Poke On Da Run

Not only is the poke great, authentic, and generously portioned, but the owner is so enthusiastic about his cooking, the restaurants, and talking story. While the selection is smaller than other places, I thought it was perfect the way it was– sticking to tried and true recipes that appeal to most everyone. I was lucky enough to go at a quieter time, and was fortunate to talk story with the owner and even share some recipes! No worries– secret’s safe with me :)
And seriously– the portions are probably the biggest I’ve seen on the islands. You get your money’s worth here! It was great to see a genuinely nice ohana-​run restaurant doing well in a tough business, and I wish Poke on da Run nothing but good fortune. Mahalo!

Reviews are spot on. Used them to cater my daughters birthday. They were a hit among guests. Stewed beef was the biggest winner but the poke and chicken were pretty dang good too. I’d definitely go back to this little gem.

Once I saw this place on Cheap Eats I had to stop by. This place is a small place on Lehua Ave in PC. Hard to find parking but worth it. They have various plate lunch specials and of course poke and smoked fish… I got the Spicy Ahi bowl for only $ 8 and even though it was a mini… I am full. Generous amount of Ahi too. I wish they used fresh hot rice out of the pot bc the rice was a little cold and hard. I also am gonna try a mini fried chicken plate with gravy for dinner. I can not wait. If you are in the area stop by but it was busy. Very friendly local atmosphere by the workers and owner.

Half spicy poke and half hawaiian poke. Mmmmmmmm. Amazing. Incredible. So much ahi! The mini plate is good for one person, the regular you could share. As for the bowls, the mini can share with another person, and the regular could feed 3. There was a lot of food, a lot! The tuna was so fresh and tender, and the sauces made it perfect. Local spot for sure, but they were receptive and welcoming of us very white city folk tourists. I want to try the marlin next time!

I don’t like raw fish so when my bb asked me to go, I was very hesitant. He assured me that they have cooked items on their menu so I double checked on Unilocal.I still was hesitant but he looked like he really wanted to go so I agreed.
We arrived just after a lunch rush which was great. It allowed us time to decide what to order and have our pick of where to sit and eat. After looking at their menu, I couldn’t decide so I ordered the 2 choice combo plate lunch. I ordered it with Kalua Pig and Braised Beef with all rice.
It was sooooo big when it came out. I really liked the Braised Beef. It had a lot of flavor and they cooked it just right. The Kalua Pig was good too but I had a piece that wasn’t pulled apart so it was a little difficult to eat. I do recommend their Braised Beef.
The owner was very nice and funny. He sat next to us and talked with us during our meal. His name was Wendall and he even gave us some cooked fish to accompany our meal. He told us that we could take as much as we wanted but we only took a few pieces because their portions are really big.
I’m very happy that we went to try this new place. The food is good and their customer service is excellent. They have both raw and cooked items to order. It’s an easy place to find and I would recommend this place to try if you haven’t already done so.

Great food, generous portions and amazing customer service are the makings of a 5 star establishment. Poke On Da Run did it all right for me. They made a year in November and I finally was able to come to this bookmark. Now I wish I came sooner! It’s not remotely near where I live, work or usually dine but this hidden gem really is worth checking out. My navi took me to a residential area in Pearl City but that’s where they are located just in case you think you’re lost following your navi.
I ordered the Mauka to Makai which is ½ lb of Kalua Pig and ½ lb of Poke (your choice of type of poke) over a mound of rice. It was so filling that I had to grab another cup of coffee after to stay awake on my journey back to town. Talk about food coma! Their poke won 3^rd place in a recent poke contest so make to sure to order some. They go through a couple hundred lbs of it a day, it’s that fresh and that good! Mink ordered the 2 choice combo with Kalua Pig and Braised Beef with all rice. She almost ate the entire plate. She barely eats so this is amazing to me. It attests to how good their food is.
Before we started eating, Wendall offered us some fried ahi to accompany our meal so we grabbed a few pieces. That was very generous of him. I asked to sample 1 piece of their spicy poke so I can see if I wanted to order that next time and they gave me a small container worth of spicy poke! That was above and beyond! He even sat near us and talked story while we were eating. Wendall is a super nice guy and has some good stories. Must go to if you like local food, plate lunches or poke.

