Pros - food was very good flavor-wise, plenty of parking for the restaurant Mid - portion size could be larger, not a lot of indoor seating, very loud and packed Cons - Price is high, automatic 20% service fee on the bill meant poor service, we weren't very well taken care of during our visit Overall - would go again, just fix portion sizes and let me tip what I'd like or fold the fee into what I'm paying anyway. Yes, it says it on the menu, but just adjust prices and drop it altogether. read more

Puma Yus is nice, good mood lighting and the outdoor space is very nice on a nice evening. A bit cramped inside and chairs aren't the most comfortable, but doable. The service has been excellent when I've been there, very accommodating and easy to work with. The food at one point was one of my favorite spots in town. Good across the board, great appetizers, and while there wasn't exactly an abundance of vegetarian options, the mushroom Pad See Ew was one of the best vegetarian dishes in Athens. The curry that replaced it unfortunately is a bit bland, and the new appetizers also missed the mark a bit for me. It was a real letdown the last time I was there. All in all a great little spot that I think may have lost its way a bit with the new menu. read more

This restaurant had a nice environment, modern and clean. They had both inside and outdoor covered dining. The server was very nice and friendly. However the meals were just not at that same level. We ordered the special which was a fried chicken with sticky rice. This meal was just bland and boring. We also ordered the Basil Beef noodle. This was supposed to be my meal, but it was loaded with lots of red chili and I was unable to scoop this away. The menu was small and a bit pricy for the quality so I won't be returning. read more

puma yu’s - Basil Beef Noodle - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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Nice wood paneled bar/restaurant. A small single room dominated by a bar on the left, sharing the room with a few small tables. Pleasant music in background. Interesting cocktails, a few local beers and generic wines. Not typical Thai in an eclectic short menu of very tasty dishes Shrimp toast haf big shrimp on thick brioche toast with a sweetish sauce. Delicious! Raw Hamachi topped by lime pulp and a soy based sauce. Cumin lamb noodles had the most MaLa Schezwan peppercorn mouth numbing sauce I can remember in a dish. Each dish was unique and memorable in a good way. read more

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Great service, good food, and awesome atmosphere! Wings were bland and had no flavor. Food was flavorful but the more I ate the saltier it felt. I definitely recommend though!! read more

puma yu’s - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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Hands down best dinner I've had in Athens! Sat at the bar and had "lose my number" ,the Red Fish for dinner and the yummy desserts. The staff made the evening even better. Will be back the next time I'm in town. read more

puma yu’s - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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I enjoyed my visit to Puma Yu's. The highlight was the customer service. Everyone was friendly and helpful! The restaurant is trendy and beautiful, and I loved the patio area. I had the stellar tunnel and the sea island red peas with rice. I enjoyed my drink; the food was okay. read more

puma yu’s - Stellar Tunnel - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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Everything I tried tasted good (including the cocktail) and my companions seemed equally happy. I imagine I'll become frequent patron slowly working my way through the menu read more

Came back for another experience at puma Yu's. Once again I am happily surprised at their ever-changing menu and their courteous and fun staff. The ambience is always wonderful and I'm always reminded of the lovely atmosphere of the bar/restaurant. Whether I'm just getting a drink or going for nice dinner, I know that my time will always be well spent at this establishment! Thanks for the meal and great time! read more

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Athens needed a place like this! The cocktails are unique and well balanced. Each dish was full of authentic Southeast Asian flavors that I have not been able to find anywhere else in Athens. The service was friendly and attentive, and the AC was pumping cool enough to get a soup. I got the shrimp noodle soup which had huge prawn-like, peeled shrimp and fresh herbs. The broth was incredibly flavorful! I love that they kept the shrimp heads in the bowl. Don't be afraid to suck out the extra flavor from the shrimp heads! I had a taste of my husband's duck noodles and wow you cannot go wrong with that dish. It has everything! Rich meaty duck, fresh crisp bok choy, spicy sambal. The dining room is small but welcoming. I'd say reservations are recommended. They also have a nice outdoor patio for the days that aren't oppressively hot. Puma Yu's will always be a stop whenever I visit the Athens area. read more

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Unassuming location with Great food and the service was pre-covid quality, great service. Must try if you are in the area.

