Over the last few years, a wave of diverse experiences has flooded Downtown El Paso. From community events to new food establishments, there’s almost always something to do downtown nowadays.
One of those new food establishments, Poke Bop, has brought to El Paso a twist of Korean, Japanese and Hawaiian fares that you cannot get anywhere else in town. Located on the corner of Stanton St. and San Antonio Ave., Poke Bop boasts an extensive bar of seafood and toppings for customers to build their own Poke with.
Over the last few years, a wave of diverse experiences has flooded Downtown El Paso. From community events to new food establishments, there’s almost always something to do downtown nowadays.
One of those new food establishments, Poke Bop, has brought to El Paso a twist of Korean, Japanese and Hawaiian fares that you cannot get anywhere else in town. Located on the corner of Stanton St. and San Antonio Ave., Poke Bop boasts an extensive bar of seafood and toppings for customers to build their own Poke with.
“I know El Paso pretty well and I’m glad to bring healthy, fast, and quality Poke to the area,” said Head Chef Tommy Hwang.
Poke (poh-kay) is essentially deconstructed sushi served as a bowl with rice with cubed raw fish — mostly ahi tuna or salmon — covered with an assortment of sauces — such as sriracha, spicy mayo, eel sauce, ponzu, soy sauce — and toppings like avocado, seaweed salad, scallions, chilies, crab salad and edamame.
At Poke Bop, customers can choose between the classic Poke Bowl or infuse their Mexican heritage with the Hawaiian cuisine with a “Pokeritto”.
The ordering process is simple enough, with a Chipotle-style bar where you can choose a base, protein and toppings for your bowl or Pokeritto. All of the toppings served at Poke Bop are exceptionally fresh. There are also several sauces from which customers can choose to marinate their protein.
The traditional Hawaiian dish recently made its way into mainstream fast-casual restaurants in cities like New York, Austin and LA. And let’s face it — living in El Paso, far from the beaches of Hawaii, there’s nothing tropical to taste for the foodies who are tired of the same old fried Mexican dishes.
With the only Poke restaurant in El Paso serving Pokerittos, Hwang’s intention is for Poke Bop to become a destination for newcomers to fall in love with the Hawaiian delicacy.
“Even though this is a fast food restaurant, we try to provide high-quality food and high-quality service,” Hwang said.
After seeing success in the first Poke Bop, which opened two years ago in Dallas, Hwang and his business partners thought it was finally time to bring Poke to El Paso.
Poke Bop is a welcomed inclusion to the expanding diversity going on in Downtown El Paso and is something fresh that the food scene in the area desperately needs.
