Good god is this a rip-off, the cookies taste like they're from a Dollar Tree boxed mix, they're the smallest commercial cookies I've ever seen offered, I would honestly have thought the whole setup was an elaborate prank for someone to harvest social media hits. Tried ordering via Doordash once - and never again. The order was wrong, I was shorted three cookies out of a dozen (the remaining nine were broken/partially missing/folded over during baking), and the ice cream dessert was missing half its ingredients. For what's being charged, it borders on criminal neglect.

Don't order anything via a food delivery service from this place, this restaurant charges 25-40% more for their online delivery menu items than they do in-house. They've also taken a solid hour or longer to fulfill small, simple orders before even notifying the delivery service they require a pickup, so the order ultimately takes 2+ hours to arrive - and I live less than two miles away. The quality of the food itself has been very inconsistent, particularly side dishes which clearly have been sitting out too long and are dried out or have a mealy texture. I really wanted to like this place but I just can't justify spending almost seventy dollars on an entree and two quarter-pint-sized sides, for what I've gotten.

Twenty six dollars for a scant, begrudging serving of loco moco, are you f*****g insane?? It's a cup of fried rice, two hamburger patties, and a single egg! Jesus wept. The prices are absolutely outrageous in this pretentious wanna-be LA-trendy ripoff. The staff who work here are mostly concerned with who's looking at them; attending to patrons is a very clear afterthought. Service is slow AF, whether you dine in or order to go or pay for delivery through a third party. The fact it's popular isn't a credit to its achievement but rather the banal mediocrity of Sacramento and its utter lack of both taste and sense. Very poor value for money spent here. Every out of town friend who has ever passed through Sacramento laughs at the audacity of this place. But whatever. Obviously the mouth breathing proletarians think they're living high on the hog by blowing their pennies on this overpriced and overcooked offal.

I don't know what the hell happened to Aura (I suspect a change in ownership), but the entire operation, from food quality to service to cleanliness, has been spiraling downhill for well over a year. This afternoon I tried patronizing the place for lunch and was refused seating a full thirty five minutes before closing. The two young men at the small counter huddled together as they looked at me, had a typed out and painfully obvious "discrete" conversation on the computer, and then announced with zero courtesy or apology "we can do a takeout order for you." No thanks.

This is a prime example of the low-class customer service that has been plaguing the restaurant. I used to eat here easily twice a month. But routine disappointments have become the norm. Banchan seem like an afterthought and often weren't ever brought to me at all. Seldom was any beverage refilled. Most times my presence seemed like a nuisance to the servers, each of whom routinely lose all sense of bearing and efficiency and race about like mad when the small facility becomes crowded or busy. I would dread one woman in particular because of her surliness and apathy.

The kitchen isn't going to escape my criticism either. Once upon a time, dishes were individually made to order, and tasted consistently fresh and flavorful. Now half the menu tastes like it fell off the back of a SYSCO truck, and it's lamentably clear many things are being produced in huge batches, kept on a back burner, and ladled out as ordered. Rice often has dry patches and clumpy, crunchy grains; the texture and consistency of the curry can be gelatinous and overcooked. Gyoza and katsu have shrunk in size easily by a third. Bland mediocrity has replaced the former high standards held he

There used to be a manager present most shifts I visited, a friendly and conscientious man who took pride in his work and the business. He would hustle and bustle and haul ass twice as hard as anyone else in the house, constantly giving constructive and positive guidance to his staff to improve their work. I've noticed his absence seems to be the catalyst for the downward spiral.

It's all a real shame, because Aura was and still could be a great local neighborhood gem. I'm glad for a Korean option as a welcome departure from typical grid fare, but thanks to this most recent experience, I'm just not coming back.