Extremely bad service and expensive food. The line is very long all the time and the staff are very unprofessional. Don't recommend!

Service is decent here, but their food is below average. North Shore Poke in Costa Mesa is so much better, or Newport Fresh in Newport Beach. If you want the best sushi / sashimi bowl go to these places. read more

This place is spectacular. Unbelievable food, great service, quick, fresh... and the poke burrito? Get out. The portions are very generous, and you get a free miso soup if you check in on yelp or facebook. Looks like I found my new favorite lunch spot! Keep it up pokeworks! read more

its good poke. the ambience was good and the employees were good. It was a clean store.

Good portion, healthy food . Will definitely comeback. Specially with the frequent flyer stamp card and friendly staff.

Hello sushi lovers, Today I created a Yelp account just to post about my experience coming to this new Poke place. I am very particular when it comes to sushi because of how overpriced low quality fish can be. My motto is if I'm going to eat sushi, might as well pay top dollar for high quality sushi. Am I right? And don't get me wrong, when it comes to sushi I AM ALL ABOUT QUALITY. I have my reasons why I choose not to come to these "Americanized" poke places that just keep randomly popping up, but today I had heard that this one was different from others so I decided to pay a visit. The establishment looks impressive, when you first walk in its very clean and looks well kept, but thats about all this place had to offer. I dont know if it was just me, but i found ordering from this place difficult and simply told the gentlemen who was serving me what I wanted, since the menu had some items that I never even thought of putting on a poke bowl, and im all about trying new food. This is where my experience went downhill. I asked for octopus which is which was displayed on the menu, then the gentlemen begins to put tuna in my bowl which i DID NOT ask for. I simply asked if there was any octopus and he kindly apologized and said that there wasnt any, which was fine because tuna was my 2nd choice. So we get to the sauces... And by the way, the sauces on the menu have funky names and you cant really tell what the flavor of the sauce is by looking at the names of them. Which raised questions for me because I have no clue which to put in my bowl, i simply just wanted a classic poke sauce which he explained would just be the hawaiian classic sauce. So i tell the gentlemen I would like that sauce in my bowl, and sriracha on the side. And for some reason this gentlemen didnt understand what I meant, Maybe it was me making it unclear what I wanted but i thought i made it very clear and after the 3rd time repeating he seemed to understand what I meant. So what does he do? Puts sriracha in a small cup on the side, WITHOUT PUTTING THE CLASSIC SAUCE IN THE BOWL. So i tell him he forgot to put the classic sauce in the bowl and simply ask him to put in on the side since he couldnt follow my direction for the 2nd time now. But ok mistakes happen, none of that really gets to me until you start giving me attitude for your own mistakes. Which I can see he is getting a little mad about. So the price comes out the be around $13 which in my opinion is way overpriced compared to going to a legit sushi bar and ordering a poki bowl there. If you ask me, their bowl should be $10 and they charge extra for putting add ons that traditionally come in a poki bowl!!!!! But whatver, im expecting for this to be the most excellent poki bowl ive had in my life, but once again I have been disappointed in yet another Subway style poki place. The fish is low - mid quality, terribly overpriced... The flavor mediocre and the rice was not sushi style rice which was disappointing, and if it wasnt for the crappy service, I would have rated it 5/10 but the service was a minus 3 rating (2/10) and this is me being VERY GENEROUS! I will not be returning to this place and for everyone looking for a good place for Poki, search up Tommy's Sushi in tustin, all you do is ask for a Poki Bowl and they bring out a traditional Poki bowl with 4 different types of fresh fish which has many different flavors. I have been ordering Poki frm there before these americanized poki places began popping up, and the medium there is about $12 which is more than enough for one person. A large there is $15 and can feed 2 people on an empty stomach. Don't waste your money on a place like this, there are many hidden gems that offer high quality sushi not far from this place. - Greg read more

The portions is too small..I paid 20 dollars for half a bowl wtf I'm appalled right now

This is my favorite Poke place in Irvine! I love their big portions. The workers there are always welcoming. A must try!

I've had A LOT of poke and this is the BEST! It's incredibly fresh and they have a million unique toppings! If you're driving from LA-SD or vice versa, I highly recommend making a pit stop here! read more