I was craving poke so I decided to try this place out due to the high ratings on Unilocal.The place is somewhat hidden and unassuming on the outside, and has a family feel on the inside when you walk in.
You get a choice between either a small (half pound) or a medium (1 pound) size poke that comes with rice. The owner told us that the small sized poke would cost a little extra that day (~$ 8) since the price of the fish went up. Not a big deal. He was very nice by giving us samples of all the types of poke he had for sale.
I decided to get the small sized spicy poke, and it was absolutely amazing! The tuna tasted very fresh, and I really liked the sauce they used. My boyfriend had the Kamikaze poke that was made with soy sauce (?), and that tasted delicious as well. I was actually very full from just the small order of poke, so I was quite satisfied.
Great place for poke!

*I love poke, I SEARCH for the next great spot and this place delivers
*Their mini can feed two people and the lau lau was impressive
*Perfect sauce on the two kinds of poke I had on rice and I love that they sprinkle in some Nori, just amazing flavor

Excellent experience today at Poke on Da Run!
Walked in and definitely had that family feeling to it. Was helped quickly, and ordering was simple. We got 2 mini poke bowls and they pile on the poke — making this totally worth the money!
In my opinion, this place was way better than Taniokas and way less crowded. Fast service and very nice people, definitely a great time!

The few times when I am visiting my mother in Pearl City we would venture on down to Poke On Da Run. My mom lives behind the Pearl City Police Station so we would have to walk down Waimano Homestead Road, cross Kamehameha Highway, and continue on down Lehua Avenue. Walking down Lehua Avenue there’s the 7 – 11 at the corner, a pet grooming shop, a church, senior citizen apartments, another Hawaiian food take out joint that’s right next door to Poke On Da Run. This food establishment will be on the left hand side as a person would be driving down Lehua Avenue coming from Kamehameha Highway.
First visit — My mom and I entered the food establishment and noticed the tako poke in the display case. There was a gentleman sitting at the table reading the newspaper and he greeted us… turned out to be the owner of the food establishment. While my mom and I were deciding what to order the owner offers us a sample of the Hawaiian style poke. We decided to get a mini Hawaiian style poke bowl, hamburger steak plate, and the chicken adobo plate. My mom enjoyed the hamburger steak plate… of course it was a bit too much for her since she’s a light eater. I on the other hand enjoyed the chicken adobo plate as well as the mini Hawaiian style poke bowl… way too much rice for me. LOL
Second visit — Mom and I went back to Poke On Da Run for early lunch. I noticed that the display case had accessories for mopeds. This time around my mom had ordered the regular size lau lau plate and i ordered the Mauka & Makai plate which consisted of kalua pig on one side and Hawaiian style poke on the other side all on a bed of rice. My mom says that her lau lau was good but it only consisted of the meat. She’s so used to in having lau lau that has pork, beef, and fish. As for my Mauka & Makai plate… I was kind of hoping my kalua pork had some cabbage with it. The kalua pork and Hawaiian style poke was an okay dish… somewhat disappointing because never had cabbage.
Recent visit — This time around I went to Poke On Da Run by myself and ordered the mini braised beef plate for my mother. It looked absolutely delicious and my mother said it was delicious. She was a satisfied individual when she received the mini plate for lunch.
Overall — Poke On Da Run is a wonderful place to get some home cooked meals and some fresh poke bowls. Just remember to get to the establishment early otherwise they would be running out of foods heading towards the afternoon. If I am ever in the Pearl City area I would make a return visit to Poke On Da Run for some ono grinds. I’m craving for some chicken adobo right about now. LOL

So we just finished our Makai 2 Mauka Plate& let me tell you I will definitely be back for more me and my bf were trying to figure out what we were going to eat for lunch, so of course I Unilocaled it and I found this place. I’m always down to try new places and see what’s good because we are always eating the same things. &WE LOVED IT HERE. It looks like they always have a different menu everyday, and once they run out of there specials it’s whatever is left.
So because we went kinda late, he ended up getting and mixed plate called makai 2 mauka. It’s a kalua pig with a choice of spicy or kamakaze poke (which is kinda like Hawaiian style oyster) my fb got the spicy and I got the kamakaze. We were so surprise on how generous they were with the amount of food they gave. The owner was sitting down on the side talking to some customers and he started talking to us. Let me just say they have really good customer service, very caring and kind people.
When we got in the car we just had to try some and let me tell you I couldn’t wait till I got home to eat we did notice that they out a lot raw onions in there, I could do without it but other then that. It was so ONO, I’m super full. WE WILL BE BACK FOR MORE !!