When you automatically add 20% to the bill even when the service was a 1 out of 5. You get called out. You order a couple of cocktails and it takes 15 mins to get there, and the waitress blames the bartender and you walk by and see your drinks sitting there for 5 mins. Then you ask where the cocktails are and they magically show up. Done...I went to the Mgr and adjusted the tip. You can't just add 20% bc you want to. BTW, I tip big, but this was not acceptable and I made it clear. NEVER ACCEPT THE AUTO 20%. OR MORE. #never going back to puma yu's read more

This was disappointing and not sure what tastebuds the other reviewers have because it was some of the worst food we've eaten. My entire table was sorely disappointed with their meals. Everyone of the meals was overpowered with too much saltiness and spice (and I'm not talking about hot spicy because we can tolerate that just finds, but I'm referring to the ingredients overpowered the dish that you couldn't savor the the flavors well) Not worth it for the price and the quality of the food and the how much food you get for the price. I do give them good ambiance. It's a nicely well-decorated place but don't let the pretty decor fool you. Not worth the money and you'll leave hungry and disappointed. read more

This is perhaps Athens' premier restaurant now, and one of the prettiest bars in town. Try the specialty cocktails, you won't be disappointed. read more

Wonderful ambience and rightfully rated Athen's best Asian restaurant for 2024. The peach and squash salad caused an interesting tingling/numbing feeling in your mouth because the beet consumé contains Szechuan peppers read more

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We chose this restaurant to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Big mistake! We couldn't hear each other over the shouting of a large party seated near us, each member of which tried to top the others in terms of volume. The smallness of the room and the brick walls caused the sound of the bartenders aggressively shaking ice in tumblers to be especially jarring. A jack hammer would have been less distracting. Our waiter was unable to penetrate this din with his mumbling. I repeatedly had to ask him to speak up. His descriptions of the dishes were wildly inaccurate. My wife said he looked "lost." I am happy to provide generous tips for good service, but the mandatory 20% service charge was ridiculous for such shoddy and incompetent "service." Whoever took the photographs of the interior for the restaurant's website did a good job of disguising the shoddy furnishings. Our chairs looked like they had been rescued from a dumpster. The food was marginal. Our dishes were dominated by one flavor, completly lacking nuance. We ate little of our dishes, taking most of the food home, hoping it would taste better without the hellscape atmosphere. It did not and ended up in the trash. The menu listed two deserts, one of which we tried to order but were told they had run out of it. This was at 6 pm, so the dinner service had barely begun. Utter incompetence. Adding all of these factors together, I felt as if I was eating inside a food truck run by the clueless. read more

so my wife and I decided to give PumaYu's a try for dinner. It was a cold and damp night. when we arrived, and asked to be seated they insisted we sit outside even though the restaurant was half empty, and even had a small table for two that was empty. The menu is extremely VAUGE and in my opinion, deceptive. I ordered the Pork Cheeks which is described as a dish with RICE. What arrived was a sort of salad of cilantro, tomatoes, onions with NO PORK CHEEKS, instead it had about 6 pieces of PORK FAT with absolutely no meat which was probably PORK JOWELS, not pork CHEEKS. THINK raw bacon fat with no meat. the fat was warmed up on one side only, and raw and greasy, and completely white, just FAT. When I asked where was the rice? I was told they sprinkle on some rice powder but only if I would have asked for it. The restaurant has potential, but the menu needs ALOT of work. nothing is labeled as a starter, salad, side, entree, and then they dont include the items described on the menu, its seems totally random. Ill wait 6 months and see if they figure it out before I go back. read more

Food , service and ambiance was good just pricey dropped over $200 and wasn't full but food is unique kinda like tapa size portions

The food isn't up to par. I had the redfish: horrible, bland, weird tasting vegetables. The shrimp appetizer featured huge shrimp that were not anywhere near as good as Gulf shrimp. The only thing that was really good was desert! The service was good, atmosphere crowded and much too noisy. read more

