Poki Bowl

What Products or Services does your business provide?

Poki Bowl is a fast-casual restaurant offering poke (Hawaiian-style sushi with an Asian flair) and related foods. We use only the highest quality AAA fish and the freshest ingredients for an unbeatable flavor and value.

What types of advertising are you currently doing, and what types of advertising have been most successful for you in the past?

Printed Magazine ads–offering ads for 20% off and distributed in Davis and Weber counties. 2-5 customers/day using them.
Instagram presence–310 followers so far (been open since January)
Local parades and community events–saw immediate success in two hours of new customers immediately following the parade.
Facebook ad–tried those for a couple of months but saw little to no action on them.
Instagram influencers promotion–used two of these early on to help build customer awareness.

Are there any certifications, awards, or media recognition that your business has received?

• Certification from the Davis County Board of Health for restaurants
• Received a special mention from the health inspectors about the “uncommon cleanliness” of our kitchen
• Davis Chamber of Commerce recognition
• Featured on “Good Things Utah” live TV program on March 10, 2023
• Qualified as a Most Loved restaurant on DoorDash platform

Tell us about your employees.

We have 7 employees, and we love them all dearly! Seth has been with us from the beginning, and is a familiar face to all who come to Poki Bowl. He is a master of customer service and charisma. Lola is our behind-the-scenes expert in the kitchen keeping things perfectly prepped, organized, and “hospital clean.” Bri is another original staff member from our early days, charming customers with her bright smile and quick service. Ashley is our manager and jack of all trades, with such kitchen expertise that she brings her leather satchel of specialty knives with her to work. She and her assistant Christian are the experts in problem-solving, kitchen prep, logistics management, and customer service. Ethan and Hallie have also been stalwarts with us from Day One, and show exceptional flexibility and willingness to help.

What is the story behind your business?

Jamie Bartschi (owner) and husband Sean are full-time cattle ranchers in the Bear Lake area. They and their three young boys were already big fans of sushi before discovering Poki Bowl on a family vacation. But after that discovery, they couldn’t stop thinking about it. They finally decided to open a franchise in Jamie’s childhood home of Davis County, where most of her family still resides. This was Utah’s first Poki Bowl location, and Jamie and Sean’s first venture into the restaurant side of the food industry (although Sean had grown up in the cattle production side of the food industry). Their boys quickly learned to bus tables and stock shelves, as well as greet customers and sweep floors. Their favorite part so far is flying their bush plane from the ranch into Bountiful’s little airport to come get some poke!

Tell a story about a great customer experience.

It was our second Saturday since opening the restaurant, and a local guy who grew up in Hawaii came in with his wife to try our food for lunch. He thanked us, and then surprised us by returning a few hours later for dinner! He said, “It just tasted so much like home, I had to have it again!” By the following Thursday we saw his seventh visit, and knew we were doing something right with the food. Since then we’ve had many customers tell us they like our food as much or better than the poke they had in Hawaii–it’s just as good because we only use the highest grade AAA fish shipped directly from the ocean, and it’s better because we offer so many healthy and delicious vegetable toppings not usually offered in Hawaii.

One other highlight is the number of “converts” we’ve made, out of people who previously didn’t like fish or sushi. We’ve been working on a design for some sign on the wall to keep count! Bad-tasting fish is low-grade fish, and if people will give our AAA grade fish a chance they are always impressed! We’ve seen ladies FaceTime their family members as they sit at our tables, exclaiming “look what I’m eating right now!” and announcing their new love of sushi. We’ve had countless customers invite family members to come taste the difference. Always there are comments about how satisfied and yet not heavy they feel after eating our food.

Explain why a customer should consider your business instead of going to a competitor.

Poki Bowl sets an unwaveringly high standard for quality, offering only AAA grade fish when it would be permissible to save money with lower grades. Our customers can taste the difference! We also have a unique combination of flavor and value that earned us the tagline Simple Yet Delicious. For the price of a single roll of sushi, customers get a very large portion of food with three times the amount of fish as a roll. Our flavor combination adds a unique Asian flair to the traditional Hawaiian masterpiece, and is completely customizable for each person. Top it off with a flawlessly-clean restaurant and friendly, fast-working staff, and you’ll see why Poki Bowl is our customers’ first choice!

What extra services do you offer that people might not know about?

Poki Bowl offers catering with customized options for everyone in the group.
We also offer gift cards in physical and digital form, great for presents and special occasions!