Highlights
Sweetfin offers a vibrant spot in Santa Monica for build-your-own poke bowls, featuring fresh ingredients, unique sauces, and a lively atmosphere.
"In the midst of the poke takeover, one place we think is doing it exceptionally right is Sweetfin Poke in Santa Monica. Just a few blocks from the 3rd Street promenade, Sweetfin is like taking a dip in your neighbor’s above-ground pool on the hottest day of summer. One important thing we’ve learned from frequenting Sweetfin is that the “base” of the bowl is really important. Choose wisely and remember that kale still tastes like kale, even when covered in really delicious poke. Food Rundown Spicy Tuna Bowl The tuna here is topped with creamy togarashi sauce, hijiki, and avocado. We once made the mistake of going for a kale base – it was overpowering in its kale-iness. Stick to rice here. Sriracha Tuna Bowl This one comes with sriracha ponzu sauce, hijiki, and avocado. We went with the cucumber slaw for the base. The sriracha ponzu sauce here is a lighter option than the spicy tuna’s togarashi sauce. BYOB with Sriracha Tuna, Crispy Garlic, Crispy Onions, Wasabi Coconut, Habanero, and Mango Over Rice A friend recommended we try this combo and now we’re sold. It’s basically a giant luau in your mouth." - Amanda Williamson
·
Oct 15, 2024
"The people who work at Spinfish REALLY love their jobs. Like greeting you extremely enthusiastically, dancing behind the counter, and having poke bowl-building races while they make your lunch, love their jobs. If you can get through such enthusiasm between meetings, it's also worth your time. They have signature bowls or you can build your own - the fish is fresh, and there are a bunch of side options like seaweed salad that you should definitely get involved in." - jess basser sanders
·
Aug 22, 2022
"Poke Perfection at Sweetfin Fusing the trends of sushi and build-your-own grain bowls, Sweetfin in Santa Monica, has created a customizable poke destination that is convenient, cost effective and creative at its core. The Hawaiian raw fish dish traditionally combines cubed tuna, rice, shoyu sauce, and veggies—but Sweetfin’s menu provides multiple ways to mix and match your fish of choice, base, add-ons, and sauce. You can start with a completely blank slate to create your own masterpiece, or, if options are overwhelming, you can begin with a pre-made signature bowl like the Mango Albacore with ponzu-lime sauce, macadamia nuts and ginger. Make sure to experiment with toppings including wasabi toasted coconut, charred habanero, and pickled shiitake mushrooms. No matter your choice, everything from the sauces to ice tea is homemade and gluten- and dairy-free, so you’ll feel as fresh as the nearby ocean breeze.Sweetfin started a poke revolution in L.A., and has since expanded on its OG Santa Monica location to Woodland Hills, Larchmont, Westwood, West Hollywood, DTLA, Silverlake, Venice Beach, and San Diego."
The Best Restaurants in Los Angeles
·
Mar 16, 2022
h l
Google
I ordered a Yuzu Salmon bowl with bamboo rice.
Oh my, the rice is not fully cooked. Why does the rice all broke down like this? Ask an Asian, that's the worst rice you can get. I guess it's okay for whoever doesn't know rice is supposed to taste like.
Totally overpriced with this kind of quality.
Advise to just skip Sweetfin.
Susan Abraham
Google
Neat little take out place in Santa Monica serving a variety of poke bowls. Tried this place on vacation and was mildly surprised at the quality and taste of the place. Staff very friendly and efficient. Music way too loud in location. Food bowls are small and seem a bit pricey but my family I ate and were filled. The black forbidden rice was under cooked in my bowl but overall enjoyed it. Their drinks were great!
Adrian Wieczorek
Google
Very good poke. Seafood was fresh, other ingredients too. Portions were huuuge. Very tasty. As you can see I ate all my food. My Lady was soo happy so visit was pleasant. You can build your own bowl or take something from ready bowls. Place look soo nice, modern and clean. Courtesy water with lemon. Nice job. They will take care of you for sure. Definitely recommend that place for your next poke bowls. Great job Sweetfin.