So we ate half of the fish before I remembered to take a pic. The Red Snapper is a whole fried fish and that is their signature dish. We came during Restaurant Week for Athens so got it at a deal in a multiple course dinner. Puma makes incredible sauces and I was basically eating the sauces raw. My only qualm is that it's expensive for what the restaurant is and where it's located in small town Georgia. read more

puma yu’s - Came with the Red Snapper - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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I wanted to write a review to showcase how delicious some items were on the menu. The drinks appear to be decently strong but the food was the highlight and worth the price point. Everything was a shareable portion for the starters in which saved my boyfriend and I a bit of money and gave us more room to try things. THE SHRIMP TOAST has to be one of the best things I have tasted in a while. The trout dip was a bit disappointing for the high price point; however, the chicken wings made up for it. read more

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Pricey, but good, although very spicy for those who are sensitive to that.. Service was good. Outdoor seating was pleasant.

Service was good and the Branzino was delicious!! The appetizers were superb, especially the duck dumplings!

I have tried every veggie option on Puma Yu's menu. The fried eggplant is awesome, and the smoked chili dip is addictive. The sour curry and laab mushrooms are okay. If you eat meat, the whole fish is the way to go. They make really good cocktails, especially the Persephone and Charming Beauty. The decor is ulta-chic, and they have a killer, covered outdoor patio. The service doesn't miss a beat. read more

We went to Puma Yu's for a second time so I thought I would write a review. Arrived and it was a slow night. Had good service. Our waitress was attentive but not overbearing. The dishes were good but tended to be on the small side. Best was eggplant in a Asian sauce. Well prepared and sliced to allow the flavors to penetrate. The dumplings had good flavor but the dish was tiny. 3 small dumplings....just not worth it imo. The wings were fine. Nothing to write home about. The last time the best part of the meal was the whole fish. This time it was good until we got to the upper portion and realized it had not been cleaned. Guts and all were still there....... Overall it was a fine experience but slightly overpriced. Looked at my wife on the way out and asked what her opinion was and she said we probably will not be back. read more

I drove from Atlanta to come here for brunch on my birthday and everything we had was DELICIOUS. The congee and the pork floss bun were to die for. The place is cute and colorful and so is the staff!!! I could not recommend Puma Yu's any more! Thanks y'all! read more

puma yu’s - Omelette - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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Had a wonderful lunch. I had shrimp pad Thai, my wife had a stir fry tofu. The flavors were amazing. By far the best Asian style food in Athens. Lunch apparently used to be counter service, but now it is full service. Their lunch menu had several more items than the online menu has. I had been hesitant to eat here because of the limited online menu, but I'm more than glad I did. Very small seating area inside, but we arrived before noon on a Thursday and had a table with no wait. The cocktail menu looked interesting but we didn't order one as it was lunch. Definitely plan going back for dinner. read more

The food is really good but automatic 20% gratuity on a two top when the service wasn't all that is wild.

Some of the worst service we've ever experienced. Tabitha spoke to us when we sat and then waited 20 minutes to return to ask what kind of wine we'd like. While the restaurant was not overly busy, Tabitha was able to give all her other tables ample attention except for ours. We waited an additional 25 minutes just to place our food orders, while our server whisked back and forth to every table but ours, even taking breaks to chat with coworkers. On top of this, it's like she didn't even want us to order anything. Having worked in the service industry for years myself, following up on drink refills when a dish is brought out or glasses are empty is pretty customary. We ended up having to ask the host for a water refill because she was having a social hour at the bar instead. Service aside the food was mediocre. Eggplant was bland and under seasoned, pork belly was a similar situation and borderline inedible, and the curry dishes had obnoxiously large chunks of daikon that added little but texture and took away from the main focus of the dish. All dishes quite overpriced as well for the quality. We do not plan on returning. read more

I don't often write reviews except when I am either really impressed or really disappointed. I am impressed! The way this place finds the absolute right combination and amount of spices to compliment the dishes is exceptional. I can't wait to go back to try more. We were served several items and each was special and exceeded my expectation. read more

Ally and Pete are soo awesome and so is Puma Yu's!

