Calipoke

It was great when they first opened but it’s gone downhill…
The food: fish quality is not awful – good enough for me to go twice in the last week for a quick lunch. Toppings are included so that’s definitely a plus.
The service: Nice for the most part BUT they need to streamline their process. It takes WAY too long to build your own bowl if the line is longer than 5 people deep. Also, the soda machine was all watery yesterday and even when I told the cashier she became frazzled, no one came to fix it and I was never offered a refund – so I basically paid for tap water (at least it’s not Flint water?).
Based on my last two visits, I’m really disappointed and am hesitant to go back because of their inability to handle the pressures of a crowd.

This place is legit!
The poke is comparable to Pokinometry (my favorite), but they also serve Sapporo beer on draft here, so that makes it better (says the BF). :)
This restaurant used to be the old Zipango sushi restaurant. Now, it’s this cute little poke place in The Lab. All the staff are nice and welcoming.
The fish and all the toppings are super fresh. What I love about this place is their 6 different and distinct sauces! They have fried scallions, which are soo delicious and go well with the poke. Also, they have chips, which Pokinometry didn’t have… and it’s a nice option since that’s what I ordered with my poke. Like I said earlier, my BF loves the fact that they serve cold draft beer here! Definitely another plus!
Needless to say, we had a very enjoyable and delicious poke dinner. Will be back for more!

kinda more $ than other poke
fresh was okay.
— 12 $ for large 5 scoops of fish
— 8 $ for regular 3 scoops of fish
base
— salad
— white rice
— brown rice
— chips
includes
— crabmeat
— seaweed salad
— cucumber
— avocado
— green onions
— ginger & wasabi

Not bad for poke but nothing special. It’s hot in there when the sun is out and the door is open. Line was pretty good for lunch time with a constant flow of people.
Regular bowl is 3 scoops and large is 5. They have brown and white rice. I think their scoops could be a little bigger, especially since my friend only got salmon and it looked like 1 – 2 scoops worth. :/​
Then you can choose cucumber and onion, then the sauce. They have original, 2 spicy ones and 2 mayo ones, and a teriyaki. I just got original. Then at the end you can choose crab, seaweed, green onions, masago, and avocado… with fried onion and sesame seeds as garnish.
I thought the flavor was okay… the fish could have been colder. Warm poke is strange to me…(well besides the rice of course).
The place is well organized and clean. staff is nice and helpful and patient… but… Probably wouldn’t come back.

Came here after my visit to Honey & Butter Macaron’s adjacent to this. Honey & Butter opened at noon and this place at 11:30 but i didn’t want to miss the opening for macaron’s since it was limited and there was a decent amount of people waiting.
Came to Calipoke afterwards about 12:30 after i bought my macaron’s to try it out. Fairly «streamlined» process like you’d get from chipotle.
You pick a size. Regular (3 scoops of fish) or Large (5 scoops of fish).
Step 1: Choose your base (White rice, brown rice, salad, chips) — I chose white rice
Step 2 — Choose your fish (Spicy tuna, tuna, albacore, salmon, yellowtail, octopus, shrimp, scallops) — I chose spicy tuna, salmon, and yellowtail
Step 3 — Choose your additions (Cucumber, Onions — at no extra cost) … BOTH ! XD
Step 4 — Choose your sauce (Original, Spicy Original, Roasted Jalapeño, Wasabi Ponzu Mayo, Spicy Mayo, Spicy Miso Teriyaki) — Spicy Original
Step 5 — Choose your toppings (Avocado, crab meat, masago, green onion, seaweed, ginger, wasabi, fried onions)… I did avocado, crab meat, masago, green onion, seaweed, and wasabi on the side. They had garlic chips as an option but at the time of my visit, they said they were not able to obtain the specific brand they liked so didn’t have any available.
Overall, for less than 10 bux, its a lot of food and fills you up decently well. Had taken this to mitsuwa for other food we had bought (outside and inside mitsuwa) for our brunch for the day. Shared with 2 other people. All seemed pretty satisfied. The spicy original sauce was not so spicy but not bad. (i like spicy anyway so prob spicy for some people). Wish they had the garlic chips because i love garlic and if its fried crispy too !
Would be nice if I had something like this in my hometown (Vegas) but this is quite convenient since i frequently like to visit the mitsuwa nearby too XD