Rebekah Harriman
Google
Extremely good priced and high quality poke bowl! I loved the shimeji mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, and Japanese eggplant toppings, absolutely divine! Also loved the rice/base options, all so good!😍
Halina S
Google
Sorry. First impression was good, great place, amazing atmosphere, friendly stuff and good looking food.
But than, when we start to eat it - the rice is not tasty at all, plane, the cauliflower was ok , but still... The sauce can help BUT there was almost no sauce. So I can’t really eat it and than I realized that my husband didn’t eat it either.
And sadly I felt like it was some not fresh fish in my bowl.
Again - maybe if it was more sauce I didn’t think that way.
clement Richez
Google
I tried a vegan bowl, it was delicious to a point of surprise almost. I definitely will come back before the end of the trip.
Jerica Burgette
Google
I ordered the Keto Bowl through a delivery service, and it’s delicious (fresh, tasty ingredients…and spicy, too). Highly recommend to anyone watching their carbs.
Lilian Lin
Google
The team must have put quite some efforts into the branding/marketing approach, from their takeout bags to menu design. Very cute.
$15 or so for a big poke bowl, good size with many fruity options. Free parking in the back.
Foodeater F.
Yelp
Decent poke bowl, easy online ordering
The staff now seems to be friendly and nice and usually gets my order right
The guy who used to be there (chef who the red beard bowl was named after for some reason) - had awful customer service. Glad to see he's not there anymore, as he snapped at me for picking up a fork (I don't use chopsticks) it was so embarrassing to be chewed out in front of everyone else for simply grabbing utensils. He also used to huff and puff after every order. Anyways I don't know why they made him the face of the restaurant when he hated working there?
Lloyd L.
Yelp
I hate to write this since I've ordered from here a couple times & before, the food was great! The fish & other ingredients are super fresh.
However, I need to let users & the management know that last Sunday, I ordered from the restaurant's website. They sent the Coco robot, but it went to the wrong address. Initially, I thought I might've made a mistake, so I ordered again, and the Coco robot went to the wrong address again. The address wasn't even close & was too far for me to go to. I understand that mistakes happen, but what was the most disappointing & upsetting is that they wouldn't offer a refund. This negative review isn't an indication on the food, but just a warning that if you order for delivery, DO NOT order from Sweetfin's website, and use a 3rd party delivery service. My hope is that the management takes note & improves their delivery service when customers order from their website.
Sean M.
Yelp
Made the mistake of coming at dinner time instead of lunch. All the avo was browning, the salmon was slimy and I don't think ANY sauce was added.
Colleen R.
Yelp
Cute little poke spot off Broadway and 9th in Santa Monica.
Several menu options to choose from or the option to build your own bowl. I go with a classic spicy tuna bowl with bamboo rice. The poke is fresh and flavorful. The bamboo rice is different and interesting - wish they had white rice as an option, but I think they're trying to keep it healthy, which isn't bad!
Depending on when you get here, it can get a tad bit busy, since they are understaffed. Still not too bad of a wait. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. Overall, decent price for decent poke. Not my number one choice for poke, but its close to my office, so i had to give them a try.
Tatiana N.
Yelp
We tried the sushi burrito for pick up here. Unlike everyone else in the city, we wanted it to be made with tortilla that had gluten in it, but they only had gluten-free tortilla, which really affected the taste of the burrito in my opinion. I would've Much rather just ordered a bowl at that point, because it just was not a cohesive type of burrito, just like they shoved some sushi into a tortilla. I would not order this again unless they work on the cohesiveness of the burrito and offer different types of bread.
Ziyan C.
Yelp
Cute spot in downtown Santa Monica. There were several customers but fast turnaround, so no wait at 12:30pm on a Tuesday.
I got the small Yuzu Salmon ($11.90) - 4 stars. The salmon was super fresh, the ingredients worked well together. I got FOMO about my friend's build-your-own bowl with fried onion on top, and I asked for fried onion topping on mine, offering to pay, but they just gave it to me for free!