Was excited to try this Thai place but was disappointed. Sat outside and our server was a guy with a cut off tee shirt and we were now eye level with his belly hair. Should have left then. Asked for a hot tea but they don't serve any tea so ordered hot coffee but it was lukewarm and the creme was spoiled. Ordered 2 different entrees - lunch menu is limited, and asked that the spice level be lowered. Got the entrees and it looked like a whole bottle of chili flakes had been dumped on top. The server said the chef was Thai and so "it is what it is"!!! What we could eat wasn't very good. The pork was very tough. Don't like the added gratuity even tho I always do at least 20%. Why can't they just have a no tip policy and add the tip into the menu price. read more

Drinks are immaculate, phenomenal, and make everything I'm about to complain about worth it. Food is dope, I wish the price matched portion size. Service is bad. So disappointing. I've tried going probably a half dozen times since they've opened and have left with the same disappointment every time. Feels like servers are untrained or simply don't care. They are missing out on opportunities to upsell, never checking in on if we want second rounds, leaving us with empty glasses, and not nailing timing for firing dishes. This most recent visit we didn't get silverware until well after our second dish came out. Anyways. Great drinks, good food, bad service. read more

My husband and I are here for restaurant week and we're excited to try some new dishes. The restaurant is so cute and has a great ambiance and the servers were great. I got the smoked chili dip, squash and peach salad, and mushroom noodles. I wasn't crazy about the salad or the chili dip but I really enjoyed the mushroom pasta. The gluten free options are pretty limited if you have celiac but all of the pasta dishes are made with rice noodles. read more

Great atmosphere and employees! My friend and I decided to make a reservation for the Tamez bbq and puma yu's event. We hadn't tried either one so we thought it would be a great way to try both at the same time! Overall we had a good experience but we were very disappointed with the price. We did not feel the dish matched the price. I've worked in the restaurant industry for over 5 years and know fully well the dish could have been elevated to meet the price without compromising a profit. The ramen was $25 plus automatic gratuity which came out to $32 total. In what world is it okay to pay $32 for a small bowl of ramen.. The rib was really good but $25 ??? And I don't really care if "inflation" was the cause of it. I know how much eggs cost in bulk. A simple boiled egg would have been a great addition. The ramen had noodles, a rib, green onions and a chili oil. That's it. We're not in Atlanta and even then I don't think ramen costs that much over there.. read more

puma yu’s - Ramen - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Athens, Georgia

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The food is good but the fact that they have all new staff every time we go is a little off-putting. Tonight the waiter had the audacity to tell us that the 20% charge automatically added to the check was for the kitchen staff...meaning we were to add another 20% for himself? This is getting a little out of hand,,,, read more

Wonderful staff and super yummy food! You can tell everyone who works there loves to be there which is super important as someone who has worked in the service industry for years. read more

Incredible food and fantastic service! Molly is a delightful server with great recommendations! Beautiful decor and wonderful drinks! One of my favorite places in Athens. read more

Puma Yu's is special. The food is thoughtfully created with such intense & delicious flavors. Every bite leaves me with a smile on my face (and me saying WOW). Not only are the food and drinks on point- the staff is so pleasant and I know they care so much about creating a quality experience for whoever walks in. Thank you Puma Yu's read more

Had dinner for the first time on Sunday. Wanted to try Puma yu's since the chef had been nominated for Best Chef in the Southeast by the James Beard Foundation. Made an early reservation since we knew it was very limited seating. Arrived a little early before opening but a server offered us seats at the bar so we could peruse the menu until they opened which was nice. It's a very small space with bar seating on one side and banquet seating along the wall. There's also an outdoor covered patio with overhead heaters. He took our orders for cocktails after graciously answering several of our questions about ingredients. The cocktail menu is unique and exotic. Everything we ordered was exceptional! We were seated promptly and ordered wine with dinner. The wine list is very limited and we thought that they waned to feature the cocktails. The menu is pared down to what they believe they can do best and we prefer that in a restaurant. The four of us started with a crudite with a dipping sauce to share that was wonderful! A very different experience! Our entrees were delicious. The best was a vegetarian dish with mushrooms that our friend had! Wish I could describe the other dishes but they escape my memory. Food was wonderful! Service was excellent! Noise level was a 10 - much too loud! Price $$$$ Comfort level was a 6 because of the bustle in the small dining room and the unpadded seats. All in all a great introduction but don't know when we'll return. read more