Da Spot

Hello and good afternoon Da Spot! I have been enjoying some of your tasty treats on the UH Manoa campus for some time now and have a question about some of the products that you offer. The past couple of semesters I used to enjoy the coco ono about four out of five days per week. It was pretty much the only smoothie I would purchase besides some of the Thai curry mini lunch plates. Recently I have attempted to purchase a coco ono smoothie but unfortunately the last four times in a row, your truck did not have any available. If they are so popular and there is a such a demand for them by the customers, I would suggest supplying enough in advance to meet the demand to increase your sales volume. I used to see long lines daily and the employees were cheerful and upbeat singing to music. I would guess that the gross sales have declined at this location just from looking at the dreary menu which was once full of delicious options but now riddled with duct tape covering up items that I am assuming are no longer offered. It doesn’t look very attractive any longer and I am not enticed to spend my money there. I went from spending $ 3.66 per smoothie for a total of nearly $ 400 last semester to $ 0 this semester based on primarily the availability of your products. If you are running out of something and you see the trend increasing daily, then stock more. Also, the freckled fellow with the faux hawk and tattoos doesn’t seem very cheery. What happened to the once existent wide selection and friendly customer service atmosphere? Hopefully something can be done to turn Da Spot food truck on UH Manoa campus into the once appealing college attraction that it once was. I used to gladly spend my money there, but it no longer seems worth it. P. S. your website needs to be tended to by the I.T.‘s, as your email option under the «contact us» tab is not operational.

Saw one of the cooks in the back scratching they’re ass and proceeded to prep! Eww! I walked out of the place after i saw that when i was going to order. Never coming back and i heard that the boss there yells too much and demands.

Place is very hit or miss. The first time we had good portions and food was pretty good. Next time portions were insanely small. First acai bowl was very tasty but second one had brown bananas and no flavor. Some staff members are nice and others are impatient and just plain rude. I think I will take a break from going for a while. Didn’t appreciate the last meal that cost $ 10 for a combo with a tiny scoop of two different choices. Meal was so small and girl working ruined my experience.

This place is great! Especially the Moroccan Chicken. Affordable and great quality food. Their smoothies are bomb too!

I found a place where I can taste the same flavors as the food from the south of France, and it’s really cheap. Thx

Very very very BAD service. In the morning around 9, I went to get an acai bowl. Two girls were working, one was pregnant, the other had tattoos all over and did not look like she wanted to be there. As I stood in line, I was overhearing the people in front of me order. They would ask for certain drinks but «they didn’t have all these juices» according to the tattooed girl. So of course no one really knew what they DID have. So when it was my turn, I asked if they had acai bowls. And they did. As I waited for my bowl I observed the girls and was very disturbed by how unprofessional they were. First the pregnant girl tells me, «sorry we have no bowls can I just put it in a cup?».like really? However there were a new bag of bowls right in front of my face! I kindly told her that the bowls were right there… She went about making the bowl but she was talking story with the tattooed girl making my wait extra long! I was getting pissed because I had class in a few minutes and I’m sure it would’ve been made quickly if they weren’t talking. On another note, they were talking about personal things and swearing. I was completely amused that they have no common sense to put their customers first. They are ridiculous and should be replaced. It’s sad that all the students are being served by these chronic looking people who should be working else where. When I FINALLY got my acai bowl, the girls had the nerve to comment and say «thanks for waiting» «yeah, she pregnant» as if that excuse would suffice. Ugh, this is the last time I’m ever ordering from there until they replace the staff with more friendlier, appealing, professional workers! Not some people you find selling drugs off the street.

