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Poke franchise launching in the Triangle

By   – Staff Writer, Triangle Business Journal

A new restaurant will soon be serving up Hawaiian-inspired bowls of rice and fresh fish in the Triangle.

Called LemonShark Poke, the California-based restaurant franchise is poised to make its entrance by the end of the year. John Dingman, a former IBM programmer, has signed a deal with LemonShark Poke for franchise rights to the Triangle and has already inked a lease for space at the Stone Creek Village shopping complex in Cary, at the former It’s A Grind Coffee House location.

The eatery is supposed to put a higher-end twist on the rapidly growing trend of poke bowls. The dish is often eaten with hunks of raw tuna over rice and vegetables, sometimes described as unpacked sushi, and has grown in popularity locally and across in recent years.

While many new poke restaurants are aimed at getting people in and out quickly, LemonShark Poke will provide an atmosphere in which people will want to sit and enjoy their meal, Dingman says. “One of the main differences is we’re going to be more upscale than some of the others,” he says. “We’ll have a beer wall with beer taps, we’ll have TVs on the inside.”

Patrons will be able to choose their toppings, similar to the Subway dining experience, Dingman says.

Dingman has plans to open a total of four locations – with the potential for more, depending on sales. Dingman has a background as a franchisee. He has 18 Great Clips locations throughout the Triangle.

Retail space at the Stone Creek Village shopping center had just a 3 percent vacancy rate through the second quarter. Jeff Nimmer and Tyler Quinn of the Shopping Center Group represented the tenant in the lease.

 

Original article appeared here.