Barbacoa

This is now Poke Bros. Barbacoa was there for about a month, maybe 2 or 3 months, before closing. Prior to that, it was Rippers, which I thought was a poor replacement for my beloved No. 1 Chinese restaurant. Back to Poke Bros - it has the same "bowl" concept as Chipotle, only with seafood. You can choose one of the bowls on the menu, or select your own ingredients and toppings. I had the Johnny Utah bowl. I chose sushi rice, and on top of that was salmon, avocado, cucumber, edamame, masago, sriacha aioli, and OG sauce. IIRC, it cost $10.50, which is almost the same price as a steak bowl with guac at Chipotle ($10.05, I believe). It was good, but the portion seemed kind of small - maybe the container made it appear that way. I see this place being more popular during the summer months. It's not the type of place I imagine people flocking to in the winter. But my opinion is based on the few customers there during the 2 times I visited. Perhaps it's busier at lunchtime, or in the evening. I hope it gets enough traffic to last awhile, since the 2 previous businesses didn't attract enough customers.

After my first visit, I love this place. I had a barbacoa burrito, which came with chips and salsa, and had the "dragon egg", a fried, stuffed avocado. The meat was spiced and cooked very well, the fresh beans and pickled red cabbage made it unique and worked very well with the flavor profile, and I even admired the quality of the rice. I love that it came with chips and salsa, which were also very good. The "dragon's egg" fried avocado was good, but I don't think it was worth the $6.