The new restaurant opened above Switch Pop-Up Bar in the Arts District. (Mike Platania photos)
A new arrival to the Arts District’s dining scene is offering up Asian flavors with a rock-and-roll vibe.
Wok This Way recently opened at 13 W. Broad St. in Monroe Ward. The Asian street food restaurant is in Switch Pop-Up Bar’s upstairs space.
Switch, which has been open since 2019, continues to operate in the building’s basement.
Behind Wok This Way is Trey Owens, co-owner of Soul Taco and JewFro, and LX Group, which operates Switch and Nama Indian restaurant next door, as well as downtown’s Kabana Rooftop and Botanya in Carytown.
Soul Taco took over the food operations at Kabana in 2020.While that arrangement has ended, Owens said that deal helped set the stage for Wok This Way.
Trey Owens
Named after Run D.M.C. and Aerosmith’s 1986 hit song Walk This Way, Wok This Way features rock-and-roll homages aplenty in its decor and menu, with items like Back in Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry and Sweet Child of Thai Pad Thai.
“We want it to be fun and approachable, not stuffed-shirt or highbrow,” Owens said. “Anyone can come in, hear rock and roll music and see some flavors you’re used to, and be introduced to some others.”
Owens said he set out to create a menu that combined dishes from different cultures, something he’d helped do with JewFro, which combines Jewish and African food, and Soul Taco, which combines Southern and Latin food.
“Any culture that uses a wok is or will be represented (at Wok This Way),” Owens said. “Wok This Way is pretty much my foray into all these different cuisines.”
Most of the entrees on Wok This Way’s menu are around $16. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday from 4 to 9:30 p.m.
Wok This Way offers dishes from a variety of Asian cuisines.
Though he still has a stake in Soul Taco and JewFro, Owens said he’s mostly not involved with the day-to-day operations there, nor is he involved in Sear Burger, which had been a pop-up in Soul Taco’s Jackson Ward location and went permanent earlier this year, per a Style Weekly report.
Owens said he’s instead focusing on Wok This Way, as well as a food hall he’s working on in Petersburg. He said he hopes to be able to disclose details on that project soon.
The new restaurant opened above Switch Pop-Up Bar in the Arts District. (Mike Platania photos)
A new arrival to the Arts District’s dining scene is offering up Asian flavors with a rock-and-roll vibe.
Wok This Way recently opened at 13 W. Broad St. in Monroe Ward. The Asian street food restaurant is in Switch Pop-Up Bar’s upstairs space.
Switch, which has been open since 2019, continues to operate in the building’s basement.
Behind Wok This Way is Trey Owens, co-owner of Soul Taco and JewFro, and LX Group, which operates Switch and Nama Indian restaurant next door, as well as downtown’s Kabana Rooftop and Botanya in Carytown.
Soul Taco took over the food operations at Kabana in 2020.While that arrangement has ended, Owens said that deal helped set the stage for Wok This Way.
Trey Owens
Named after Run D.M.C. and Aerosmith’s 1986 hit song Walk This Way, Wok This Way features rock-and-roll homages aplenty in its decor and menu, with items like Back in Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry and Sweet Child of Thai Pad Thai.
“We want it to be fun and approachable, not stuffed-shirt or highbrow,” Owens said. “Anyone can come in, hear rock and roll music and see some flavors you’re used to, and be introduced to some others.”
Owens said he set out to create a menu that combined dishes from different cultures, something he’d helped do with JewFro, which combines Jewish and African food, and Soul Taco, which combines Southern and Latin food.
“Any culture that uses a wok is or will be represented (at Wok This Way),” Owens said. “Wok This Way is pretty much my foray into all these different cuisines.”
Most of the entrees on Wok This Way’s menu are around $16. The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday from 4 to 9:30 p.m.
Wok This Way offers dishes from a variety of Asian cuisines.
Though he still has a stake in Soul Taco and JewFro, Owens said he’s mostly not involved with the day-to-day operations there, nor is he involved in Sear Burger, which had been a pop-up in Soul Taco’s Jackson Ward location and went permanent earlier this year, per a Style Weekly report.
Owens said he’s instead focusing on Wok This Way, as well as a food hall he’s working on in Petersburg. He said he hopes to be able to disclose details on that project soon.
Clever name! I look forward to trying it.