Episode 99: Peter Yang with Pokeworks

When Peter Yang’s parents immigrated to San Diego from China, they did not aspire for their children to be employed in food service. “My parents were trained designers in China, and had always hoped their children would graduate college and choose professional careers,” says Yang. Nevertheless, he grew up in the family restaurant and went on to develop Pokeworks, the world's largest fast-casual, premium Poke brand with 70 locations nationwide.

After earning a degree in engineering and a brief corporate internship, Yang joined his father and brother to open a full-service Chinese restaurant in Flushing, New York. “My interest was always in restaurants, and my passion to create is what led my brother and I to develop our own concept.”

Yang credits the growing healthful dining trend and his childhood visits to Hawaii as inspirations for the inaugural Pokeworks location in 2015, a 700-square-foot counter-service unit. Pokeworks’ fresh, healthy, and crave-able take on traditional poke bowls, burritos, salads, and sides was an immediate success. “Our initial thought was to expand slowly; but we received over one million views on Insider Food [a social media food network], creating tremendous interest in growth.”

Here, Yang details his business development process from concept ideation to expansion to franchise development. He also explains how cross-utilization of fresh seafood contributes to interesting menu offerings and managing food costs. Pokeworks’ current 1,200-square-foot counter and limited on-site dining units operate with relatively few staff and produce more than 30% of the concept’s sales from online guest pick-up orders.