Overall:
— smoothies taste pretty good
— serving size and price for smoothies are a decent ratio
— never tried their food
— cashier needs an attitude check while the other workers are rather nice and friendly
Da Spot is a food truck at UH Manoa that offers healthier options for lunch. So far I’ve only purchased smoothies and their acai bowls.
For the acai bowls they are not the greatest for what you pay, but they taste better than Jamaba Juice. I feel like for the acai bowls it depends who makes it. I’ve gotten it several times and there have been some inconsistencies. The first time I purchased one it was in, I believe, a medium sized cup, few pieces of strawberries and kiwis, granola, and lots of honey. Like in previous reviews the acai is frozen and not made when you order it like other places. After that time I’ve received acai bowls from them in a bowl. Sometimes there seems to be more or less fruits and different fruits. The only thing that is consistent is that they put lots of granola and honey. That’s something they don’t skimp out on.
I’ve tried a variety of smoothies they are not too sweet which is nice. One of the peanut butter smoothies is super thick and hard to drink. The smoothies are also made rather quickly.
The workers who make the smoothies are really nice. I haven’t had a problem with any one of them. They call out orders loudly, clearly, and nicely. They say thank you when you pick it up. The cashier on the other hand can be rather rude. She doesn’t smile she doesn’t greet people. All she does is give you a look that she doesn’t want to be there and everything is a pain for her. Looking at her already makes me annoyed and pissed off.
The worst run-​in I had with her was later in the afternoon. I wanted to order an acai bowl before my lab. I walked up to the counter and she was on her phone. I waited patiently for when she was done, she looks up at me for a second, and just stared at me. I didn’t know if I can place my order or not so I didn’t say anything. She looked back down at her phone and kept texting or whatever she was doing. She looked up at me again and just stared, but this time I asked for an acai bowl. Again I just received a stare, she looked back at her phone, and continued doing whatever it was she was doing. After waiting for about a minute she gets up and rings me up for my order.

My favorite place to go to while I’m on campus! The workers are always super nice! All of the smoothies are delicious, I love trying new ones each time I go. Definitely give it a try!

You can’t go wrong with any of the smoothie options and they’re all way better than Jamba Juice. The plates are also big and full of good food. Definitely my favorite spot on campus to eat

The food was great I had the Thai veggie curry and it was awesome the blend of coconut and herbs and spices really makes my mouth water, also smoothies were cheap I got a medium for 3.50 and it was delicious I think it was pineapple paradise the cashier there was very helpful with recommendations it’s like she knew exactly what I wanted it was like heaven in a cup for only 3.50!!! Sorry Jamba Juice your days of putting sugar in my smoothies are over

For $ 5.50 I got a mini and I asked the chick what was good and it was some kind of vegan chili, but it sucked. It was cold, she gave me hella little bit greens and they dont have take out plates. Which sucked cuz I wanted to eat it after class…

Customer service-​worse I’ve ever encountered. I asked about the size of the acai bowl she said «decent size»…ummm okay, totally answers my question, «can I see how big it would be?» She said «it’s made to order» as she stared at me like I was dumb…“can I see the bowl?” Her face lit up as she realized that’s what I meant two questions ago… Friend ordered mangolicious smoothie & I ordered an acai bowl.
Waiting.
«mangoblahblah» (not mangolicious) lady glares at my friend «that’s not what I ordered» she said «I ordered mangolicious» *worker yells as if she was frustrated*
Wow okay.
«Acai bowl» big bowl with frozen Icy acai with only 4 pieces of banana and 3 pieces of strawberry…
«Mangolicious”*with attitude and eye roll*
Definitely not going back there again

Unilocaler beware!
Da Spot can either hit the spot or make at least a spot in clothing that you may not care for and make an embarrassing scene.
Are you sick of hamburger steak or chicken on white rice? Then you may like to be adventurous and try a really spicy beef or spicy pork or amazingly grilled spiced fish. Curry– check, they have from spicy curry to hotter than ghost pepper hot curry. NO they don’t put ghost peppers in it but to me it is too hot and the scholla is too high to begin with on the tempered curry — I just can’t handle much spice of this kind.
Instead of seeing the food presented the normal way– the food clues that I would normally get of the yogurt, bread and cut cucumber on the side would tell me that the food is spicy hot as well as temp hot that one will need the cooling factors like normal.
The food is presented in more normal plate lunch form– I don’t think it is presented as well as it could be presented– like in the catering or restaurant.
My friends at conferences when we go to UHM love Da Spot and having a different choice instead of the normal plate lunch food or the boring choice of fried tuna on white rice like we are normally served in the conference hall.
So do be warned– it is spicy and full on flavor– not a beef or pork flavor but a sauce flavor. I don’t think that the food has good taste but it has different taste. I eat to be polite and get the least spicy item I can find and order bread and cucumber to cool my tongue. If you can handle different spicy food– go for it. If you don’t like exotic spice — run!
Way different. Fair assessment– not your typical Zippy’s plate lunch, heavy on sauce, heavy on spice, decent portion size usually and unique to the extreme.
If you are unsure– go for a salad– you will not be impressed but as I started the review, with some spicy food and some people their stomach can not handle the unique spices well and may go toilet before making it to the bathroom, hence the brown spot if not careful. Know yourself and be warned that the food can give some people the runs if it is not your thing. As with other food trucks– go to another one as long as your friends can wait for you because this one may be too much for you if you don’t know or like this kind of food to begin with– but as a Peace Corps Volunteer I had to try many many new foods — so I say go for it but be warned ahead of time.