The guava lemonade and ginger lemonade (3 stars) intrigued us but both just tasted like regular lemonade despite being very different colors, one pink and one yellow, which is fine, but we didn't get any of the exotic flavors we expected.
Sam S.
Yelp
Every now and then Sweetfin has some deals that are worth checking out and the buy one get one deal was super enticing. I tried the albacore bowl and a tuna bowl and both were good. I wished they had more in 1 scoop of fish but oh well.
The only 1 small thing I don't like is the bamboo rice since it can get dry really fast. Otherwise pretty good spot for lunch.
Celina C.
Yelp
OVERPRICED. Got a "large" bowl which was tiny in my opinion. Not a traditional poke place which is great because they offer new ingredients that aren't typically in a poke bowl.
The poke itself was tasty. I got it with a cauliflower rice which I thought was interesting. It was not close to the texture of rice at all but I was happy with it.
Martina T.
Yelp
Great if you're craving some poke. There's free parking underneath the building which is super convenient and rare for this area. The quality and freshness is ok. Order comes out pretty quickly, since everything is premade. They just have to scoop it into a bowl for you. Portion size is not that huge. Inside seating available. Communal self serve water offered.
Callie S.
Yelp
Ugh I've tried this place twice and so wanted to like it. Each time I felt like I could make better poke than this. The first time I went was in store and it was just ok. I didn't like their rice that much.
The second time I ordered through Uber eats and was still disappointed. The bowl even got smaller than a few months back. The taro chips were the only thing good but there were like 10 chips for 7 dollars?!?
Take a look at the size of the regular bowl and tell me how you can be full with this portion...
Safe to say that I won't be ordering or going back here again.
Kat A.
Yelp
I've had way better poke bowls. The sauce was very light. needed more flavor. They are stingy with their toppings. The jicama was not ripe enough and tasted raw. There's a limit on how many toppings you can add in your build your own bowl.
Stacey A.
Yelp
Rude staff who actually just rebuked me for asking about the status of my pickup order - which is 30 minutes late in coming out.
If you are paying $15 for a mediocre bowl of salad with a tiny scoop of fish on top, honestly, you don't want to be treated rudely by the staff and kept waiting for your order.
The photos speak for themselves. If you want prompt and courteous service, with a pleasant environment, suggest going to next door to Pono Burger. (At this point, I wish I could cancel my order and go there instead!)
Hannah ..
Yelp
Not only is the food amazing but the service is exceptional! Cesar the manager and his staff are so welcoming and kind and gave great recommendations. We will be back for Cesar and his team!! So clean, friendly, and delicious!
Dana L.
Yelp
Poke was pretty good. I built my own bowl. The ingredients felt pretty fresh, it was easy to order, and quick to receive the order. No complaints and perfect for satisfying a poke craving.
Thu P.
Yelp
i didn't really love this place. i've definitely had better poke in the midwest compared to this one which is surprising. the quality and freshness is okay and the portion size is super small. they don't make it right in front of you, you order at the cashier and then they bring it out to you. i think it's a bit dry as well, i even asked for 3 different types of sauces but tasted still dry. i would skip this place next time! ambiance is cute though, very boho!
Katie B.
Yelp
Food is good here but don't order online or anywhere other than at the store. They skimp on the "premium" items in the orders that are being delivered or picked up bc they know there's nothing anyone can do about the missing items once the product leaves the store. I am tired of paying extra for "premium" items and not getting them. It's happened so many times now that it's not an accident, it's clearly a directive and money saving effort. Shame on them.
Annie S.
Yelp
Ingredients are fresh, portion was disappointing. Ordered the large portion for over $20 and the topping/ fish portion was severely lacking. I'm a petite girl with a modest appetite and the large portion was very underwhelming. Also, there was not enough sauce.
Karolina L.
Yelp
Do your employees even read the 'to go' orders?!? I ordered black rice and kelp salad as my base and got a full bowl of dry white rice. Thanks a lot!
Jill L.
Yelp
I ordered a small BYOB ($10.50) for delivery. I was unimpressed by the size, taste and freshness of the poké.
