Poke Bowl Near Me in the Mission: Basa Seafood Express on 24th Street

Basa Seafood Express sits at 3064 24th Street, at the corner of Treat Avenue in the Mission, and it is a fish market first and a poke counter second. That order matters. The salmon in your bowl comes out of the same deli cases that hold whole fish, oysters and sushi rolls, and a container of spicy salmon poke costs $8.50 on the shop's own Square menu. For anyone typing poke bowl near me between 24th Street BART and Potrero Avenue, it is the cheapest serious option in the neighborhood.

Mission Local profiled the founder in April 2013, spelling his name Scott Lie; the shop's own About page and a 2014 Chronicle review spell it Scott Lai. He left Vietnam three decades before that interview, worked in the seafood trade in Dallas, then spent several years behind the counter at Sun Fat Seafood Co. on Mission Street before opening Basa at 3064 24th Street in 2009. The shop started as a retail fish counter selling prepared meals on the side, and sushi was only added in March 2013, which explains why the menu still reads like a market that grew a kitchen rather than a restaurant that bought a fish case. The About page says the shop is now run by Scott's brother, Tim.

The name is a clue to that background. Basa is a freshwater catfish farmed in the Mekong Delta, and the shop still puts it on the menu: the grilled Basa Fish Salad costs $10.99 and the Basa Fish Sauce Rice, grilled basa glazed with fish sauce over steamed rice and vegetables, is $11.50. Order one of those alongside your poke and you are eating the dish the shop was named after.

Basa keeps its poke list short. The Square menu lists two salmon versions under the Poke heading, Salmon Spicy Poke and Salmon Shoyu Poke, both at $8.50. The Infatuation reviewed the shop in March 2022, rated it 8.0 and called the spicy salmon the best poke in San Francisco, describing buttery-soft fish in a creamy sauce with a real kick. Each tray comes topped with two small scoops of tobiko, and red and green onion are mixed through the fish rather than scattered on top.

The Infatuation still includes Basa in its June 2026 guide to the best poke in San Francisco, noting that the trays of simply dressed fish run $8.50 apiece. That is roughly half of what a signature bowl costs at most poke chains in the city, and the price has only crept up a dollar since the 2022 review.

The shoyu salmon is the better choice if you want to taste the fish itself. The soy marinade is light enough that the salmon stays pink and firm at the edges, and the onions give it crunch. The spicy version is richer and closer to what most chains sell, but with noticeably more salmon per dollar. Neither is served in a bowl by default: you get a deli container of fish, and the base is a separate purchase.

To make a bowl, add rice from the Side Orders list. A small 8-ounce rice is $1.50, a 12-ounce medium is $2.00 and a 16-ounce large is $2.50. A container of seaweed salad is $5.99, and squid salad is $7.99. A shoyu salmon poke with medium rice and seaweed salad comes to $16.49 before tax, which is roughly what a single build-your-own bowl costs at a mall chain, except here the salmon portion is the whole container.

The shortcut is the #1 Poke Combo at $11.99. It bundles spicy salmon poke with a small rice, a small seaweed salad and a bottle of water, which saves you assembling the parts yourself. If you are feeding two people, buy one spicy and one shoyu poke, a large rice and a seaweed salad, and split everything at a table in a nearby park.

Basa's sushi list is long for a fish counter. The Hawaiian Roll, salmon and hamachi topped with tuna, avocado and fish roe, is $11.50, and the 49ers Roll, shrimp tempura and cucumber topped with salmon and lemon, is also $11.50. Single nigiri start at $5.50 for salmon or hamachi, and a single order of uni is listed at $25.00. The Infatuation described long deli cases holding everything from sushi and oysters to rice bowls, so you can see most of the menu before you order.

On the cooked side, the Bread Bowl Chowder pairs a sourdough bread bowl with 12 ounces of clam chowder for $9.00, and the menu notes that the chowder contains bacon. Fish and Chips with five pieces of fried fish and fries costs $12.99, and the Seafood Combo of fried fish, oysters and shrimp is $17.99. On a foggy Mission afternoon, a chowder and a poke container together make a full meal for about $17.50.

Recent Google reviewers describe Basa as takeout only, with no dine-in seating, so plan on eating elsewhere. You walk up to the glass cases, tell the person behind the counter what you want, and pay at the register; the Infatuation described the place as a serious takeout operation. Poke is scooped from trays that are already mixed, so the wait is mostly the time it takes to pay. For a larger order, such as several rolls plus poke for a group, the Square site takes pickup orders ahead of time.

The shop sells raw fish for home cooking too, so expect to share the counter with neighbors buying fillets and oysters for dinner. Bring a bag if you plan to carry several containers, and ask for extra napkins and chopsticks, since you will be eating outdoors.

Walk one block east and you reach Balmy Alley, the lane between Treat Avenue and Harrison Street that runs from 24th to 25th Street and is lined on both sides with murals. A little farther along, Precita Eyes Muralists at 2981 24th Street runs the neighborhood's mural walking tours and sells local art supplies. Garfield Square, at Harrison and 25th Street, has benches and lawn space a few minutes away, which makes it the easiest place to open a poke container and a bread bowl.

Coming back toward Mission Street, 24th Street is lined with panaderias, produce stands and taquerias, so a poke lunch can turn into a long, slow walk west. The corridor is part of Calle 24, the city's Latino Cultural District, and the storefronts between Treat Avenue and Mission Street change character every block. Basa is a good first stop because cold fish travels better than a burrito.

Address: 3064 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, at Treat Avenue. The 24th St Mission BART station is about five blocks west, and the 48 Muni bus runs along 24th Street past the door. Online orders go through basaexpress.square.site. Plan to eat outside, since recent reviewers describe it as takeout only, and if you want two kinds of poke, order the spicy and shoyu salmon side by side and taste them against each other.