Stop N Shop Poke-The Secret Poke Place

Stop N Shop Poke

Recommended by:  An in-the-know co-worker brought it to my attention back in April of 2016.

Description on the Stop N Shop’s website: They ain’t got one.

Neighborhood/Type:  Wallingford

Address:  2323 N 45th St, Seattle, WA 98103

What we ate/drank:   

Comments:   If we’re being honest, this post should have been published two and half years ago.  It was around April 2016 that a co-worker in my office spilled the beans on a little secret poke place inside of small convenience store.  What made this secret so tantalizing was not only was it secretly located, but if memory serves it was thee first place to serve poke dishes(not counting the seafood markets that sell it by weight).  As word of mouth spread, the secretive nature added to the allure of the shop. Almost immediately there were lines out the door.

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I used to live in Fremont and I’d typically take N 45th to get to the I5, so I used to pass by the location all the time. Prior to a Stop N Shop, it was home of the famous Erotic Bakery, which used to make X-rated cakes.  From the nondescript outside, you’d think it’s just a normal convenience shop where you’d pick up some gum or some cigarettes.  It is that, but as you enter you’ll see a little poke stand to the right.

  The convenience store portion.

IIt still gets crowded, but due to the proliferation of poke places all around Seattle shortly thereafter the opening of Stop and Shop, the novelty quickly wore off.  But whenever I take out of town guests, they still get a kick out of “this secret place”. I find the Stop N Shop Poke bowls to be a decent size, has quality ingredients and I think it’s faster because they automatically add on the side items instead of letting the customer pick and choose.  I think this makes the orders go quicker.

So you start with the bottom of the bowl-either rice or a salad or you can half/half.  Then you can choose one fish($11), two fish($12) or three fish($13). Choices are tuna, salmon, izumidai, shrimp or veggie(tofu). They also have unagi for an extra two dollars. You can have the fish with a regular sauce or a spicy sauce. I prefer spicy myself. Then they add on krab salad, seaweed salad, edamame, ginger, tobiko, pickled cucumber.  Voila.  There are only a few tables, so we always take ours to go. A normal practice for us, is to order poke from Stop N Shop and then eat it at a local brewery which allows outside food.

A note about Seattle poke places: It seems as soon as Stop N Shop opened a poke place, so many poke places opened up that in less than one year after Stop N Shop opened many of these poke places were closing down due to saturation. So in less than one year, the poke craze started and went down in flames.  Here’s an article from The Seattle Times talking about the Seattle poke saturation.  It’s easy to understand why so many poke places opened. Most places use the Subway Sandwiches model where you start with rice, add the fish and then the toppings. Everything is already prepped, so you just need somebody to listen to the customers and put the poke dish together. Also, there is no cooking involved(except for the rice) since the fish is raw and mixed with sauces.  Don’t get me wrong I love poke, but you can see it’s an easy business to replicate. The only thing that will separate the poke places that survive and the ones that won’t, are quality of the fish and customer service.  My two favorite poke places are Stop N Shop and goPoke in the International District.

Ratings:

Atmosphere: 4  Cmon, it’s a convenience store, but due to the secretive nature it gets a 4.

Service: 5

Food/Drinks: 4.5 on the poke scale

Bang for the Buck: 4.5

Overall: 4.5

Locals Only Factor: “Locals Only” grading-We’ll assign a grading as to how “local” a place is.

• • Well known or Touristy. Most locals don’t go there unless they have business dinners or visitors in town.
  • Most locals know about it
  • Locals “in the know” know about it
  • Only those who live close by know about it.
  • You’re in on the secret. Don’t tell anybody!

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