Let me share yall my pros and cons of this place…
Pros:
**I can finally say my journey to finding the best poke bowls on this island is finally over!
This place ranked #1 on my poke bowl list. Because the ahi portion and rice portion is ALOT!!!
Most place i have been to has the the taste but not enough rice. Or is either too much rice but not enough poke.
Cons:
**But sadly i gotta give this place a ⁴⁄₅ because as soon i as i walked in the owner seemed very upset and was swearing on the phone. I felt very uncomfortable and awkward. But i dont want to judge his situation because he probably might of had a bad day.
Hopefully next time the environment will be more welcoming. Overall this place will always be my ultimate favorite!!!

Mr. Wendell has all the aloha for you in one little shop down on Lehua Ave. in pearl city. Sick of going to Waipahu and standing in long lines for good poke. Then hit up poke on da run with quick and convenient service.
Prices are reasonable for fresh fish and awesome food. Plates are a good size portion and so so Ono!
Ahi katsu was winnah even with the sciracha/​shoyu sauce. Buggah gave me one kick but was still able to enjoy the flavor of the fish.
So if you are in the neighborhood and catch some poke on da run!

I heard about this place through the coconut wireless and Unilocalers have rated it very highly so my friend and I went there around lunchtime today (10÷5÷15).
The location is hidden considering it’s not directly on Kam Hwy, but it’s easy to find once you know it’s down on Lehua. Street parking only which could get tough since there’s a couple apartment complexes across the street. We didn’t have any troubles at 11 am.
You walk in and it’s a nice, small town, old school vibe. We ordered the spicy ahi bowl mini size for $ 7 and a braised beef regular plate for $ 8. All I can say about the size of the poke bowl is WOW! That thing was stuffed full. I mean STUFFED FULL! The lid barely closed. Such a good value. I’m a big eater and usually go for the regular sized portions of meals, but this «mini» version was plenty.
The ahi chunks were tender and fresh. Way better than the previously frozen stuff from places like Foodland and Donki. I would say this rivals the fresh ahi at places like Safeway ($ 19/​lb) and Whole Foods ($ 17/​lb). So the value is excellent.
My friend and her kids had the braised plate plate and loved it. The gravy was über ono and they wished it was all over the rice and mac salad. Goodbye L&L, Hello Poke on da Run for awesome beef plate.
What I really enjoyed was how friendly the owner, Uncle Wendell, was. You could tell he really enjoyed making people happy with the great food he prepares. I thought it was super cool that he took a picture of our lunch for his Instagram account; leveraging social media to connect with the community.
TL;DR:
Food 9.5÷10
Service ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Value ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Bottom Line: The combination of great tasting food, at a good price, with excellent service = I’ll be coming back for sure.

I absolutely enjoy coming here. The owner is real friendly, local braddah type. When I walk in… he already knows what I want. Today was no different except for a slight miscommunication with the guy in the back.
As I reminded him for extra sauce on the rice, he yells «with gravy on the rice»…the guy in the back kept saying «what?!?, gravy on the rice?» and the owner says «yeah, gravy on the rice» «All over… gravy on the rice». Not thinking anything of it until I opened my plate lunch… I had to laugh… there was definitely gravy all over the rice but brown gravy… not the braised beef sauce gravy. Lol. It really didn’t go well with my braised beef.
But I still love the food and customer service. Next time I’ll check before I leave.