I’ve been here a few times now. Nestled in the Lab in the back by parking area.
Food is great quality. Great people — customer service always good. Everyone is friendly.
Food great quality and quantity. You can choose either the regular with 3 scoops of fish or the bigger size with 5 scoops. I usually get salmon, yellow tail, tuna, spicy tuna or shrimp.
You can put that on a bed of rice, brown rice, chips, or salad.
Then there are lots of sauces/​dressing to choose from you can get spicy mayo on the side.
Toppings are great: avocado, ginger, crab meat, etc etc. EVERYTHING IS GOOD
if you want to feel healthy eat good food and be in a nice place come here.
Parking can be a hassle sometimes though, but it’s not too bad.

Poke Poke Poke! There’s so many new chipotle style poke places in OC. Business here was booming. The line was long, but the service is fast and friendly.
They have all the typical fish, sides and toppings. Nothing is unique about Calipoke, other than their location in The Lab. It’s nice that they are in a hip/​trendy spot, but that also means that parking is a bitch.
The fish, sides, and sauces were all fresh and tasty. The servings were generous. A large bowl is $ 13 which is about $ 1 more than comparable poke places. If I’m in the area I’d come back again.
The bathroom is outside to the right of the restaurant.

Solid poke place!
Calipoke is clean and seems to have branded itself very well. There’s a parking lot but it as always, parking’s always a pain at the Lab. You get a nice variety – 3 scoops for a regular bowl option plus seaweed salad, crab, and avocado.
Yum!

Parking was a doozy, probably because it was a Friday evening and the surrounding bar and shops were poppin– but I have a feeling it won’t get any better on the weekdays. My friend had a huge car but was able to fit into the tiny spots… just in case though, consider bringing a smaller car…
The place was pretty small, and the line went practically to the door. A bit understaffed perhaps? Anyways, I got two scoops of salmon and one of tuna, although it ended up being spicy tuna, which I found to be my least favorite part of the dish. Brown rice, cucumber, masago, avocado (no extra charge, whhhha???), and green onions, with the spicy original sauce was my ultimate combo and it was absolutely delicious. As mentioned, I didn’t really appreciate the spicy tuna because it was a bit fishy and didn’t mix well with the texture of everything else but the salmon was excellent. A regular size (3 scoops) was plenty for me and next time, I’d probably only get 3 scoops of salmon.
And hey, thanks for the chopsticks.

It’s a little insane how quickly poke places have been popping up in Socal these past couple of years. I’m not complaining though! Calipoke delivers fresh, delicious poke with Chipotle-​style convenience. With $ 9-​$ 12 and about 5 minutes of your time, you can build the bowl of your dreams!
The steps are pretty simple — for a small bowl, you can choose up to three different scoops of fish (I like the salmon and spicy tuna), which they hand-​mix with cucumbers, onions, and a sauce of your choice. The mixture piled onto rice or noodles, and topped with all the fixings you please.
I stopped by Calipoke to pick up a bowl to to munch on while waiting in line for Honey & Butter macarons — my belly definitely thanked me!

Located in the Lab, Calipoki is basically the same concept as Pokinometry with slightly different ingredients and sauces. The parking lot is tiny so good luck finding a spot, and definitely don’t bring your large cars here.
FOOD
You get to choose from two sizes: Medium (3 fish) or Large (5 fish). The bases are the same as Pokinometry (white rice, brown rice, salad, chips) but they don’t do wraps.
Fish quality is good. The sauces are different from Pokinometry though, and include a Roasted Jalapeño sauce and a Miso Teriyaki sauce. I also like that they have fried onions as a topping.
SERVICE
There were two workers in the food line but they were super slow. Maybe because there was no line behind me, but it felt like they lacked a sense of urgency.
OVERALL
Good alternative to Pokinometry if you’re in the area. The prices are similar too, but Calipoke also offers an assortment of beer. I like that their containers and napkins are eco-​friendly.
TBH I prefer the sauces at Pokinometry more, and I don’t like how the lids here sit super tight on top of the food because then you can’t shake it to mix everything up.
But still worth a try.

