Pono Ono Poke
Howard H · 273 Google reviewsPono Ono Poke — one of Evanston's strongest poke spots. The decor hasn't changed, and it doesn't need to. Nothing here has been watered down. Kelsey Carmichael: "Incredible food (fish always tastes soo fresh and is high quality), fantastic service, and amazing aesthetic" [$$]
What 428 diners keep saying
What 428 diners keep saying
verbatim, from Google
“Food and environment are 10/10! My go to poke place in Evanston. Can’t recommend Pono Ono enough.”
“dude working there is an artist - look how good this bowl looks - also tasted great - got the island poke, good option if you want something clean and not too saucy”
“Love the plants, great tasting food. Friendly staff... what more can you ask for? :)”
“Good sized portions for really fresh fish! I highly recommend the build your own bowl - Pono Ono has many sides to add.”
“great space to dine in as well as grab and go! ingredients are fresh and good portions for value.”
“A charming poke spot with lush greenery and a welcoming vibe. The ingredients felt fresh, but the fish portions were on the smaller side, and the flavors were a bit mild for my taste.”
“I’m a 15 year Evanston resident and have been coming here since it opened. Ive noticed over the last year or so the food quality and service going down, which is sad to see. We had my birthday party here before Covid and it was amazing. Now the potion control and recipes are all messed up. I watch the staff just dump random amounts of ingredients into the bowl and loaded on the sauces. I’ve got the “Works” every time and every time it tastes different and lately it just tastes worse and worse. I’ve had a stomach ache after the last two times (in the last 3 months) I’ve eaten here. We ate here last night and arrived at 8:30P. They close at 9:00. We wanted to eat our Poke there, but they wouldn’t give us bowls, we had to eat out of take out containers. I spent $60 … They were basically saying take your food and go. The white guy with glasses behind the counter was pretty short with me and said “we have a small crew and need to got out of her at 9 so we don’t want to do any more dishes”. The place was freezing cold like they already turned the heat off and had cold air blowing from the back. The employees were ready to leave at 850P and were basically staring at us from behind the counter, they had the lights off in the kitchen area so it was darker in the place. We left right at 9:00 and they turned the lights out and walked out right behind us. And we weren’t the only ones in there. There were probably 4 groups dining in during that last 30 mins and a few carry outs. Btw, the sign on the counter directed to customers says, “Good Vibes Only”. The irony. Listen, I get it. I worked retail as a server for most of my 20s and then ran my families retail bakery business for 10 years. Its hard. But quality and service are everything in this business. Once those start to go, it’s a downward spiral. I’m not going to slam these guys with a one star review because that’s not fair but the owner(s) need to take stock and get more involved if they aren’t already. If you read the other reviews in order of newest to oldest, you can definitely see the trend. Going to pass on this place for a while. I hope you can turn it around.”
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