Daniel B.
Yelp
I support the recent slew of restaurant changes at Atlantic Station. There are more healthy and/or interesting places to eat. They include Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ, NaanStop, Pho 24, Salata, and now Poke Bar. Poke Bar opened September 3, 2019 in between Gyu-Kaku and NaanStop. It's been a nice addition to the neighborhood. Currently, this is Poke Bar's newest metro Atlanta location. This chain has grown fast. There are now 15 in the area. Only a few years ago (2016), there was just one (the original Atlanta Poke Bar in Sandy Springs).
Poke Bar Atlantic Station has a new and fresh storefront. It's made of wood, which is different for an Atlantic Station tenant, and attractive. Inside, the space is small and simple with seating for about 25 customers. There's no outdoor/patio seating. It's set up much like other poke restaurants with an open prep kitchen serving made-to-order, highly-customizable bowls. The concept is simple, fresh, and healthy.
Pricing is as follows:
* Small bowl (2 proteins, 2 sides) - $9.95
* Medium bowl (3 protens, 2 sides) - $11.95
* Large bowl (4 proteins, 2 sides) - $13.95
If you've never been to a Poke Bar or poke restaurant before, you go down the ordering line, picking the ingredients you want, as a server assembles your bowl, just like Chipotle. You choose a base (white rice, brown rice, spring mix, kale noodles), protein (tuna, salmon, spicy tuna, shrimp, albacore, tofu, scallop, octopus; the fish is sushi-grade), mix-ins (assorted vegetables, pineapple), sauce, sides (cucumber salad, seaweed salad, imitation crab), and toppings (ginger, wasabi, masago, avocado, crispy onion, crispy garlic, furikake, sesame seeds, "special" spicy flakes, and more). Note there's a $1 upcharge each for kale noodles, avocado, and mango. For the avocado, you get a quarter of an avocado, sliced (typical restaurant upcharge for avocado).
Everything is hand-mixed so what you get is a salad mainly consisting of diced raw fish, carbs, vegetables, and sauce. It's yummy.
In addition to poke, this Poke Bar also sells bubble tea -- black milk, oolong milk, matcha, and taro -- for $4.50 per drink. They also have a Stubborn Soda fountain drink machine, not the run-of-the-mill Coke machine. Stubborn has creative flavors like black cherry tarragon and citrus hibiscus orange. Their sodas contain no artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, nor high fructose corn syrup. They sell Stubborn at $2.50 per soda (unlimited self-serve refills).
If you have an Atlantic Station A-Card (free card for people who live or work in Atlantic Station), Poke Bar Atlantic Station will give you 5% off your total order. They use the Clover POS system and full itemized receipts are available online.
I've tried a couple bowls so far and have been pretty happy with them. I will say if you get a large and some of the upcharged items like kale noodles and avocado, after tip and tax, you're looking at a $20 meal. It's not exactly cheap for what you get, but sushi-grade fish and avocado aren't cheap either. I had a large bowl for dinner one night and it did not fill me up. Poke Bar dices their fish into small pieces. I prefer bigger chunks of fish, but that's just a personal preference.
I've tried most of the ingredients on the menu. I believe the kale noodles are wheat-based. Their taste and texture is on par with "standard" noodles so they aren't significantly different if that's what you are wondering (like I was). They're good. For proteins, my favorites have been the classics, the tuna and salmon. I tried the albacore and can't say I'm a fan. I prefer the softer, slimier texture of the tuna and salmon. I like the scallops too. They come pre-marinated in mayo.
There are seven sauce options. You can sample if you're not sure which one you want. So far, I've tried the house sauce, which is soy sauce with ginger flavor, spicy mayo, sweet chili, wasabi shoyu (soy sauce with a hint of wasabi), and spicy house and all were fine. I don't feel strongly about one particular sauce. I'd default to the house. My fiancee likes the spicy mayo. The spicy sauces have a solid kick to them, even for people who like spicy food (like us).
I can't review Poke Bar Atlantic Station without comparing it to Circle Poke (https://www.yelp.com/biz/circle-poke-atlanta), a poke restaurant that opened relatively recently nearby on Northside Drive (ground level of ARIUM Westside). Like Circle Poke and other poke restaurants around town, I think Poke Bar should offer a loyalty rewards program so you get free poke after so many purchases (maybe they already have one and I just didn't see it). Circle Poke's bowls also have better presentation (they're more meticulously prepared) and more generous portions. Finally, Circle Poke offers options like aburi sushi which is sushi that is flame-seared right in front of you. I think that's pretty cool.
TL;DR - Poke Bar is good and one of the better restaurant options in Atlantic Station.