Poke restaurant in Uptown Dallas closes but story doesn’t end there
A poke restaurant in Dallas has closed, which is a sad thing on the surface, but also provides a glimpse into what’s going on in Dallas restaurants.
The restaurant: Malibu Poke, restaurateur Jon Alexis (TJ’s Seafood) acclaimed concept, and the location that closed was in the McKinney & Olive building at 2355 Olive Street. It closed in June.
But Alexis, certainly one of the more adroit restaurateurs in Dallas, says he would describe this as a move rather than a closure.
“The original Malibu Poke at 3888 Oak Lawn Ave. is still open and doing better than the days before COVID,” he says. “It rocked all year round. People told us that the only healthy food they ate was at Malibu Poke. COVID-19 has had every imaginable experience for restaurateurs, but it has also taught us a few lessons. “
This includes the stupidity of running a restaurant in a city center at a time when many office workers are still working remotely.
“Part of the initial appeal of opening this building was that it was close to downtown,” says Alexis. “I was out in office for a while and it was really cool. I could go to the Dallas Museum of Art or walk the Katy Trail.”
“But being in an office building in 2021 is a challenge,” he says. “When we were open, lunch was 100 percent of the business Monday through Friday. Even before the pandemic, we had already talked about not opening on weekends. We all want downtown Dallas to thrive. It felt like progress was being made, but like any downtown area, it has been hit hard by COVID-19. “
Malibu Poke was also at the forefront of a poke trend that rose sharply in 2016 but then, like all trends, subsided.
“Many poke restaurants are closed, but we don’t see ourselves as a poke restaurant, but as an alternative to a sushi lunch for $ 50,” says Alexis. “For us, poke wasn’t like opening a frozen yogurt shop. Raw fish is a religion, and the reason I feel safe is because with my background at TJ’s Seafood, I only make raw fish.”
Malibu has more than just nudges on its menu, from teriyaki chicken to a vegan ginger and tofu bowl to garlic ramen noodles.
Alexis plans to open at least two more locations in 2022.
“I will definitely be opening another location in Dallas and another location in Austin, in neighborhoods that want healthy food that isn’t fast food,” he says. “Oddly enough, it took the pandemic to prove that what we are doing works, even if it destroyed one of our locations.”
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https://dallas.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/12-02-21-malibu-poke-uptown-olive-closed-oak-lawn/