Poke Bowl Near Me in Belmont Shore: Poke Pola on Second Street

Poke Pola puts three scoops of fish in its regular bowl, which is the number its fans mention first. The small shop sits at 5040 E 2nd St, Long Beach, CA 90803, right next to the post office on Belmont Shore's main shopping strip, and it has been open since July 2016. If you searched poke bowl near me from Belmont Shore, Naples or the beach end of Long Beach, this is a neighborhood counter that one July 2026 reviewer called hands down the best poke place around.

Myung and Hans Chung opened Poke Pola in July 2016, according to the history the owners wrote for the shop's Yelp page. They loved the Second Street area and did not see a restaurant there that matched what they had in mind, a mix of Hawaiian poke and Japanese-style meals. The shop's own site explains the name: Poke Pola means poke bowl in Hawaiian, and the owners describe it as an homage to the shared history of Hawaii's indigenous people and its Asian immigrants.

Myung's owner profile describes her as an artist at heart, a painter and photographer who taught art to children for years, and she built some of that personality into the menu. The spice levels have names instead of numbers: Zen for no heat, Live a Little, Nirvana, and Life After Death at the top. A June 2026 reviewer called the owners amazing people, and the shop has kept the same daily schedule for years in a neighborhood where small storefronts change hands often.

Ordering happens at the counter in six steps, and an August 2026 visitor described the menu as clear and direct and the transaction as quick. First pick a size. The regular bowl with three scoops of fish is listed at $18.10 on the shop's website, the large with four scoops is $21.60, and a kid's bowl with a cup of rice and one topping is $8.25. Next comes the base: seasoned sushi rice, brown rice, local mixed greens, corn tortilla chips, or a halfsies split of two bases.

The protein list is wider than at most poke counters. Besides salmon, tuna, spicy tuna and yellowtail, you can choose seared albacore, cooked octopus, cooked shrimp, scallops, organic tofu, tofu nuggets or marinated beef. Each extra scoop of protein costs $3.50. Onions and cucumbers are the standard greens, then you choose your spice level and the house poke sauce, a sweet chili. Toppings come last, from avocado, crab meat and seaweed salad to masago, edamame, furikake, ginger, wasabi and sesame seeds.

Regulars build around the fish. One July 2026 reviewer orders three scoops of protein every time and goes with the Nirvana sauce for its balance of flavor and heat, noting that the bowl runs about $20 and is worth it. A June 2026 visitor singled out the yellowtail as a reason to come back. If you are unsure, salmon, yellowtail and seared albacore with the Live a Little heat gives you three textures without blowing out your palate.

Watch the premium toppings. The website marks avocado, crab meat and seaweed salad with an asterisk and lists extra topping scoops at $2 each, and one July 2026 reviewer reported paying an extra $2 apiece for seaweed salad, masago, crab and avocado. Reviewers do not all agree on which toppings are included, so ask at the counter before you load up. A cup of miso soup is $3 and makes the bowl a full meal on a cool evening.

Not every review is glowing. One August 2026 visitor found the spicy tuna closer to the filling of a spicy tuna roll than to chunky poke, and wished mango were on the topping list, so stick to the plain cubed fish if texture matters to you. Another reviewer who ordered delivery in May 2026 found the rice sticky and noted that delivery-app prices run a few dollars above the in-store prices, which is one more reason to walk in.

The four named spice levels are worth reading before you reach the register. Zen carries no heat at all, Live a Little is described on the menu as the floor being lava, Nirvana promises you will sweat for perfection, and Life After Death comes with a warning about a monkey gone to heaven. For most people Live a Little or Nirvana is the sweet spot, while Zen suits kids and anyone who wants to taste the fish first.

The base choice changes the bowl more than you might expect. Corn tortilla chips turn it into something close to poke nachos, the mixed greens keep it light for a beach day, and the halfsies option lets you split rice with salad. Families can order the $8.25 kid's bowl for a younger eater and share toppings from a regular bowl, which keeps a lunch for three under the price of two large bowls.

Poke Pola is open from 11 am to 9 pm seven days a week, according to both its own site and the Belmont Shore Business Association. Inside, it is a small, cozy room, and one reviewer described it as a small and fairly dark shop, so plan on a few seats at most and expect many people to take their bowls to go.

Parking is easier than on many beach streets. The August 2026 reviewer who praised the quick service also noted a paid lot right behind the shop and plenty of metered street parking along Second Street. The shop also offers takeout and delivery, and it is listed as wheelchair accessible.

Livingston Drive Park is about 240 meters from the counter and the closest patch of grass for a takeout bowl. Head south instead and you reach the beach in less than a kilometer: Alamitos Bay Beach is about 830 meters away, and Rosie's Dog Beach, Long Beach's off-leash dog beach, is about 760 meters away. The Long Beach Lifeguard Museum sits near the sand roughly 950 meters from the shop.

For a longer walk, Belmont Pier and Marine Stadium, the rowing course built for the 1932 Olympics, are both about a kilometer and a quarter away. The simplest Belmont Shore evening is to order a regular bowl with Nirvana sauce, walk it down to the beach for sunset, and then wander back along Second Street past the boutiques and coffee shops.