Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason McVearry.
Jason, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It’s kind of a wild story. Our poke journey started in Hawaii. In 2005ish I was living on Oahu in Kaimuki, a little neighborhood next to Waikiki behind Diamond Head. I was surfing, eating poke and drinking beers: living the island life to the max.
I was working a marketing gig based in LA at the time and was called back into the office after 5 years of working remote. I quickly met my wife. After I took her for a little taste of my life on the island which involved a lot of buddy time, beach time, some boat time and a lot of poke eating, her biggest take aways were that maybe something was wrong with me and that someone needs to open a poke spot in LA.
Those someones turned out to be us. We found a little food window on the Venice boardwalk, developed the branding and menus and launched a business. We started making traditional poke which is pre-made and marinated and sold by the pound. We quickly had to shift gears to make poke to order to avoid waste.
At the pivotal moment, we invented Made-To-Order-Poke as a category and grew our menu and customer base from there.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We are and have been self funded from the beginning. Nothing is smooth. Everything is risk and maximum work. Moving the operation and expanding in Austin was a big move for us. We were managing LA from afar while going all-in on our flagship here on S. Congress. I was working an intense full time gig to keep us afloat while waiting for the city.. It took a lot more time and money than we thought.
We’ve worked really hard to minimize our exposure in new spaces since that experience. If I could give any advice to anybody thinking about a restaurant it’d be: Go second generation, build out as little as possible, go small. If your concept can’t make it in a small format space, it’s not going to make it in a big space.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Poke-Poke created the Made-To-Order Poke restaurant category.
While this category has exploded with assembly line styled concepts, we have maintained our culinary roots focusing on scratch made recipes. Customers are allowed to customize our poke, but everything is made as poke should be, with a focus on the fish.
We always start with fish, then build the flavor profile from scratch with ingredients like yuzu kosho, shoyu, sesame, ginger, onion, avocado etc.
We have expanded to four stores in Austin, which is a super achievement for a completely independent brand in this foodie town.
We’re probably most proud of being invited to serve poke at chef driven events like Austin Food and Wine Festival and You Grill Girl repeatedly over the years. We have some spectacular chefs in Austin and getting to share their space is an honor.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
The Restaurant industry is not easy in any aspect. Changing customer behavior and needs, changing staff expectations and a brutal real estate environment make it an exceptional challenge.
I see niche concepts with a high quality, highly differentiated product having real longevity. Keeping pricing approachable and value high is super difficult in higher-end product sales but I believe it’s a must. That’s where we really focus.
I also have a simple projection: Brands that focus on friendly service, not just good service, but friendly/helpful service will win. I talk about smiling a LOT with staff.
At the end of the day, people go to restaurants to enjoy your food and to take a load off. The easiest thing we can do to ensure that experience is positive and adds real value to their day is to smile.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.poke-poke.com
- Instagram: @pokepokebowls
Image Credits
Photos by Hayden Walker and Brian Bruner
