Bento Cafe

No way that I’m standing in line to order sushi! And Cant even order from the Sushi Bar. Stupid system!

Simply put, I liked it.
I liked the sushi. I liked my daughter General Tso’s.
I liked the smaller portions.
I liked the people taking the orders; friendly, quick and helpful.
I liked the speed of service; everything came within ten minutes.
I liked the interior of the seating area; spacious, well lit, nice.
I will definitely return and hope to see one closer to where I live.

Scorpion roll is supposed to contain fried soft shell crab. I received lame, shrivels of what might be crab. Called back, they first said I could get an appetizer. I requested the manager. Manager said he would handle it. They sent me another sushi roll. Same infuriatingly poor quality. Left was the first order (forced to eat). Right is the second order. Both Scorpion Rolls, both disappointing.

Bit of a downtick in my rating for Bento Café based on my most recent experience.
Plusses include freshness of the food. Also, I would say that their spicy cream noodle bowl, particularly with shrimp, is their specialty. The shrimp are segments similar to their shrimp tempura, paired with soba noodles, and coated with their spicy cream sauce-​slash-​glaze; the mouth feel and flavor are excellent. Their General Tso’s chicken is pretty good, almost as good as the hole-​in-​the-​wall New York style Chinese place up the street from my home. Their spicy mayo sauce, often served alongside sushi, is more flavorful than I’ve had elsewhere, with ample bits of flavorful spice.
Minuses include portion sizes; specifically, if you get a noodle bowl, well over ¾ of the dish will consist of cheap, carb-​laden noodles, and ¼ or less of your chosen protein. Their $ 7 or so shrimp tempura appetizer consists of rather small shrimp a bit shorter than and about the diameter, with tempura batter, of an Oscar Meyer wiener. Their 8-​piece spicy tuna sushi has a meager amount of tuna and the roll size is even smaller than what you might find in the local supermarket’s sushi section, and also has arrived disconcertingly lukewarm; I feel a lot better about raw-​fish sushi when it arrives nicely ice-​cold. Speaking of temperature, the couple of times I’ve ordered soup, it’s been just barely warm; this after having just picked it up on site. Worst so far has been their disgusting attempt at red curry, which was a lukewarm, tarry mess; the first thing that pops into mind with a red curry should NOT be «clotted cream», yet that’s what it looked like, I couldn’t finish it.
In short, there are a very few things Bento Café seems to do right aside from those very few things that I find consistently delicious. I’d recommend sticking with better choices in town, like Bangkok Square for good Thai, and Mahzu for their great weekday sushi lunch specials and excellent shrimp tempura.

I LOVE bentos! I’ve been a regular here for over a year. The girls at the counter are always polite and greet me when I walk in

An Asian QSR? Yes, please!
I didn’t know such a thing existed but I’m walking on air. Going in blindly it can initially be confusing. Where to go — what to do? Not to fear as the cashier explains everything to you and it’s rather simple. Pick one from wok, bento, sushi or soup bowl then your protein. Place your order, pay and they bring your meal to your table. I had the ginger scallion chicken bento and it was plentiful. It’s all reasonably priced and you get a full meal.
As with fast food restaurants, their tables are not cleaned between customers. Be aware.
The highlight was receiving a coupon at check out for $ 1 off My Mochi next door.

Best restaurant ever, especially their sushi.
I got the almond joy boba tea with tapioca pearls. Seriously tastes like an almond joy.
I got the National Champ roll. Cream cheese, avocado and crab filled with crab scallop spicy mayo mix on top. I also got the Crunch roll. Lightly fried on the outside with tuna, crab, cream cheese and cucumber inside.
Highly recommend

I’ve been a regular at Bento since undergrad– every time we had events in Gainesville, it would be the number one place where we would stop by. My all time favorite fish is the Spicy Creamy chicken/​shrimp. It has a sauce similar to Bang Bang Shrimp, but I like theirs much better. I usually get it over noodles or rice because I’m not a big fan of their bento boxes– maybe due to the lack of flavor of the sides.
It’s a pretty cheap place to get sushi. I like their the create-​a-​don because you can pick 3 types of meat on top of rice, avocado, cucumber, and seaweed. It’s pretty tasty and fills you up. It gives you the bang for your buck if you’re craving sashimi (rather than paying $ 5 for three pieces of meat).
They also have milk teas and boba smoothies, but it needs improvement. The drinks are overly sweet and you can just taste the powder– pretty nasty really, but I guess it can fool people who haven’t tasted quality boba teas.