The smoothie I got was not bad, especially for the price (very inexpensive) but the service was terrible. People behind me in line got their orders before they even started making mine. The guy at the register had to ask me to remind him of my order. I was not apologized to for being forgotten.
The girls making the food do not have their long hair tied back so watch out for hairs in your food.
I recommend going to their main location instead which is very nice and usually has excellent service.

I used to go to Da Spot when they were part of the Davies Pacific outdoor food court in downtown. The selections and portions were terrific. Not so with their mobile venue at UH. First of all, the cashier told me that they can only serve vegetarian dishes, which I guess is part of their deal with UH. That in and of itself is fine. However, when I ordered their Thai coconut plate for $ 8, it came on one of those Costco medium sized Dixie plates and very skimpy. The saffron rice was good, but the Thai coconut sauce was kind of light and nothing remarkable. They added some lettuce to it. Food at UH Manoa is slim pickings (there essentially is no college town for shops and cheap eats unless you consider walking a half mile down to University and Beretania as part of the college town), and this does not really help debunk that notion.

I’d rather drive to the King St. location than go to the truck at UH. For some add reason the girls working there are so drugged out that they have no clue on what they are doing. The local guy as «supervisor» needs to get checked too because if he is blind to see that his workers are not coherent during their shift, then every one in the truck should be replaced. I don’t care if they are all Rastafarian bull crap and smoke weed all day after (or during) while they work, but if you’re going to be an idiot to just serve food and you can’t even remember what the first person said about the plate? GTFO!!!

Smoothies here are way cheap and better than Jamba Juice (I do love Jamba but I like to support local).
I believe the large smoothie is 32 ounces and comes in a big cup and is only $ 5.23!!! At Down to Earth that sized smoothie will cost you almost $ 9. At Jamba, the large smoothie will cost you about $ 8.
So many really original flavor combos or you can make your own. They have unique ingredients you won’t find at Jamba like lychee and haupia. I tried acai, strawberry, guava, and pineapple today. Acai, mixed berries, strawberries, and guava is my favorite. It’s not a listed flavor but my own custom combo of ingredients. So delicious! I will definitely be coming back.

The food is so good and I have read very good reviews about the owners and how hard they work for quality and good food. I have no complaints about the King Street location as I have always liked the workers and the food.
UNFORTUNATELY. The UH Manoa campus location has gone to the dumps. For the last 2 months I have avoided Da Spot because the girls more and more are beginning to look cracked out, listening to degrading rap music.
Today however I craved an Amazon Wave at about 11:20 a.m. The cashier stared down at me like she wasn’t all there, then took my cash and yelled my order. The order came out and the girl who handed it to me was so nice, I didn’t make a complaint right there.
But they put PEANUT BUTTER in my Amazon Wave which should not contain such a dangerous substance and doesn’t taste very good with it.
Additionally loud rap music with lyrics like «I know you want it» «come give it to me» and other degrading and anti-​women lyrics were being played.
I cannot see the owners accepting this type of customer service on campus.
I really like Da Spot and hate feeling that I am supporting the wrong people.

The Da Spot on UH Manoa campus (the van) — is a great place for lunch, good sized portions at a great price and also a great fruit smoothie for only 3 dollars. Highly recommended.