Great At First, But Then the Cracks Showed - Crew Member Poke House Employee Review

2.0
Sep 4, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The team here was good. My coworkers were fun, and my last manager was one of the kindest people I've ever worked with. The job isn't hard (which could be a con for some) and it's a pretty decent first job. The customers on Pacific are, in general, polite and easy to deal with. This was one of the few food service jobs I've worked that didn't make me want to immediately shrivel up and die.

Cons

There are several serious issues here. The first red flag was my first manager. She was a capital-M Mean Girl who found enjoyment in denying my simple scheduling requests and put the burden on me to find a cover when she scheduled my shift during my classes. This was manageable, however, and honestly, you'll find the same issues at just about any food service job. Then COVID-19 hit. Poke House stayed open during the whole pandemic, something the owner was proud of and boasted about during store meetings. He and the corporate managers decided to put the employees and the customers of Poke House is danger for a couple handfuls of cash. He lauded us for "serving the community", but I never felt that I was serving anyone but selfish plague rats. We were supposed to clean every two to three hours, but we rarely could because of how busy and how understaffed we were. I went from working six-hour shifts to seven-hour shifts and finally to eight-and-a-half-hour shifts. I worked fulltime hours for several weeks and was never even offered fulltime benefits, and was rarely shown gratitude for how often I worked myself ragged so some teenagers could buy overpriced bowls of raw fish. I popped upwards of ten ibuprofen a day so I wouldn't think about how my body was breaking. I quit after a partygoer coworker thought he might've contracted COVID-19. Luckily, he hadn't, and I was safe, but after the anxiety attacks and frequent nightmares, I couldn't go back to work. I quit, sobbing and tired and wholly broken. I never received any thanks for sticking with this horrid job for as long as I did. Finally, I fear there is an anti-Black bias among the hiring staff. I saw many, many applications and resumes from more-than-qualified Black applicants get thrown in the trash in favor of white or Asian applicants that were less qualified. There's a bit of nepotism that is also present in the hiring process, which with a mostly white and Asian staff, leads to less Black and Hispanic employees.

Explore other reviews about Poke House

5.0
May 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly staff and good food.

Cons

No cons to add here.

4.0
Mar 9, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Flexible scheduling for students or people with other jobs

Cons

Inconsistent hours Short shifts Not great tips

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