Just simply unacceptable. My first time trying Pokeworks was during their soft opening. I was there with my 15 month old child and asked for a high chair. A worker there immediately responded that they did not have any high chair for baby in the restaurant, which I found really odd, so I was planning to carry my baby on my lap. About 5 minutes later, an Asian man appeared to be the owner/manager came out with a high chair to give it to me. I gratefully accepted it but could not help but thinking how "unprepared" the other worker's answer was to me. Now move on to the actual poke, when I first tasted it, I thought it was kind of plain, so I stood up and asked for extra dressing. The same owner recognized that there wasn't any dressing in my salad so he immediately apologized and gave one to me. Again, I thought they could be more prepared, especially operating a restaurant like this in Irvine. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt and decided to come back again since the food wasn't bad and I am a big fan of poke. Today, 9/18/16, I came back for lunch around 1130 am. Apparently they had their grand opening yesterday and according to one of the workers there: " we ran out some of the ingredients". And yes indeed they did. Half of their containers were empty, there were missing stuffs everywhere. I wanted the ponzu based sauce and of course all they had was the creamy type sauces. They ran out of all their sauces except for two! I have never been to a restaurant where they fail to restock before opening. Imagine opening a restaurant but you have no food, it is like operating a hospital with no nurses or doctors, or opening a shop with no clothes, well you get the idea. Now comes the best part, I was patient enough to go through the whole process to the cashier, now their cashier did NOT work! Apparently they did not have a code to activate their ipad operating paying program. Poor the cashier she was trying to call the owner and he did not pick up. Now the line was almost out the door, now what? At this point I decided to cut my losses (time wasted) and gave up on my order. I could imagine that if they ran out foods and had to use what was left from yesterday, what would happen to the fish? Would they be fresh? Would they be safe to eat? I do feel bad for the workers who work there, but strongly feel that they were not trained well. It looked like they didn't know what they were doing, totally lacked confidence, and kept apologizing. One of the male worker kept saying " Well, we had our grand opening yesterday, that's why". I found that, first of all, was NOT my problem, and, definitely should not be used as an excuse to their unprepared incompetent operation. It just did not look good, actually it looked bad, really bad. And definitely did not make customers feel confident about dinning there. It is sad to see what could potentially be a good poke hanging spot is so deficit in their most daily basic operation. read more

Pretty expensive but when you see the amount of options available it kind of makes up for it. I have been coming back for the past couple weeks and service is consistently friendly. Recommended! read more

I like this place, food was good, service was also excellent, the only thing that I recommend is getting a bowl not a wrap, I got a wrap and it was good, but it was very messy, but overall was really good read more

I ordered a regular size, but they charged me for the large size poke bowl. I understand it was at noon and the store got pretty busy, but they should make sure what the customer ordered. Very disappointed by the store's dishonesty. read more

This place is disgusting. I have never had such bad quality fish. Not only was the tuna fishy, even the salmon was off tasting. Brown rice was dry and crumbly. You know something is wrong when they can't even make rice correctly. The guy scooping our fish was also super stingy, had to exactly fit the scoop or he put some back. Sauce was also bland and barely had any flavoring. I don't have any issues paying high prices for GOOD quality. Unfortunately this wasn't the place. The 3 good reviews must be workers or something. read more

Solid 5-stars for this place! I've tried just about every poke joint from L.A. to O.C. (that's a lot of poke) and Pokeworks really nails it. I got the scallops with tuna and salmon. They have sou vide chicken and tofu too for all the non-seafood people. Everything was fresh and the toppings were a lot more inspired than other poke places. I topped my bowl off with cooked kale, roasted garlic, crunchy rice puffs, macadamia nuts and fried lotus root. So delicious! I dare say this is the best poke bowl I've had so far. read more

Best Poké I have tried in the area. They have a huge selection of bases, protiens, toppings, and sauces and pretty reasonable prices. There can be a big lunch rush which makes the line pretty long and slow but it's worth it. I highly recommend you try it out! read more

I came here again and service was better than last time but super slow. They're really understaffed on some days. I felt bad because there was only one girl manning the front and I could see people in the back but they weren't helping her out. There was a crazy long line too. She was really friendly and apologized a lot for the long wait. The portions were a lot better and overall, I'm ok with this place now. I still think it's a lot for the price you pay (I mean ~$10 for 2 scoops of fish when most places are same price for 3 scoops). I heard some days are a hit or a miss from my friends who love this place read more

Continuing my tour of all the Pokeworks in the country, Pokeworks Irvine is no exception to the awesomeness. Food is fresh, favors are consistent with NY and Mountain View, this location is pretty big, and the staff is amazing. Good job Pokeworks, another amazing location. Looking forward to the next one! read more

Great variety of protein and veggie options, great quality and price compared to other poke places. I love the quinoa and salad base and I always get extra dried lotus root I too off on my poke bowl. I bring the kids and friends at least once a week here. read more

So upon my wife and I coming here we got in line and the lady assumed we wanted one bowl instead of asking what we would like since it was my wife and I. I have a strict diet and as we were going down the line the lady helping me kept apologizing to the people behind us as if I was not a customer that she should attend to like every other. The better choice of word would have been to tell them "thx for your patience". I did not like the customer service here, I get what they were trying to accomplish but it made me feel uneasy after they assumed I wanted one meal and got two and continued to apologize to the people behind my wife and I.... read more

Fish was fair at best. Yet they charge prices for sushi grade. Pass.. Nice topping options but the fish was really sub par. Hope I don't get sick. read more

Pokeworks - Poke Near Me - Irvine, California

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I think I'll echo a lot of what others have said here, but their biggest issues are price and fish wasn't the best quality. The tuna was actually kind of tough, avocado was extra (WHAT?!) and their chopsticks were some of the lowest quality chopsticks I've ever used. Service was also poor, they kept badgering us to place an order while we were looking at the menu. When we began our order they informed us they were out of a lot of ingredients including brown rice (wut?!) Ok fish, awful price, poor service H2O Poke in Tustin is still the gold standard in the OC. read more

