Monday, October 17, 2016

Poké Bar Plans to Premiere This Week, Plots Additional OTP Growth

Poke shop to softly open today in Sandy Springs

LA's Poké Bar plans to open its first east coast location this week in Sandy Springs.  The new eatery replaces schnitzel joint Seven Hens in the Publix-anchored Abernathy Square shopping center at the corner of Abernathy and Roswell Roads.  Seven Hens closed both its Sandy Springs and Decatur locations last month after owner Michael Gurevich was unable to find a buyer for the business to continue the locations as schnitzel restaurants. 

With Seven Hens' closure in late September, Poké Bar's  opening this week is quite remarkable, and rather unheard of in Atlanta's oft-delayed restaurant opening world.  

Poke, which is a traditional Hawaiian dish, often contains  tuna, salmon, albacore, shrimp, octopus, scallop and tofu with different mixtures including seaweed, onions, and other vegetables.

Although I was previously informed that the Sandy Springs location would be a corporately owned restaurant, a representative at the restaurant indicated that it is in fact a franchised restaurant. 

Today through Wednesday, Poké Bar will offer patrons 50% off their order to celebrate the restaurant's "soft opening." Poke bowls come in three sizes ranging in price from $8.95 to $12.95.  

The restaurant plans to officially open Thursday and will be open seven days a week from 11AM to 9PM.  

Signage on the Sandy Springs location indicates that other local Poké Bar locations are planned for Alpharetta and "Atlanta."  I inquired with Poké Bar staff over the weekend if either of the other two locations had leases signed and was informed both were close, but not "done deals."  

In addition to Poké Bar, another sushi and poke joint is opening in Atlanta.  Boruboru Sushi, a restaurant I first wrote about in March, will open its new restaurant in phase two of Emory Point. Due to "unforeseen construction delays," the restaurant's opening, which was originally planned for August and then pushed back to September, is now slated to occur today according to a representative responding to their official Facebook page.  

Are you familiar with poke?  Where would you like to see the next Atlanta area Poké Bar open?  Which poke joint will get your dining dollars today?

Please share your thoughts below  

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have never heard of Poke. I don't plan on trying any Poke restaurants. Good luck to them.

AJ said...

Interesting comment from Anon @ 6:26AM. Essentially if you eat raw sushi, you'll like Poke. If you don't like raw sushi, you will not be a fan of Poke.

Anonymous said...

Never heard of it either but I will certainly give it a try.

Ham said...

Do they serve SPAM? While I wish them well the menu doesn’t sound that enticing to me personally. However, there is definitely a market for various seafood options around Atlanta and there’s always the folks looking for the next trendy restaurant. So, I suspect they’ll do well, but as always a lot will depend on quality and service.

Unknown said...

Marlow's has a tuna poke on their menu. Very good. I hope there's is as good.

RayAtL said...

Hey TnT... if this is the center where Mirage Persian cuisine recently closed, it seems like Publix pulled out as well...

jeff a. taylor said...

Poke is huge on the West coast, has been the last couple years, but I don't know if I can see Metro ATL flocking to it on their lunch hours in strip malls. Poke bars work where there is a lot of foot traffic and willingness to pay $12-13 for the quality fresh seafood poke needs. I see ramen much more likely to take off as a more exotic lunch lunch, especially as ATL has an actual winter.

Anonymous said...

Just had dinner at Poke bar and I agree with AJ, its like sushi in a bowl. Very interesting and very flavorful. Different ways to prepare your own bowl. I love the fact that after dinner I did not feel heavy but still full. The food setup was short so the order line could easily back up. You could tell the needed to practice more but in time they will gain speed. I hope they do well. Always nice to have options in the area. Go try it out if your ever in the area.

P.S. Love this blog.

Anonymous said...

Also went last night. Food was good, price was right considering the amount of sushi fish you get (large, with 4 scoops of fish, is $13 or so). The place opened super quickly after the schnitzel place left and you could tell - kind of looked like a temporary pop-up space. They're going to have to add to the space to stick. Right now it is a pretty bare room with a Chipotle-style line bar (except it is missing the sneeze guard).

Anonymous said...

At the start of the blog I wondered whether this place has been inspected and is up to code. By the last comment my suspicions were confirmed. Separately, someone mentioned that Publix, pulled out of Abernathy?

Wendi said...

Went yesterday and took advantage of the 50% off deal (ending today). I too,never had Poke and agree with everyone else. It's like sushi in a bowl. The staff was super friendly and helped me pick what to put in my bowl after telling them I had never had it before. I thought it was fantastic. The tuna was amazing & I enjoyed the iced green tea, although it costs twice as much as sodas. I wish they had other options like regular tea. The place was modern and clean, and I don't see why they need more space like another reviewer said, as we dined in, but watched several people take theirs to go. The owners treated us to a sample of their miso soup, which was good as well, and is sold as a side dish to a poke bowl. As long as the quality stays good and fresh like we had yesterday, I think it will be a nice dining option for the Roswell/Abernathy area.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed my dinner at Poke bar. It was unusual and tasty. Clean. Staff was very sweet and helpful. Hope it does well.

Went to Publix after dinner so no they are still around.

Anonymous said...

Clean indeed with the aroma of bleach lingering in the air. Fresh seafood!

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