I would definitely come back and recommend this place to friends and family.
I really liked the food here. I had the yellowtail sashimi and the ginger scallion chicken rice bowl. It was delicious the portions are quite big, my boyfriend and I shared it since we weren’t too hungry. The sashimi I order was fresh and big, the pieces are bigger than some of the places around town. I’m considering coming back for lunch tomorrow. The service was quick, our food came out wishing 10min of ordering.
The atmosphere was good, very nice décor and relatively clean. I thought the ordering process was a bit confusing for first time visitors. There was no sign that say «grab menu here», I just grabbed the menu because other customers did that. The stirfry menu was a little bit confusing too, but the line was long so I had time to figure out.

Food:
Chicken udon stirfry –good size and flavor. Added a combo to add a soda and edamame and also got the ginger salad which was a good size salad with flavorful dressing
Kids chicken katsu nuggets — this was good with plenty of nuggets cooked perfectly although the katsu sauce was not authentic. It was light brown and weird and my daughter would not eat it.
Environment:
Sleek, clean, modern
Service:
Friendly and attentive
Definitely would return when in town.

We ordered the volcano roll, kids teriyaki chicken bento, chicken katsu curry bento, Cajun chicken bento, dew the melon milk tea with boba, peach green tea with boba. Line was long but we received our delicious food quickly. We will return again!

The food menu doesnt have right set up to understand what is going on there. So u will spend 15 mins just looking for what u want and how u want it. Then the waiting line is way too long so u will forget what u want by time u get there to order :). Then u want find table for u but its an adventure too. Not too many tables are cleaned from costumers before or if they are «clean» they dont look clean how u would like. Food is done pretty fast just we went there with my girlfriend and i get food way before her so together dinner ended that one looked how other is chewing. I ordered Bento fried rice with shrimp and here is what i get: 7 shrimp with «fried» rice. just bland taste of soy souce. U Dont even know u have fried rice because the soy sauce made it so soft that u think u have steam rice. No other taste that soy and soy. So the vegi or shrimp is like screaming in dark. My GF ordered Udon stir fry noodle bowl with shrimp and my food and her food had only one differece. I get rice and she had noodles. but taste of Soy all over and little over salty. But again boring plate for saturday dinner. This place maybe look fancy but need keep up with cleaning and find thetaste of Asia or Japan

I really enjoy this place. Everyone is friendly and Service is fast. Sushi tastes fresh and prices are spot on! I wish they offered agedashi tofu on the appetizer menu. Love that they serve coke products But not a fan of the new coke touch screen machines. They have a wide variety of sushi/​sashimi and noodle bowls as well. For my experiences here the only thing I think is a problem is the ordering. The line seems to take a very long time during the ordering process. They teas with the tapioca pearls are very popular. They also serve beer and wine by the bottles. I do recommend this place. Enjoy!

Stopped by Bento café for late lunch. For some reason the line was long. I got the chirasa, we had to wait a while to get the food, but once it came it wasn’t bad.
It is what it is, which is fast food sushi. It straddles that line between truck stop sushi and a dedicated Japanese restaurant.
Given my preference, I’d stop at a Japanese restaurant, but when I would need fast sushi or fast Japanese food, Benito café makes due.

Went for dinner here, got myself some crab cheese wontons with Chicken Katsu Noodle bowl, everything was really good. The ambiance of this place is good — guess they sometimes have Karaōke too, I would definitely recommend this place for those in the city, if you have never tried japanese/​asian cuisine.

