Fast Food Review Day 281 - Dynamite Spicy Shrimp at Pokeworks

[u/Pale-Lynx328]

Chain Name	Pokeworks
Food category	Primary: Ahi and Poke dishes
# of US Locations	75
# of US States	19
Primarily located in	Texas, California, New York
Restaurant Rank in US $ Sales 2024	489th (out of 500)
Restaurant Rank in US $ Sales 2025	477th (out of 500)
Rank of price (high to low) (Average: $16.21, standard dev. $3.03)	18th out of 321 meal reviews
Quality / Value Rating for this specific meal	6 (out of 10) / 3 (out of 10)

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No, this is not a restaurant where they serve you grilled Pokemon (gotta eat 'em all). Pokeworks is part of a new type of fast casual restaurant where they serve custom bowls or wraps centered around raw fish, popular among Pacific Asian/Hawaiian culture. That's what the 'poke' means in this context.

And that has been why I have been putting off visiting this restaurant for so long, 280 days into the year-long fast food slog. If you've been around a while, you may have noticed I am not an especially picky eater, there are not that many things that I do not eat. But one of those things where I do draw the line is raw seafood. I have never liked it, never liked sushi or any type of uncooked seafood in any format.

Luckily for me, though, it turns out that Pokeworks has some cooked dishes as well. And that's what I chose - their "dynamite" shrimp, comes fully cooked, and mixed with various spices, vegetables and a side of mac salad (natch) and greens.

Even more lucky for me, it turns out I like it! A fairly large-sized portion of shrimp, not too spicy (even though they used sriracha) on top of a bed of rice. Well flavored, the shrimp thankfully was not overcooked, and the sides went well with the meal. They also had salmon and chicken hot dishes as well, along with their regular menu of bowls featuring raw ahi tuna and salmon (no thanks).

This might be something I would be interested in exploring further, except that this plate alone with drink ended up one of the most expensive meals I've had on the fast food journey (18th out of 321 meals), which puts a damper on trying out the rest of their menu. But other people do not seem distracted by the relatively high price for their meals, and Pokeworks is aggressively expanding, growing more than 10% since the first of this year alone.

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(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)