I cam here with the craving for poke... it didn't meet my "taste" expectation Food was fresh; miso was good; serving was about right but as mentioned in the other feedback, they only had small scoops (depends on your order - 2 or 3) of the fish in the meal so basically, I was just getting a taste of the mix than the taste of the poke itself. read more

I been waiting for this place to open up since they had coming soon sign up.. their interior setup is really nice but their poke bowl was below average. Build your own is too expensive for what it is..$15.12 for low quality tuna / salmon and chicken??. Their fish taste little too fishy and they charge for small things like "scoop of avocado for $1.50. Other places will over half and half of sald and rice for same price but this place charges for everything. Visually food looks nice but quality and taste does not come close to how the food looks. read more

Awesome and very delicious options. Their poke is like most poke joints. I would definitely come back and customize my bowl.

I'm not really familiar with poke but one worker at the front of the line was really helpful and was able to explain everything to me. She also made me feel so comfortable and not rushed! I asked for her name because I noticed that they don't wear name tags, but I forgot what it was.. I think it started with a "c" or "k" but overall all the employees were awesome. Customer service was definitely a huge bonus on top of the amazing food! I'll definitely be coming again! read more

Been a fan of Pokeworks since I tried it in NYC! I am lucky I was able to try it at the Irvine location. Fish is fresh and I built my own poke to my liking! I would definitely be back again! read more

I like the poke here! They gave you a lot of options and variety. You can select two types of fish for $8.99 or 3 types for $9.99. All toppings and add-ons tasted really delicious too. The only sad thing is that adding avocado costs an extra $1 :(. However, you can check-in to the place on Yelp for a free miso soup, super convenient. A highly recommended place. read more

I work in the area and come here at least once a week. Staff is always nice and helpful. The owner is super cool too! OFF THE HOOK. nuff said read more

Pretty decent like most Poke places I've been to. What makes it a little different is the extra crunches you can add at the end. I love the garlic and lotus chips. Yum. read more

I've been to a lot of poke places and this one is by far the most expensive. Their fish portions that are scooped into your bowl is ridiculous. The workers are nice but I feel like they are really skimpy on the amount they give in comparison to the other poke places. read more

This place is pretty cool and unique but there are a few negatives in my recent experience coming here for me to be dying to come here next time: 1. It's hard to find it-Google maps takes you to the plaza and then you're on your own because their shop is not on the plaza map (yet?) 2. Service is sloooow. I came during lunch time but it wasn't nearly as busy as some of the other poke places I've been to. They had seemingly enough employees for each station but each one of them was very slow in doing their jobs. 3. Toppings are cool (like mango & mandarin) but you have to pay extra for avocado (which other places don't charge for) and regular priced bowl gets only 2 scoops of protein at $10+. Again, other places are cheaper $8-9 for 3 scoops of protein. Overall it was pretty good but definitely not my favorite. read more

I was in Irvine on a hot day for work last week and was looking for something light and healthy for lunch. I came across Pokeworks. I absolutely love this place. They had a good selection of fish and most importantly, it was really fresh. I also love the different sauces that you can get. I opted for the Poke Salad with Umami Shoyu and it was delicious. I read a review stating that I should try their lotus root to add some crunch and texture to the salad and I'm glad I did that. I will definitely be coming back and want to try their Poke Burrito and some of the other sauces they have. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for some good poke. read more

Great place for poke bowls and boke burritos. You get a mix of 2-3 main items in the mix with plenty of options (chicken and tofu options for non-seafood eaters). Sauce is fantastic, and fried lotus chips are really tasty. I thoroughly enjoyed the tea three iced tea options (mostly blends, including a rooibos lemon mix). Now whenever I'm in this plaza heading towards some fried popcorn chicken, I can redirect to a healthier option. read more

I've been to many poke places and I must say, this is the BEST poke bowl I've ever had! I was super impressed on how incredibly fresh the ingredients were. I've been here a few times now and they always know how to craft the perfect poke bowl. Highly recommend!! read more

Kinda expensive, very slow service and poor management compared to the other poke places near by. Plus they charge extra for everything I.e avocado. The food is ok and they have an option for chicken poke but I will not be going back and would not recommend it. read more

Their burrito is a big luscious build your own giant sushi, and it's as fabulous as you can dream up! My recommendation: salmon and avocado with umami shoyu, and anything else you want on it! Tonight I tried the coco bora bowl just to be different. I'm hooked. read more

Fresh food, friendly service. The best place to go for poké. (btw, Alyssa has the best smile)

Delicious, fresh, friendly, affordable. Just a few words to describe this new pokebowl restaurant in the heart of Irvine. They offer much more than just bowls, too! I love the transparency of the operation...meaning, it's an open style kitchen/buffet line where the customer sees every step of the preparation until they had it to you. Did you know they only have the freshest, wild caught or sustainably raised fish? ASK the owner who was present to meet & greet customers. So, I got to pick the type of rice, fish (ahi and salmon are my faves), toppings, salad, and more which are all included (except for Avocado which has a small charge). Great open seating plan and delish ice tea selection. So happy this place is right in my backyard! read more

My favorite poke spot in Irvine!! I love the toppings and the tastes fresh