It’s the most ubiquitous food trend tagged to Hawaii since the ill-advised ham-and-pineapple pizza.
Love it or hate it, poké — a raw fish salad that can be an appetizer or main course — is popping up across the city, featured in dishes and in its own poke-centric eateries.
Pokéworks, which launched near Bryant Park at 63 W. 37th St. earlier this year, still has long lines at lunch time and is currently in expansion mode.
Expect new and larger 1,200 square-foot locations at 122 E. 42nd St., near Grand Central, and at 23 E. 15th St., near Union Square, by February.
At least eight Pokéworks outposts will also open across the country in 2017, in cities including Houston, Chicago and Boston, where Johnny Rockets founder Lloyd Sugarman is opening a 1,900 square-foot location.
“It’s a simple, healthy food concept that is delicious and well priced as an affordable alternative to sushi, which is a normally expensive product — and it’s a fun thing,” Sugarman tells Side Dish. “It’s like a Chipotle with raw fish.”