The Chipotle-izing of our dining scene continues, this time with a build-your-own stir-fry concept that just opened in Lowertown called Urban Wok.

The space is sleek and modern, with lots of metal and wood, very much like the aforementioned Mexican-food chain. Ordering is done at a kiosk, where you choose your rice or noodle option (there are even zoodles for the low-carb set), protein (shrimp, chicken, beef, tofu or veggie), vegetables (you choose up to five) and sauce.

We stopped by for a quick lunch recently, and were impressed by the pretty space, nutritious options and speed of the operation, but some of the flavors were lacking.

The yakisoba (thin wheat) noodles were our favorite carb of the bunch. They were properly springy and took on the sauces well. The rice noodles were decent, if a little overcooked, and the udon too starchy for some of our tastes. Rice is, well, rice.

Proteins were of decent quality — large, tasty shrimp, tender chicken and beef, though the beef could have used more careful trimming.

Where things could use some improvement are the sauces. The Korean barbecue was our favorite, with its rich umami flavor and little bit of spice. Frankly, though, we’d prefer it spicier. There are a few hot sauces you can add yourself at the end, which saved most of the sauces for us.

The peanut sauce was tasty, but needed a bit more heat and acid. If you’re a fruity sauce person, the pineapple and orange sauces were much less sweet than what you get at most Asian chains, which is a really good thing, and if you like more heat, you can add it with hot sauce at the end.

Service is super quick, and you can order online and pick up in the store or just order from the kiosk and wait.

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Dashfire bitters introduces hard coffees to the market All in all, it’s a pretty great option for a quick, healthy lunch, if you work in the area. Because parking in Lowertown is a bit of a nightmare, it’s tough to imagine driving there to pick up takeout. Owner Mark Toth intends to open more Urban Woks in urban neighborhoods, so maybe it’ll come to your area soon.

Urban Wok: 409 E. 4th St., St. Paul; 651-493-4717; urbanwokusa.com

Small Bites are first glances — not intended as definitive reviews — of new or changed restaurants.