Help Our Neighborhood Restaurants: Sons Of Thunder Serves Some Of New York’s Best Poke

Scores of Big Apple eateries are evaporating amid the coronavirus crisis. So each week, Help Our Neighborhood Restaurants will highlight top neighborhood spots fighting to stay afloat while adhering to strict safety standards: the HONoR Roll. Thanks to Kyrie Irving and Beyond Meat, a New Yorker in need will get a plant-based burger whenever you order.

“Financially speaking, we should’ve closed already,” says James Kim, who owns this Murray Hill poke restaurant with his brother, John. The pair have stayed open largely to support the workers of an NYU Langone hospital situated next door. “If it weren’t for them we probably wouldn’t be open,” James says. The gratitude runs both ways. “They’re thanking us every day,” he adds.

The Kims founded Sons of Thunder in 2015. It was originally intended to serve the “West-Coast style” hamburgers they grew up with in California, but just weeks before opening they discovered they didn’t have enough gas power to cook the patties.

They switched to raw fish, becoming the first poke outfit on the East Coast, James says. “[But] we almost closed because nobody knew what poke was back then.” Then the New York Times showed up, delivering a positive review that saved the business. “That sort of changed everything,” he recalls.

With New York City largely shut down, James isn’t sure how long Sons of Thunder can remain open. He notes one upside, however: “It’s gotten slow enough that we’ve gotten to try our burgers for the first time.”

To make it through the pandemic, the Kims are counting on New Yorkers to buy more takeout and delivery. Already some are stepping up, like Kristian Hernandez, a pastor at Hope Astoria, who has purchased dozens of poke bowls for local hospitals.

But Sons of Thunder is barely breaking even on some days, and losing money the rest of the time. “Maybe this article will be the boost that we need,” James says hopefully.

Sons of Thunder

Address: 204 E 38th St, New York, NY 10016

Suggested dishes: Ahi tuna poke, salmon tostada, chili bowl, Huli Huli teriyaki chicken.

Price range: Main dishes run $10 to $14, and poke by the pound is $28.80/lb.

Phone number: (646) 863-2212

Website: www.sonsofthunder.com



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