Poke Bar Opens Inside Wallingford Convenience Store
Find the traditional and tasty fish bowls in an unlikely location
By Jessica Yadegaran August 24, 2016
This article originally appeared in the September 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.
Poke bars are popping up everywhere, but it was still surprising to find the ultimate bowl of the traditional Hawaiian raw fish salad inside a Wallingford convenience store (former home of The Erotic Bakery). Co-owner John Chung is the brains behind the unlikely gem that is 45th Stop N Shop & Poke Bar, where you can get heaping bowls of cubed ahi tuna, salmon or red snapper atop rice and seaweed salad for $11–$13. Yummy extras, such as fresh avocado, edamame, lettuce and imitation (we don’t mind) crab meat, are what make Chung’s bowls stellar.
To maintain the poke’s freshness, he has a local distributor (Chung is tight-lipped about his source) deliver fish every morning, and Chung’s parents—Paul and Tina—prepare it in small batches throughout the day. Seriously, just go. Wallingford, 2323 N 45th St.; 206.708.1882.
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