Da Spot Kiosk

Smoothies and lunch specials are cheap an delicious!

A nice place to get smoothies, delicious plate lunch and they also serves sorbet acai bowl
Good place to go if you are bored of campus food however i got bored of it now because there are a few places to eat on campus so i tried it way too much…
Their acai bowl is pretty good however i sometime wish they put in some banana and more fruits but didn’t expected much because the price was pretty cheap compare to other places i have tried :)
So if you are around campus and need a refreshing meal for your next class give it a try !

I think Da Spot is one of my favorite places to eat on campus. It’s tasty, healthy, filling, and doesn’t break the wallet. What more can a poor college student ask for?
I’ve tried everything from smoothies to their plate lunches, but my favorite is their sorbet bowl. It’s a meal and dessert rolled into one! My absolute favorite is haupia and guava since the creamyness of the haupia balances nicely with the lightness of guava. Even though the menu says it comes with mango, I’ve had to ask them for it multiple times. Their default toppings seem to be honey and granola, but they’ll gladly add mango if you ask. Be aware that the mango is frozen and not fresh but they give you four giant scoops for $ 4 so it’s still a deal.
I haven’t had a problem with customer service, but I don’t think any girls have taken my order before… maybe that’s the reason why? Either way, the food here is good and I’ll likely to continue frequenting this location until I graduate.

If you can look beyond the snarky or sometimes nonchalant stoned staff, then maybe you’ll like this place. I say maybe because they’re horribly inconsistent. Why can’t any place just be okay?!
Firstly, I stop here in the mornings pretty often before my first class because they have a variety of muffins. I should warn that these are Costco muffins that are purchased in bulk then wrapped in shrink wrap. $ 1.75 is still a bargain for an on-​campus breakfast pastry so I don’t mind dishing it out, but lately I’ve found it to be extremely frustrating because the staff NEVER has the muffins set out and doesn’t seem to know what is in any of them. Beyond that, they’re left in a refrigerator over night so I don’t even know how often they go out to buy these things. I’ve stopped buying them since this realization.
Lunch service… God! I want to love this place so bad. The parmesan mixed veggies is always a winner but it’s the only one I can honestly say I’ve loved. A few days ago their sign said «Moussaka» which, for those of you who don’t know, is a Mediterranean dish usually made with ground beef and eggplant. Da Spot in it’s vegetarian route, opts to leave out the meat. But what’s frustrating is that it looks NOTHING like what moussaka should be; there is no baked cheesy creamy topping. It’s literally eggplant tossed in some tomato mixture. I SAW that they had moussaka as I would imagine it to be in a separate container. When I motioned for the woman to serve me that because it was what I ordered, she snappily replied that I didn’t know what moussaka was and that it’s «an eggplant dish. Can’t you tell this is eggplant?»
After this past experience I am uncertain if I will return, which is annoying because this place is a little better than Govinda’s in terms of portion/​price. Mrrrh… I just wish the staff was a little better.

I still really like this place, it’s still my go to spot for smoothies at a much cheaper price with better service than Jamba Juice. But I do have to knock down a star because today I made the unfortunate decision of ordering their acai bowl. Just a heads up to everyone else: do not get the acai bowl. It’s basically just the sorbet out of the freezer, not the creamy kind that you might be used to at a real store that specializes in acai bowls. It was frozen and chunky and had big pieces of ice in it. I think the only really tasty thing about the bowl was the honey and granola. Even the raisins were incredibly hard like rocks. It really was a disappointment. Still I think their smoothies are the way to go if you need a refreshing drink and their lunch plates are usually generous and delicious. But as far as the acai bowl goes – just steer clear of it.
I’ll still be a fan of Da Spot though, especially on campus!
Unilocal challenge: #22/​365

An afternoon stroll and a craving for something sweet brought me to Da Spot kiosk in the old Sustainability Courtyard (or maybe it’s still called that?). I can’t comment on their food as I’ve never tried it before — though they do sound delicious. (Note: only vegetarian dishes are served here). Their smoothies on the other hand are awesome. They must have about 20+ different flavor combinations on the board (plus, you can create your own, too). The small is $ 3, medium $ 3.50 and a large is $ 5. I ordered the medium #2 with bananas, strawberry, lilikoi sorbot and POG juice. So refreshingly delicious. Jumba Juice at Campus Center should be worried.

There were two lunchwagons in the courtyard by Kuykendall Hall. Yesterday, I ate at Govinda’s, the one that serves Indian vegetarian fare dished up by Hare Krishnas, so today I wanted to try Da Spot.
It looked promising because every time I walked by, there was a line. The menu board had 5 specials: pad thai, which they were out of, garlic feta vegetables, and 3 curries – yellow, panang, and Egyptian, which was tomato-​based. I tried the yellow and the Egytian curries. A plate with 2 choices, brown rice, and iceberg salad is $ 5. I added a banana acai soymilk smoothie for another $ 3.
When I got back to the office and opened up the container, it didn’t look or smell very good. Then I tried it. Both curries were horrible! They were sour and salty and the veggies were overcooked and not fresh. I should have known this because while I was waiting in line, I looked at the 2 boxes of produce they were selling on the side, and the garlic was so old, it was growing new green tops out of the cloves.
The curries consisted (in order of frequency) of lots of yellow squash, bell peppers, eggplant, mushrooms, potatoes, and green beans. I don’t think they washed the vegetables because I bit into a mushroom and the cap was full of grit. The green bell peppers were very bitter and tough – I had to spit it out. The flavors of both curries were salty and sour. The salad that the plate lunch came with had a dressing on it that tasted just like straight shoyu and oil. Not tasty.
Good thing I had already eaten lunch an hour earlier because if this was all I had, I’d be just grossed out. (Yes, I do eat two lunches – so what?!!) At least it only cost $ 8 and the smoothie was pretty good, although I’m not sure how often they wash the blenders. It didn’t look like it was that often. Luckily, I have a stomach of steel.

So, I raise them a star. Although I still think they could use a little more improvement, I have to say that in the 1.5ish years since I wrote my first review they have improved greatly. Or, maybe they just slowly grew on me. Nevertheless, I’m a fan of more than just their smoothies now…& that’s the thing that counts.
I’m totally not a vegetarian. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t like to enjoy some delicious vegetarian food every now & then. Like many before me have said, the mini plate is a good deal. Spending under $ 5 for a meal is a dream for anyone really, whether on a budget or not!
The tomato basil parmesan veggies are amazing! And, it seems really popular because that’s usually the first thing they run out of. Also the tomato garlic herb roasted veggies & the Egyptian curry is pretty good too. Not to mention, the baklava… love it. Now, I have to agree that not all their entrees & menu items are great. But nevertheless, I love them… now.
The workers are nice too… especially the guys. A little rough around the edges, but they have decent customer service. Some of the girls on the other hand, they have a tendency to be grouchy sometimes. But, really… that could just be because it’s their «time of the month», who knows?