Whut??? There’s good fast food at the Lab? Fresh fish, shrimp or octopus and with all the toppings? Heck yeah!
$ 8.75 gets you a regular bowl with three fish scoops, $ 11.75 gets you a large bowl with five fish scoops. The $ 8.75 regular was plenty filling for me. Only get the large bowl if you are super hungry or if you are splitting with someone.
Base options (you can get ½ rice, ½ salad, or even all three if you want):
Rice (White or Brown)
Salad
Chips — Not a fan of the type of tortilla chips they use here.
Fish Scoops:
Spicy Tuna
Tuna
Albacore
Salmon
Yellowtail
Octopus
Shrimp
Scallop
Sauce (you can add as many sauces in as you want):
Original
Spicy Original
Roasted Jalapeño
Wasabi Ponzu Mayo
Spicy Mayo
Spicy Miso Teriyaki
Toppings (you can get all at no extra cost):
Avocado
Crab Meat
Masago
Green Onion
Seaweed
Ginger
Wasabi
Garlic Chips
For my bowl I got Octopus, Tuna and Salmon tossed in Spicy Original and Roasted Jalapeño, with half rice, half salad and all the toppings. I love that they include fresh avocado slices as a topping choice. My sauce combo tasted great (to me at least) and I really enjoyed my bowl as there were plenty of veggies and fish to mix with my rice. The fish was fresh, while the thin sliced octopus made each bite more fun and springy.
If you use the Unilocal check in you get a free drink.
When this place gets packed, it gets crazy. I think most of this is due to the layout of the restaurant. When they took over from the old Zipangu, they didn’t knock down the wall (I understand, maybe a structural conflict if taken down) between the bar and the dining room. Now the wall in the middle of the restaurant is just in the way. Everyone is passing through the same 7 – 8 foot gap where the people in line are waiting, where people have to cross to get to their seats, where they have to cross to get napkins and drinks and sauces. Everyone in the restaurant is moving at the same time through one little hole in the middle of the venue. Nothing they can really do about this, but I’m sure you’ll notice what I’m talking about once you are inside.
The food here is great, I would comeback anytime, as long as I can find a parking spot at the Lab/​Anti-​Mall. Definitely a place to hit up if you are shopping around the Lab or the Camp and want a tasty, healthy, affordable and fast option for your meal.

From Froyo to Cupcake shops, Socal food trends unfold in patterns of booms and busts. But all in it’s time. For now, Chipotle-​style poké is on the boom.
Booming at every other corner like firecrackers on crack are casual diners that offer rainbows of fish choices: salmon, tuna, yellowtail, tako, shrimp, spicy tuna, etc.
The seafood is placed on either rice (white or brown), salad, or chips. Finish with your choice of toppings and sauce.
The formula is always the same. The prices vary by fractions of a dollar. At Calipoke, a regular bowl is $ 8.75 and a large is $ 11.75.
In the sea of sameness, Calipoke somehow finds several edges:
1. Idyllic location at the LAB, several steps away from after lunch espresso
2. Tip-​top healthy-​looking fish, well-​trimmed with no visible sinew
3. Strong, bold sauces, no extra condiments needed
4. BEER
Yes, beer. They have a liquor license and happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m.
I ordered what I mostly order at all poké places: a salad with 3 scoops of fish (spicy tuna, tuna, and salmon) on a luscious jungle of greens. At Calipoke, it was all I had hoped for.
When the bust finally comes around, many of these poké stores will fade from the Socal food map. Calipoke will stand a chance if it continues to make an outstanding mark.

