The Poke Bros. restaurant chain, known for its “sushi in a bowl” Asian fusion concept, plans to open its first New Jersey location in October in Secaucus, a spokeswoman said. It will open at the Plaza at Harmon Meadow, the shopping center off Route 3, replacing an insurance sales office.
The restaurant offers “fast-casual dining.” It debuts at 700 Plaza Drive in the “Courtyard” section of the mall, right across from another relatively new fast-casual dining restaurant, the Big Bowls Little Plates Noodle House.
“Known for its innovative and nutritious ‘sushi in a bowl’ Asian fusion concept, Poke Bros. currently operates 24 restaurants and is rapidly expanding in key East Coast and Midwest markets,” said David Townes, a retail specialist in Cushman & Wakefield’s East Rutherford office. He brokered the 1,400-square-foot lease along with Alana Friedman.
The chain started in 2016 after the founders sampled Hawaiian-style poke bowls during a trip to California. They were impressed that the dish was unique and nutritious and decided to bring the concept to the Midwest, starting in Columbus, Ohio.
Poke Bros. now has two dozen locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Their menus offer “signature bowls” as well as build-your-own bowls with ingredients including shrimp, crab stick, chicken, edamame, seaweed salad, green onion, coconut ginger sauce, and sriracha aioli.
The Plaza shopping center at Harmon Meadow mall also boasts a Chili’s restaurant, Red Lobster, Houlihan’s, and several smaller chain eateries, services, retail stores, and a Kerasotes ShowPlace 14 movie theater.
Curtis Nassau and Jake Frantzman of RIPCO Real Estate represented the landlord in the transaction.