For the base I chose sushi rice and kelp noodle slaw. There was barely any of the kelp noodles and way more of the rice, which was disappointing. Too much rice filling up a small bowl.
I chose salmon for the protein and the portion was pretty skimpy. The fish also didn't taste super fresh either. I chose creamy togarashi and Yuzu Kosho for the sauces, extra sauce. There didn't seem to be extra sauce to me.
For the toppings I chose Japanese eggplant, seaweed salad, red onion, cilantro, edamame and radish.
Very poor price to quality and I will be looking elsewhere for my poké fix.
Bahar S.
Yelp
My rating is for this place as a whole
But especially focuses on the last thing I had today
Pro: the chile ginger noodles were SO GOOD, best thing I've ever had here. Quality was good, sauce was amazing, portion was fine, and it had such a good mix of ingredients - super well balanced and worth the price.
This dish is the only mildly redeeming quality about this place.
Con: the poke burrito however... probably the most abysmal thing I've ever eaten. Firstly, the scale compared to what's advertised is completely off lol I got a skinny, sad, thin burrito. This followed by the absolutely most off putting tastes completely ruined it for me - to the point that I tossed it away, genuinely inedible. It's like someone put something rotten in there, not even food rotten, garbage rotten. I genuinely can't describe it, it's almost impressive how vile it was. I don't know how you can mess up a poke burrito. There was nothing crispy about those onions, they were black they were so caramelized and burnt (not helping the horrid flavor), and the seaweed salad was off too.
Hands down the worst thing I've ever eaten.
I've learned my lesson. Never again.
Too many strikes. Save yourself some time and money and go eat at literally Any other poke or sushi place.
Anny O.
Yelp
Fish is really fresh here! They have very unique options. Not like your typical Hawaiian style poke. I got a small build your own bowl and it was perfect for me. Their sauce choices are unique but I wish I got a simple ponzu sauce. We ordered through the app for pick up and didn't get to choose as many toppings.
Service was great and the worker was very friendly. We came on a Saturday night and there was only one other person. They don't have much indoor seating.
David L.
Yelp
Back for more and have to say thanks to all at the Santa Monica store. They worked through a pretty frustrating situation with the app and got me taken care of with a terrific bowl, solid portions, and much more generous on the take away sauce. Big thanks and big ups to the Santa Monica store crew on Broadway.
Elaine L.
Yelp
So good! Got build your own poke bowls and they have plenty of sides to choose from, really like how they offer fruit as add-ons as well. Big fan of the creamy gochugang sauce as well! I will say that the small bowl was pretty filling already, and the bowls are a little pricey but fairly on par with what you'll see in the area.
Dan R.
Yelp
The poke is great but the service leaves a lot to be desired. We came in and the lady behind the counter said sorry no rice we are saving for the online orders. Like what.
The poke is actually really good.
The cashier was abrupt and rude.
Recommend the owner to find employees who are friendly and happy to be working with a customer service attitude.
Talisa D.
Yelp
Good quality food but a bit pricey at $26 for the sweetbox, which was pretty much one serving. I enjoyed the food and the variety in the box but will likely opt for a regular bowl in the future for the price point.
Rachel D.
Yelp
Best poke on the west side. Def needs to be $3 less but that's why they have huge discounts on their app and DoorDash all the time. The poke is so fresh, the toppings are always amazing. When I order it's always ready super fast and put together so well in their Togo boxes
Dearl N.
Yelp
Friendly service. Fresh and tasty food with generous portions. Poke is great here. No ambience for dining in but great for pickup.
Sarah G.
Yelp
Wishing I lived closer to this hidden gem. This was not only the best poke bowl I've had but also the best hospitality and service I've had in a very long time if ever.
Sweetfin is truly an experience when it comes to freshness and flavors. The have a wide variety of different sauces (I'm high recommend trying them all), awesome toppings and the fish...So freaking fresh and delicious. Best Salmon, Albacore I've ever had and my new favorite Yellowtail!!
I am sad I did not get another order to go tbh. First time customer and now a forever customer. Shoutout to the Santa Monica team! You guys are awesome!
