Poké Spot Brings Hawaiian Flavor to Manchester

It’s the doldrums of winter and dreams are turning to a tropical vacation. Between the cost and the pandemic, flying off to Hawaii may not be in the cards, but a trip to South Willow Street in Manchester will at least give you a taste of the islands.

A new restaurant there is offering poke, a traditional Hawaiian dish with a name that translates as “to cut.” “Essentially, it’s sushi in a bowl,” says Carter Pillsbury, manager of Poké Spot. “And we came up with the name Poké Spot because we wanted this to be known as the place to come get it.”

Pillsbury says an entrepreneur from the area opened  Poké Spot in May 2021 because of his love for the unique dish. The menu includes signature bowls, such as Mahalo with Ahi tuna with red onion, jalapeno and green onion tossed in a House Poké sauce and topped with a seaweed salad, cucumber, avocado, Kaiware, masago, furikake, nori and tempura flakes.

Guests can also build their own bowls, selecting a base of rice, quinoa, wanton chips or a spring mix; a protein (including tuna, yellowtail and octopus); “mix ins” (onion, jalapeno or cilantro), sauces and toppings.

Before doors opened in May, employees worked to get Poké Spot prepared for its soft launch. “We were just figuring out how things were going to go; we really had no idea,” Pillsbury says.  There was uncertainty because Poké is not commonly found in NH or even greater New England.  The risk was well worth it, as business has steadily ramped up since their opening.

The initially slower traffic due to the pandemic allowed the managers and employees to have a trial run. “I’ve noticed it’s definitely getting busier, and I thought the winter definitely wasn’t going to be as busy because Poké is cold food, but it’s been getting busier in spite of that,” Pillsbury says.

In the first few months that Poké Spot was open, it was rare that more than half of the tables were full even on busy nights.

Now, the dinner rush often sees many, if not all, of the tables full. “I think being on South Willow Street makes a big difference in the business we find here.  Even this plaza is very popular because of how diversified it is,” Pillsbury says.

For more information, visit pokespotnh.com.

Written by Elijah Boisvert, a student at University of NH-Manchester and a participant in the Young Reporters Project, a joint venture of Business NH Magazine and UNH-Manchester to introduce students to business writing.