Just three months after opening its Bay View restaurant, Fuji Poke is gearing up for a second location on Milwaukee’s East Side.
The Japanese fast-casual eatery has taken over a 1,200-square-foot former Subway restaurant space at 1426 E. Brady St., with plans to open by mid-July or early August, said co-owner Andy Ni.
Interior construction at that space is almost complete and the licensing application is underway.
Fuji Poke, which is co-owned by Ni’s parents and uncle, had leased the Brady Street space around the time it leased its current location, also a former Subway at 2121 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., in January.
Although plans were underway to open the restaurant in Bay View, Ni said, he didn’t pass up on the opportunity to lease a space on Brady Street because of its “desirable” location.
Since opening in April, Fuji Poke has seen steady week-by-week growth and staff have received enough training and experience to handle operations independently while the owners expand the business to the East Side, Ni said.
“It will be exactly the same concept, just with fewer dining tables, so it will be more focused on takeout,” he said.
The Brady Street location will be open daily from 12 to 10 p.m.
Fuji Poke serves poke bowls, sushi burritos, hibachi and boba, which is Taiwanese-style bubble tea.
Poke is a traditional Hawaiian seafood dish that has spurred a wave of new fast-casual concepts throughout Milwaukee in the past couple of years.
The number of local and chain poké concepts that have popped up throughout the Milwaukee area since 2017 is approaching 10. They include Milwaukee-based FreshFin Poké; Chicago-based Aloha Poké Co.; Chicago-based Fusion Poke; Irvine, California-based Pokéworks; and Wauwatosa-based R&R Poké.