Amy C.
Yelp
For an embarrassingly long period of my life, Sweetfin was one of my go-to places to shovel fresh fish into my mouth and reap the benefits of protein and omega 3 fats--it was a way to apologize to my poor body for all of the trash I normally ingest during moments of desperation.
But still, for the life of me, I can never remember what forbidden rice truly is is. I think it's the provocative adjective that throws me off every single time I see it. Here's to every single Sweetfin employee manning the register who has been forced to rattle off a dictionary definition of "forbidden rice" every single time I go there.
Live a little and build your own bowl! You can't go wrong with a salmon and tuna bowl with forbidden rice, topped off with crispy onions, mango, pineapple, bean sprouts, seaweed salad and ponzu lime sauce. And I'm not just saying that because I am a creature of habit. (Well, OK, kind of, but it's truly a delicious combo.)
Helen M.
Yelp
I loved the spicy tuna poke from Sweetfin up until the past few months it's been very disappointing. I tried it one more time yesterday and it was horrible ! The portion was tiny but , the worst part was the shrimp was old & tasted bad , messy just inedible. Too bad it was a favorite of mine , but no more !
Cpfirman1 ..
Yelp
Excellent food and great service. The employees here are kind and hard-working. I like to have lunch at this location whenever I can,
Kevin C.
Yelp
Out of this world delicious Poke. During COVID they are's only accepting online orders so we used postmates and did pick up which helped us avoid service fees versus delivery.
I have not eaten Poke often but decided to stop by Sweetfin and I did not regret it. Just make sure to get the large size because the regular size is small.
You can build your own bowl if you like.
I got the Spicy Tuna, Bamboo Rice and Citrus Kale Salad. This was about $15-$16.
Harvey W.
Yelp
I have tried a number of these locations and each and everyone of them is consistently excellent. I always get their basic tuna. Not a very big eater, so they're small does the job for lunch for sure. You won't be disappointed.
Kim l.
Yelp
Placed my order online, biked over from the beach and ate outside on their sidewalk patio area. We ordered:
Spicy tuna
Classic tuna
Mango albacore
Truffled yuzu albacore
Total $44.50
The poke bowls were not labeled so we kind of had to guess what they were. The rice was small and chopped up with this weird blue/green color. Fish was ok. The bowls look small but they filled me up. I expected more after seeing the high yelp reviews for this place.
Johnny B.
Yelp
Damn, I was so bummed when trying this out. I'm not much of a person to complain or hold high standards because, well you can't go wrong with poke. And I've never had a bad poke dish before. This place isn't bad but something was missing..... I can't really pinpoint it out but it was lacking some kind of flavor. If you do get the large, you won't be disappointed though, because they do put in a good amount of fish. But I couldn't tell if it was the taste of the fish being bland or there wasn't enough something else like citrus or ponzu. I personally don't go overboard with drenching it with ponzu and I don't really like spicy mayo much but it was missing something.
However, you will be surprised how good their cauliflower rice was. I was not expecting it to taste so good. If you are on a keto diet, try their cauliflower rice because it was really really good.
I would recommend trying the salmon, because maybe it was the albacore that was lacking flavor. I really wish they had octopus. I like octopus and yellowtail. If you do come here, make sure you get lemon or ponzu on there because something definitely was missing
alexander r.
Yelp
You want food delivered within an hour of what the restaurant estimated as the delivery time?
Look elsewhere.
Or starve.
Nefertiti T.
Yelp
I ordered a Poke bowl through Uber eats and it was the smallest bowl I've ever eaten. I truly didn't think that any poke bowl came in that size. It was more like a child portion. for the money I spent which was 25 dollars. I felt like it was a rip off and i'm not a cheap person. a friend of mine in the Orange county who said the one near them had the same chincy portions! they had to go get a second lunch after. Do not recommend.
Maggie C.
