What are the opening hours?

Monday 11am - 8pm Tuesday 11am - 8pm Wednesday 11am - 8pm Thursday 11am - 8pm Friday 11am - 8pm Saturday 11am - 8pm Sunday 11am - 8pm

The Bento Bowl

Asian-inspired protein bowls
•choose your base
•pick a protein
•add toppings
•sauce it up
Made fresh. Built your way.

08/04/2026

What a day! ❤️ Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate our Grand Opening especially the Tawas Area Chamber of Commerce for organizing it!

We truly appreciate every person who has supported us, shared a meal with us, and cheered us on. We’re so grateful to be part of this amazing community. Here’s to many more bowls together! 🥢

We also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped bring Bento Bowl to life—Russo Engineering, C.Herrick Plumbing & Heating, Summit Fire Protection, Baron Mechanical, Divine Drywall & Finishing (Jeremy Banks), Cornerstone Hardscape (Mike Dettmer), Primary Electric, Elliott Insurance Group, Justin & Haylee Photography, Print N Go, Floors by the Bay, Erik from GFS, Angela from Sysco, the City of East Tawas, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the Iosco County Health Department, the Iosco County Building Department, Matt from Route 23 and Heather from Bleu Moose for your encouragement and supportive words, NUS23 Foodies for the exposure, both of our hardworking and supportive parents, and Ed & Betty Freel for believing in us and renting us this space.

Your hard work, encouragement, support, and belief in our dream made this possible.

07/31/2026

🎉 It’s Official… Grand Opening Day is Here!

Join us Monday, August 3 as we celebrate the official Grand Opening of Bento Bowl!

✂️ Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
🕚 11:08 AM
📍 108 W. Westover St., East Tawas

Why 11:08? In Chinese culture, the number 8 is considered especially lucky because it symbolizes prosperity, success, and good fortune. Since so much of Bento Bowl is inspired by our family’s life in Asia, choosing 8/3 at 11:08 AM felt like the perfect way to begin this new chapter. ❤️

We’ll be joined by the Tawas Area Chamber of Commerce for the ribbon cutting, and we’d love for you to help us celebrate this special milestone!

Whether you’ve already become a regular or have been waiting for the perfect excuse to stop by, we can’t wait to welcome you.

Here’s to good food, good fortune, and an exciting future. 🥢🥡🎉

Heads up: We’ll pause service for just a few minutes during the ribbon cutting so our team can celebrate together. Thanks for understanding! ❤️

07/28/2026

How Bento Bowl Works 🍚🥢

We’ve realized there are a few questions that come up pretty often, so here’s the quick rundown. 😊

Step 1: Order at the counter! We’re a fast-casual restaurant, so there are no servers. Just order, pay and then grab a seat or take it to go!

Step 2: Build your bowl exactly how you like it. Pick your base, protein, veggies, sauces, and toppings. With so many combinations, no two bowls have to be the same!

Step 3: Here’s the part that seems to surprise people… yes, our rice, noodles, and hot proteins (everything except our cold smoked salmon 🐟) are served hot! Then you top them with fresh, cold ingredients like cucumber, kimchi, bean sprouts, cilantro, and more—just like you would at Chipotle, CAVA, Hummus & Pita Co., and other build-your-own restaurants. Hot + cold is exactly how it’s meant to be, and once you try it, it just works. 😋

One more thing! Whether you’re dining in or taking your meal to go, everything is served in our compostable, single-use bowls. It keeps things simple, makes cleanup easy, and if you don’t finish your bowl… you’re already packed up to take the rest home. 😉

Simple. Fast. Delicious. Built exactly the way you want it.

See you soon! ❤️

07/24/2026

Updated Menu!

A few exciting changes based on your feedback!

Yum Yum Sauce is here! It was one of our most requested sauces, and we listened. It’s now a permanent menu option!

We’ve also added a Ginger Scallion Vinaigrette—a light, fresh dressing that’s both gluten-free and dairy-free. It’s a great choice if you’re looking for something a little lighter.

You’ll also notice that Chinese BBQ Pork is temporarily off the menu. We weren’t happy with the consistency of the ingredients we were able to source, so we’re taking a break from it until we can bring it back the way we think it should be.

Thank you for all the feedback, suggestions, and support. We love hearing what you’d like to see, and we’re always working to make Bento Bowl even better!

07/21/2026

You all have been keeping us busy!

Our Japanese BBQ sauce has officially been loved a little too much 😉 and we’ve completely sold out.

Our next shipment is expected to arrive on Friday, and we’ll have it back on the line as soon as it gets here.

Thanks for your patience (and for making it one of our most popular sauces)! In the meantime, we’ve still got plenty of other delicious sauces to top your bowl. We can’t wait to have the Japanese BBQ back for you!

07/19/2026

[UPDATE 7/21] We’re sold out of the pork😜

IT’S BACK!
…but only for a few days!

Our Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu) is making a limited-time return as this week’s special. Sweet, savory, and packed with classic Chinese BBQ flavor, it’s one of those proteins people keep asking us to bring back.

Build your bowl with rice, noodles, or lettuce, pile on your favorite toppings, and don’t forget the sauce 🤤

Available while it lasts—stop by before it’s gone!

📍108 W. Westover St., Downtown East Tawas
⏰ Open daily 11 AM–8 PM (or until we sell out)

07/17/2026

Friday 7/17:

Just an FYI that we’ve temporarily disabled online ordering until the fall, mostly because you’re keeping us so busy in the restaurant! ❤️

We do our best to answer the phone and take call-in orders whenever we’re able, but during busy rushes we may not be able to get to the phone.

You can always find our current menu and information at www.thebentobowl.com⁠

Thank you for your patience and for keeping us so busy!

07/11/2026

Saturday 7/11:

•No Japanese Ribeye until afternoon
•No Chinese BBQ Pork until further notice, possibly Tuesday 😊
•Brand new Japanese viral sodas just in today!

Open 11-8, or until we run out 🍱

07/08/2026

❤️ Thank you, Tawas! ❤️

First of all…wow. We have been blown away by the support you’ve shown us since opening.

One thing we’ve learned very quickly is that we sometimes sell out before closing. While that’s a great problem to have, we know it’s frustrating if you make the trip only to find we’re out of food, and we’re truly sorry when that happens.

Right now, we’re still learning how much to prepare each day. Our kitchen is small, and because we make our proteins and prep our vegetables fresh in-house, there’s only so much we can produce in a day. We’d rather serve fresh food than overproduce and compromise on quality.

Every day we’re adjusting, increasing our prep, and getting a little better at predicting demand. We’re working hard to keep up, and we appreciate your patience while we grow.

Beginning around 7:00 PM, we stop cooking new batches for the evening. We’ll continue serving whatever is available until we close or until we sell out. If you have your heart set on a particular protein, we recommend stopping in a little earlier!

Thank you again for supporting our little family business. We can’t wait to keep serving you—and hopefully stay stocked a little longer each day! ❤️

Address

108 W Westover Street
East Tawas, MI
48730

Opening Hours

Monday	11am - 8pm
Tuesday	11am - 8pm
Wednesday	11am - 8pm
Thursday	11am - 8pm
Friday	11am - 8pm
Saturday	11am - 8pm
Sunday	11am - 8pm

Website

http://www.thebentobowl.com/

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