charge me for the protein because I ate most of it.

What?!?!?! Are you serious??!?!?

I explained the situation, but she wouldn't budge. Did she really think I would take the effort to come back to the store to ask for a replacement bowl with 2/3 of it still there and when she knew another meal in our order already had bad salmon in it?

She then went on to accuse me of "always coming in demanding refunds or exchanges" and I was again flabbergasted. We rarely go there- maybe once every couple months- and I had never before asked for a refund or exchange. I told her this (firmly but politely) and that she had confused me with someone else. She then waved it off as "oh, so many people come in here, maybe I got you mixed up with someone else", but it was clear she didn't believe me from the expression on her face. No apology.

I pressed the request and she said she had to call her manager. She did so and the manager agreed with her. I was astounded- is it really worth nickel and diming a customer over a few dollars of a protein charge when you already knew the salmon was bad? I got a replacement bowl with no protein and left and will never go back there again.

On the way out, I warned another woman who had just bought a couple bowls about the salmon. The other worker (a guy) behind the counter was disgusted and said something in another language that I couldn't understand. The woman seemed concerned and looked at her food, but eventually walked out. I hope she didn't get sick.

Anyway, I thought I'd pass this experience along as a warning. They have good food, but if you ever have a problem with your order, don't say you weren't warned about their nickel and diming.

And yes, I have a sour stomach now. Hopefully I don't get food poisoning. I probably shouldn't have had that replacement bowl, but I...

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“Jackie” is the fake name the lady gave us. She is extremely rude and interrupts customers constantly during the ordering process. She has zero customer service skills and acts like she is doing customers a favor with her presence.

The young man that works there is very kind and attentive. Even during the order building process Jackie took it upon herself to yell at this young man by using a language she thought customers would not understand. But we did. Yelling “hurry up” “stop putting so much in” “why can’t you do your job right” and “make sure they pay extra” in any language is unprofessional.

This is St. Charles. No one is trying to skip out on paying you the extra dollar for avocado, nor is it necessary to humiliate your employees.

“Jackie” needs an attitude check, and needs to seriously consider if running a restaurant is for her or not. Disgusting behavior and...