Yelp
After them messing up my order for I don't know how many times now, I told them I didn't want it and asked for a refund. The employee told me she refunded it and even gave me a receipt. I was never refunded. I contacted them via their website, but they ignored me. I went in to speak to a supervisor, but there wasn't one available so an employee called them about my concern and was instructed to take my contact info. He then insisted on taking my receipt. I was never contacted. I was never refunded. I did take picture of that receipt though. This location can never get an order right and the company is dishonest and will take your money,
Rosie M.
Yelp
Fresh as can be and delicious every time. Yumm just thinking about it. Parking is not so bad, ordering online makes it quick and easy. Your order is waiting on a shelf with your name on it. Genius, really.
Tiffany M.
Yelp
Delicious bowls! For users who use google to order you get charged almost $12 more for your meal! This was not delivery. I went in store to pick up my food and noticed I was charged more than usual. Best to just go in person to avoid the extra charges.
Amy G.
Yelp
Cute spot for poke with a few outdoor seating options on the sidewalk. I always get the small size BYOB as it's perfectly filling! The salmon is flavorful and the sauces are delicious. I wish they were a tad more generous with the additional toppings as sometimes they tend to be a little on the sparse side. Street parking has always been easy to snag nearby if not right in front of the place!
Doreen M.
Yelp
I tried this place using delivery with Postmates. It is by far my fave poke place. I love their citrus kale and the Cole slaw options instead of rice. Those two are so flavorful and yummy and are so good as salad you could eat them alone! No other poke place does this. They just give you bland produce that has been washed. I wish this place was closer to me! I love getting the salmon yuzu bowl which also has avocado in it! Delicious!
Dylan M.
Yelp
Over the years, I have grown to like poke a lot more, so considering my newfound desires, I was excited to see what Sweetfin was all about.
I went with the sriracha tuna bowl, which tasted amazing. I added a helping of salmon to the mix and omitted the avocado, both decisions in my mind were worthy choices. The sriracha packs a good amount of heat and the crunch from the crispy onions and asparagus are a delicious compliment.
I have to give a shout out the Sweetfin staff who were very accommodating handling the big order I had. Apparently the servers were down online, so they were already going through some stress, but kept very patient and helpful when listening to every request.
Overall, Sweetfin was amazing. Everything is around $15 so it's a fair price for lunch, especially considering the high quality you receive. It was just my first time here, but I'll definitely be going back soon.
Leo S.
Yelp
Came here for a quick dinner before grocery shopping. They had a buy one get one free deal (from the Hooked app), so me and my girlfriend wanted to try it out. One thing that stood out to me was that there wasn't a whole lot of seating in the area and in the restaurant. Good thing there weren't a lot of people when we went. For the actual meal, we ordered a bowl that had salmon, tuna, and kale in it. The first bite I took told me that this was going to be a good meal! The fish was not super fishy and it had a good texture to it. It tasted fresh and I really enjoyed how the fish was prepared. The kale was nicely seasoned and was a great complement to the bowl.
One thing to point out is the way the rice was prepared. It wasn't too soggy nor it was undercooked. The rice was specifically the bamboo rice, and I recommend other people to try it out as well!
Chase M.
Yelp
The food is great but the service is awful. I tried to write a okay review but at this point this store has messed up so many of my orders I really am beyond frustrated. There has NEVER been an order I have had where there wasn't an item missing, and item wrong, or straight up an item incorrectly made. Do better with the service.
Alex C.
Yelp
Very good poke spot - really fast and helpful service - place was clean and convenient- highly recommended!
P S.
Yelp
I have lived here all my life and can confidently say that Sweetfin is one of the best restaurants in Santa Monica. I've been coming here for more than 7 years and can't recommend it enough. The staff is so kind and friendly-- we had the chance to meet the manager today and he was so gracious!
My favorite thing to get here is either the salmon or vegetable poke mixed with forbidden rice and citrus kale. If you can, I recommend getting the taro chips too. Every ingredient is really high quality and worth the price.
Sofya R.
Yelp
Mmmmm so gooood!! Perfect for lunch. Always great quality in Santa Monica location thanks to awesome manager Jourdan.
Chandler V.
Yelp
Food is okay, customer service was terrible. The cashier rolled his eyes while I ordered a custom bowl. It was my first time and last time here.