What I ate: Poke bowl!
Visit date: October 6, 2015
First time? Yes.
I stumbled upon this little gem exploring the Lab (which I stumbled upon just by passing by and seeing a sign — it was a good day for stumbling). This was the best stumble ever! My first experience with sushi was spicy tuna over a bed of steamed rice. I had been on the hunt for something simple and «classic» since but had been unsuccessful. But huzzah for poke places! They seem to be popping up everywhere. On to this lovely eatery — I split the large poke bowl with my Dad. It came with five scoops of fish so we tried all of them. We topped ours with all the toppings; you just let them know what toppings you want. Definitely go for avocado and the fried garlic… and everything else too, but these two ingredients are a must!
Ordering is simple, staff is friendly, and there is plenty of indoor seating.

This is definitely one of the better (if not my favorite) build your own poke bowl places. I like the fact all of the toppings are free. Some of the other places charge you $ 0.50-$ 1.00 extra for toppings. This place only charges more if you ask for additional amount of avocado, crab meat, or seaweed
The price of poke bowls is also very reasonable. Just $ 8.75 for regular (3 scoops of fish) and $ 11.75 for large (5 scoops of fish). Ordering process is pretty much the same as Pokinometry. You pick the size of the bowl; choose your base (white rice, brown rice, salad, chips); choose your fish (spicy tuna, tuna, albacore, salmon, yellowtail, octopus, shrimp, scallop); choose your sauce (original, spicy original, roasted jalapeño, wasabi ponzu mayo, spicy mayo, spicy miso teriyaki); and choose your toppings & additions (cucumber, onion, avocado, crab meat, masago, green onion, seaweed, ginger, wasabi, garlic chips).
I went with regular size which was plenty for me. I got tuna, salmon, and yellowtail with spicy original and wasabi ponzu mayo sauce. This combination worked pretty well. This place mixes the sauce with the fish instead of just drizzling it on top like some places.
It’s located at The Lab so the parking is pretty bad, especially when they block off half the parking lot for valet. Other than that it’s a great place for California style poke bowl.

I love me some poke when I can get it!
Was in the area for the OC Beer Fest at the Shark Club and me and my buddies wanted to grab lunch first. We were going to go to Habana in the same mall for Cuban but decided to just get a bowl of poke.
It’s set up like an assembly line. You first figure whether you want the small with 3 scoops of poke for $ 8.75 for the large with 5 scoops of poke for $ 11.75.
Step 1, you pick your carbs where choices are white rice, brown rice, chips or salad.
Step 2, select your choice of 3 or 5 scoops of chunky sashimi from the following:
* Spicy Tuna
* Tuna
* Albacore
* Salmon
* Yellowtail
* Octopus
* Shrimp
* Scallop.
I decided on one scoop of tuna and two scoops of yellow tail.
Step 3, you pick your additions between onions and cucumber. I decided on a combo of both.
Step 4, you pick your sauce from the following:
* Original
* Spicy Original
* Roasted Jalapeño
* Wasabi Ponzu Mayo
* Spicy Mayo
* Spicy Miso Teriyaki
And this is where it gets incredible, Step 4, you pick your toppings from the following:
* Avocado
* Crab Meat
* Masago (roe)
* Green Onion
* Seaweed
* Ginger
* Wasabi
* Garlic Chips
I went to town! Got avocado, crab meat, green onion, seaweed salad, masago and garlic chips.
My bowl looked so awesome! I couldn’t wait to dig into it and it was delicious! I was regretting now getting the larger bowl but I’ll have to remember that for next time.
If you like poke, you won’t be disappointed in eating at this place. Enjoy!

