Poke Bowl Near Me in Little River: Poke-San at The Citadel

Poke-San names its bowls after The Karate Kid, so the build-your-own option is called The Miyagi and the tuna bowl that regulars push first is simply The Kid. The counter sits in Suite 109 of The Citadel, the food hall at 8300 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33138, in Little River. If you searched poke bowl near me from the Upper Eastside, Miami Shores or El Portal, this is a sit-down-friendly option with a rooftop upstairs and a long menu of crispy rice and hand rolls beyond the bowls.

The Citadel opened its food hall and bar on February 16, 2019, in a converted building with natural wood, greenery, keyhole doors and exposed pipes, according to Miami New Times coverage of the opening. Poke-San was not part of that first lineup, which means it earned its spot later, and by 2022 the same paper had named it Best Poke in Miami. The write-up praised the freedom to mix rice with greens and tuna with salmon, and singled out an avocado half so ripe the writer joked about resting a head on it.

The business, registered as Poke-San LLC, describes its goal as making premium seafood accessible without a fine-dining price tag, and lists three words as its philosophy: respect, sustainability and authenticity. The second name on the sign, Maki-San, covers the sushi side of the counter, which explains why rolls, nigiri and platters share the menu with poke. Guests who leave notes on the shop's site keep mentioning the Karate Kid and Cobra Kai theme, and the bowl names make the joke obvious the moment you read the board.

You order at the counter and then pick any seat in the hall. The Citadel mixes communal tables, high bars and smaller two-tops, and The Infatuation describes it as a big food hall with plenty of room for groups. Seating belongs to the whole hall rather than any one stall, so a mixed group can split between poke, burgers and pizza and still eat together at one long table.

Poke-San also takes online orders for pickup and delivery through its own site, with a rewards program and an app. Its delivery zone covers El Portal, Miami Shores, Biscayne Park, North Miami, Little River, North Bay Village and Miami Beach, and the site posts two codes: delivery25 takes $3 off the delivery fee on orders from $25 to $74.99, and delivery75 makes delivery free above $75. For a big office order, the catering poke bar runs $18, $22 or $26 per person depending on how many bases and proteins you add.

The signature bowls are listed at $17 each on the shop's ordering menu. The Kid stacks tuna over sushi rice with pickled cucumber, wakame, spicy mayo, eel sauce, furikake and crispy shallot. Wax On pairs salmon with a mango kosho salad, ponzu, red onion and sesame. Wax Off is the vegan bowl, built on mixed greens and rice with avocado, seaweed salad, wasabi aioli, tamari and crispy garlic. The West Coast leans on krab salad, avocado, shoyu and nori, and the Bonsai Bowl at $21 combines tuna, salmon and hamachi with yuzu kosho aioli and snap peas.

The Miyagi is the build-your-own bowl at $17, with a large size for $4 more. Pick one or two bases from white sushi rice, brown sushi rice or mixed greens, then one protein from tuna, salmon, yellowtail, tempura shrimp, krab salad or tofu. You get up to four toppings, two sauces and three crunchies such as crispy garlic, togarashi or nori. Avocado or wakame adds $1.50, extra fish adds $8, and an extra sauce is only $0.25, which matters more than it sounds.

Then order crispy rice, the item that keeps showing up in reviews. A September 2026 reviewer wrote that Poke-San has the best crispy rice in all of Miami after trying every version she could find. There are three kinds at $12 each: tuna with spicy mayo and scallions, yellowtail with yuzu kosho aioli and serrano, and salmon with a truffle ponzu aioli and shiso. One guest on the shop's site names the krab roll and the salmon crispy rice as favorites, and another simply tells first-timers that they must order The Kid.

Price is the other recurring note. A July 2026 reviewer liked the food but found it slightly more expensive than most poke places, which is fair once you add fish and extras. The specials page offers ways around that. Happy hour runs from 4 to 7 pm daily with $5 temaki and reduced prices on edamame, spam omusubi and crispy tempura shrimp, and a weekday bento from noon to 4 pm lets you choose three items for $18.

On Sundays, the Sushi Sake deal pairs a roll with a cold sake for $20. Hand rolls on the regular menu run from $6 for California to $8 for spicy tuna or spicy yellowtail, so two hand rolls and an order of crispy rice can make a lighter dinner than a large bowl with extra protein. Edamame is $10 and seaweed salad is $8 if you want a shared side for the table.

The shop's site lists hours of noon to 10 pm on Sunday and from Tuesday through Thursday, noon to 11 pm on Friday and Saturday, and it is closed on Monday, so plan a Monday poke craving elsewhere. Parking at The Citadel is the main friction point, and visitor tips gathered by Wanderlog warn that the onsite lot can run around $10 an hour at busy times, so a short meal is cheaper than a long rooftop session.

Without a car, Metrobus Route 9 runs along NE 2nd Ave between downtown Miami and the Aventura Mall terminal, and it passes the Citadel's block. Wanderlog's visitor tips suggest coming at off-peak hours to avoid rooftop crowds, and some visitors mention utensils running short at peak times, so a weekday lunch soon after the noon opening is the easiest window. Grab chopsticks and napkins at the counter when you pick up.

A long poke queue is easy to work around because the rest of the hall is a few steps away. The Infatuation names United States Burger Service, Ash Pizza and Frice Cream among the vendors here, so one person can hold a table while another waits. You can also place a pickup order on the shop's site from your seat and collect it at the counter, which skips the topping-by-topping line.

After eating, head up to the Citadel rooftop for the skyline view the shop itself advertises, then cross NE 2nd Ave to Magie, a wine bar at 8281 NE Second Ave with gold tin ceilings and velvet sofas. Its daily 4 to 7 pm deal pairs a bottle with grilled cheese and charcuterie. If you would rather keep eating, Time Out ranks Off Site, the Little River brewpub now run with No Seasons Beer, among the best restaurants in the neighborhood, a short drive or walk away in the same neighborhood.