Went for lunch with co-​workers. Very friendly and informative cashier.
Ordered the spicy cream chicken bento box. Everything was good, I couldn’t eat it all. Chicken was crispy & hot, not too much spice. Comes with rice, noodles, friend green beans and salad.

I have gone to this establishment almost a hundred times, and I think it’s finally time for me to give the most unbiased review ever. I have had good experiences, and also bad.
I have ordered a plethora of different plates, ranging from JB rolls to udon and stir fry vegetables, and consistently, the food doesn’t seem to disappoint. Sometimes, the food is bit too simplified for me, such as the katsu chicken noodle bowl (or any noodle bowl at that… the noodles always taste the same… no special seasoning?) But it isn’t inedible or bad. Just not what I would make myself as a noodle-​making chef.
My favorite things to order are the JB roll and the Chicken Pad thai rice bowl, which is similar to the kind of dish you’d get at an actual thai place with complementary rice. (I’m a fan of Bahn Thai, but not a fan of the price sometimes). The Pad Thai is not identical, but good enough for me to find it to be a suitable substitute when I’m feeling cheap.
The one thing this chain location lacks is consistent service. Although the service is fast, and the lines move quickly a lot of the nights I go, I have gotten my dish pushed back in the kitchen a LOT, and have even had my order dropped off to the wrong table. I have gotten my order messed up too (small things: rice bowl instead of noodle bowl, etc.)
Bottomline, this is good to satisfy any craving you have for pan-​asian food and typical sushi, but isn’t the best place in the universe. It is simply a solid choice for the college kid on a budget who wants a large variety of quickly served asian-​style cuisine. I find it to be a really convenient option for dinner.

I’d call this place «fast food sushi». It’s good for what it is! We were in town for a couple hours and were in the mood for something fast and sushi related. BINGO Bento! I had a National Champ roll which consisted of a Mexican roll with a baked spicy mayo scallop mix on top. It was pretty good. My favorite part was the Honeydew smoothie with Mango jellies! It was delicious!
This restaurant is average price and provides a pretty good bang for your buck. There’s free parking in the parking lot at the front. The bathrooms are one stall each gender. You place your order at the front of the restaurant and receive a number where someone then delivers the food to you when it’s ready. It’s definitely worth checking out!

There isn’t a Bento Café in Tampa so whenever I’m in Orlando, Jax, or Gainesville, Bentos is a necessary stop.
A wide variety of options, the menu is packed with affordable and well proportioned cuisine.
My all time favorite is the spicy cream sauce with shrimp or chicken~ whatever I’m feeling at the moment. I’ve also tried the katsu, teriyaki chicken, and bulgogi; all very delicious items.
Spicy cream sh/​ch definitely hits the spot every once in a while so I’ll admit it doesn’t seem like the healthiest choice (there are plenty of healthy alternatives) but it’s a popular choice!
I’ve eaten at Bentos in both Orlando locations, Jacksonville, and Red Bento (as opposed to blue), all have great service and even better food.

Every time I pass through Gainesville, I’d try to pick up something from Bento. I wish we had one in the Tampa Bay area. The food here isn’t extraordinary, but it’s good for the price. My all time favorite from Bento is SPICY SALMON DOM. I like it because the portion is perfect for me (smaller portion than at sushi restaurants and therefor cheaper) and it has everything I want in one dish: sushi rice, spicy salmon, seaweed salad and avocado.
Just the other day on our way home from up north, my bf and I needed to pick up something real quick so we stopped by Bento. Good thing I called ahead to place the order because there were about 15 people in line. We got the Spicy Salmon Dom, Spicy Conch Roll, Stir Fry Udon and Milk Tea. As usual, I loved the Salmon Dom. First time trying the Stir Fry Udon and my bf really liked it. I did have a taste and I think I might order it next time. I was so-​so with the Spicy Conch Roll and Milk Tea. The conch roll didn’t have much of a taste and the milk tea was a bit bland.
If you’re not eating there, my advice is to place your order before coming in. Gainesville is a college town so this place can get very crowded. We were in and out within 10 min. I love that the menu is extensive.