I’m currently the Duchess so I’ll try to keep this title as long as I can, and write a review alongside it! :)
I’ve been taking my coworkers and friends here because I really enjoy this place. The Unilocal combo deal is also why I keep coming back.
I usually get the Regular Bowl with Salmon, Yellowtail, and Octopus with half brown rice and half salad. It’s a lot of food!
Toppings are all included, and I particularly like the seaweed salad, avocado, furikake, and garlic chips. For sauces I’ve only stuck with Original and Wasabi Creamy sauce.
They also have ginger ale on tap which I’m a fan of since I typically only drink that on flights!
Parking is a pain in the butt though because it’s inside The Lab, but you should be able to find parking in the small lot behind the plaza.
I love that there’s so many poke places around now, because I can eat this on a weekly basis.
There was a time when I came to eat here 3x in a week!
Absolutely a fan. :)

Finally a Poke bowl place closer than Anaheim for OC folks: D
Ingredients are fresh and tasty– don’t be deceived by the actual bowl size! Idk what it is about poke bowls, but I can barely finish a regular, yet I’m able to finish an entire Chipotle burrito bowl? hahah
Anyway, the service and ordering method is pretty identical to Pokinometry
— Choice of rice
— Up to three scoops of fish (for the regular)
— Toppings (avocado, crab, roe, etc.)
— Sauce (I got the ponzu wasabi which was tangy and spicy)
Pricing is fair and I thought it was overall very tasty.
*Free fountain drink with check-​in!
*50% OFF your next visit after your Unilocal review!
*Parking is tricky since it’s in The Lab (located in the back by the restrooms)

With the poke craze sweeping the area, we are fortunate to have so many options. Calipoke joins Pokinometry and the other custom poke eateries in Orange County.
1. What is Calipoke?
This is a Chipotle-​style restaurant, where you can customize your own poke bowl:
— Pick a size (regular and large)
— Choose a base (brown rice, white rice, salad, chips)
— Choose your fish (spicy tuna, tuna, yellowtail, albacore, salmon, shrimp, and scallops)
— Choose your add-​ons (cucumbers, onions, avocado, imitation crab meat, green onions, ginger, masago, seaweed salad, wasabi)
2. How does it compare to its competitors?
Calipoke has a very similar format to Pokinometry, Uroko, and other poke restaurants. However, there are a few distinctions to note:
— Calipoke has a mean spicy sauce, which is a lot hotter than the sauces offered by Pokinometry and Uroko.
— Service is very slow, and it takes awhile to make it through the assembly line. The staff members were disorganized and seemed disheveled. They ran out of avocado while we were there, and no one knew if there was more in the back or if they were completely out. Furthermore, in the process of refilling the ginger container, the entire rack collapsed, so the staff members spent some time reassembling everything amid a growing line of customers. Unsurprisingly, the soda machine was also out of order.
— The restaurant is small with limited seating.
— Parking may be challenging, especially at peak times.
If you’re looking for poke in Costa Mesa, Calipoke is worth a shot.

This is another build-​your-​own poke (BYOP) bowl place that has the formula for poke down to a science. If you are a poke aficionado, this should be one of the places on your list.
Though it isn’t much different than other similar BYOP places, the portion sizes here are good and so is the fish. They also give you a few free extras that other places charge for, like seaweed salad and other toppings to go with your bowl.
In any case, the formula is the same: choose your base (white or brown rice, salad, or chips); then pick three or five scoops of sashimi to be piled on top (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, scallop, octopus, etc.); then sides of imitation crab and avocado; then finally various toppings including green onions, masago, wasabi, ginger, and garlic chips.
They have many different sauce options, including the standard soy sauce, spicy mayo, and others. I was able to mix sauces here, which was excellent — other places don’t always let you mix sauces for some reason. Like my tip said, adding ponzu to the spicy original makes it pop. It’s really good.
The restaurant itself is located in the «LAB» in Costa Mesa, the self-​proclaimed «anti-​mall,» which is an small hipster-​style outdoor shopping mall. The restaurant is a bit difficult to get to because parking is usually pretty tight, the spaces are really small, and it always seems crowded there. So if you go (and you should) give yourself some extra time.