Whenever I’m craving a poke bowl, there are a lot of options: Foodland, Tanioka’s, Sam’s Club, and etc. Although they may all cost in the same $ 6-​$ 8 range, I guarantee you that Poke On Da Run is the best bang for your buck.
I’ve come here quite a few times in the late afternoon/​early evening and lucked out on the last poke bowl almost every time. My usual order consists of a small poke bowl with half spicy ahi and half Hawaiian style ($ 6) and a side entrée ($ 4). If I’m extremely hungry, I will opt for the regular sized poke bowl with a side entrée. Some side of the side entrees that I’ve tried include the following: kimchi pork, opah with butter and capers, fried ahi belly, and lechon kawali. The poke consists of big 1.25″ cubes of fish, with onions, limu, and etc. The rice is coated with furikake. If you’re lucky, the rice is still piping hot as you’re eating the poke bowl. The small poke bowl is slightly cheaper yet slightly larger than a Foodland poke bowl. The spicy ahi has less mayo that your typical spicy ahi, so you can add some oyster sauce to take the spice down a notch.
Some tips to know:
1) If you haven’t been to Poke On Da Run in a while, they now close at 7pm or whenever they run out of fish which can sometimes be between 5−6pm. Call beforehand if you’re worried about driving down and not getting your poke fix.
2) Not sure, but I think it might be BYOB.
3) Plenty of street parking
4) Small poke bowl can feed 1 or 2 people and a regular can feed at least 2 to 4 people. Supplementing with a side entrée makes a decent meal for two.
Sooo. If you’re craving some poke and you’re in the Pearl City/​Aiea/​Waipahu area, you have another valid option to satisfy your tummy. For a mere $ 10 total, you can pound a small poke bowl with a side entrée before you fall asleep. If you don’t want to immediately pass out after eating, share with someone else. :)

Jennifer looked this place up on Unilocal and was craving poke. I’m sure glad we went here (2 weeks ago), on our trip to Oahu. The owner, Wendell Tavares was not only friendly, but a great chef! The spicy poke was so ono! Broke da mouth! Jennifer was stoked as well.
One thing about Wendell is he takes care of this homeless guy that comes in daily for water. That’s a cool gesture. Great time talking story with Wendell and the garlic chicken was a great choice! I look forward to returning!

Unilocal 100 Review Challenge 2015: ²¹⁄₁₀₀
OMG!!! Finally a local, fresh poke bowl joint in central oahu! Dare I say, it’s comparable to Kaimuki’s Ono Seafood?!
After eyeing out this joint on Unilocal for over 2 weeks, I decided that despite the construction traffic on Kam Hwy, I was going to have poke for lunch!
I lucked out on street parking right in front of this hole-​in-​the-​wall establishment! Once inside, I searched the menu for their poke selection but couldn’t locate one. Then, after Aunty explained to me that they make it however you want, I decided to order 1 Spicy Ahi mini and 1 Hawaiian Poke mini.
She informed me that they were real busy so they were cutting up a new batch of Ahi as we speak. I took a seat on their 10 seat table to wait and to my surprise, Aunty brought over cooked Ahi Belly and water cups to enjoy while we waited! Such good hospitality! As we waited, more and more people came by and some even had to wait outside. Not more than 10 minutes later did we get our poke bowls with chopsticks and napkins. The total price for these enormous“minis” was ONLY $ 12!
We took it to go because it was getting cramped inside, but that’s a good sign because it shows that people know where to get good grindz!
Once we finally dug into our poke bowls, there were no words to describe how fresh, delicious and filling it was!!! This is now one of my favorite poke spots on the island! My boyfriend’s only request was that the fish be at a colder temperature, because it was a little warm but I think it was because they went from cutting the Ahi chucks straight to mixing and then layering it on hot white rice.
***Aunty saw me «check-​in» on Unilocal and wanted me to include that «Aunty them work hard» in my review, so there you go (:

Talk about hole in the wall.
This area may be run down, and this restaurant may be small, but I love it. We got a Ahi Poke Bowl to go, and regretted not getting two.
For $ 12, you can get a to go container half filled with rice, and half filled with fresh chunks of delicious poke. I think it was about a pound of fresh fish. We got half spicy (which comes with spicy mayo) and half Hawaiian. My husband loved the spicy mayo, and I preferred the Hawaiian. The fish was so fresh and well seasoned.
While we were waiting, they gave us a sample.

I was on a poke quest during my last trip home. With all the great reviews on Unilocal,I had to check out Poke on da Run. Nestled along Lehua Ave in Pearl City, PODR sits in the same building as the comic book store I used to frequent in high school. Wanting to just sample some of their poke, I asked for a quarter pound. Uncle started to ask me a bunch of questions of what I wanted in the ahi poke. He makes your poke to order, customizing it as you want. No kukui nut, extra green onions– no problem! While I applaud this approach, I can see if there’s a crowd it might really slow down the line.
The ahi poke itself was terrific, fresh and tasty. It really was like a homemade poke that someone in the ohana might make for a party! Uncle also had plate lunches for sale. I look forward to trying some of their dishes on a future visit. Recommend and will repeat!