So Many New Poke Restaurants Are Headed To Houston

In much of the rest of the country, 2016’s hottest food trend was a classic Hawaiian dish of chopped raw fish, soy sauce, and a selection of garnishes. It may have taken a while for poké bowls to land in Houston, but the trend has now officially hit Clutch City in earnest.

CultureMap reports that Ono Poké, the city’s first restaurant that exclusively focuses on the dish, has opened its doors at 609 Richmond Ave. The restaurant offers up a pretty standard take on poké — your choice of a base (rice or salad), proteins, sauces, and garnishes assembled before your very eyes.

Also in the works is North Shore Poke Co. A Craigslist ad for the California-based chain indicates that it is currently hiring workers to staff a location at 11195 Westheimer Road. The outpost is the chain’s first in Texas, and brings classic poké bowls along with tuna-topped nachos, sashimi sandwiches, and poké tacos.

Then, there’s Seaside Poké. Like Ono Poké, the concept began as a pop-up that will soon bring its bowls to a brick-and-mortar space. According to the Houston Press, a location hasn’t been chosen just yet, but Seaside Poké has found at least one suitable candidate for a home in the Heights. Oh, and PokéWorks, a popular NYC chain, will also land in Houston this year.

• From Hawaii to Houston: Finally, poke restaurant arrives in Montrose [CultureMap]
• New Players in Houston's Poke Scene [Houston Press]