{"id":332140,"date":"2026-05-25T22:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332140\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T22:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T22:43:15","slug":"fresno-native-opens-poke-house-franchise-at-the-avenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332140\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno native opens Poke House franchise at The Avenue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tou Yang knows he could\u2019ve played it safe.<\/p>\n

For five years, Yang worked at Apple Park, the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc. in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

He had a cushy job in the food service division as a cook, with solid pay, good benefits, as well as weekends off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great,\u201d Yang said. \u201cI enjoyed it there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the Fresno native had bigger goals and grander plans.<\/p>\n

So when an opportunity arose for Yang to help one of his friends to grow a new, fast-casual restaurant that was attempting to expand beyond San Jose, the 2007 Sunnyside High graduate decided to roll the dice and bet on himself.<\/p>\n

As well as the growing popularity of poke.<\/p>\n

\"A A poke bowl topped with purple Ogo Seaweed is created to a customer’s order at the new Poke House, located at The Avenue at Heritage Grove, Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

Nine years later after leaving a stable job at Apple to pursue a career that was potentially more lucrative and satisfying by working in operations for Poke House, Yang, 36, has expanded his goals once more and become a franchise owner.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s brought the first Poke House restaurant to the Fresno area.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing from Fresno, I wanted to bring something back that I\u2019ve been working on for quite a while now,\u201d said Yang, who in recent months has been splitting time living in San Jose and working in Clovis. \u201cJust saw all the development happening in Fresno and Clovis, and that really excited me to bring this to the Valley and share this with everyone here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poke House is no longer a startup restaurant that\u2019s looking to find its footing as when Yang first joined.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s become a national chain with 22 locations<\/a>, primarily in California but with a franchise in Atlanta, as well as upcoming spots set to open in Las Vegas and in Oregon.<\/p>\n

In the Fresno area, early signs seem to indicate Poke House has become an instant hit.<\/p>\n

During the Poke House grand opening earlier this month, the line to enter the restaurant wrapped around the building and lasted from open until close.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery honored that the community came out and gave us strong support,\u201d Yang said.<\/p>\n

\"Tou Tou Yang, Director of Operations and franchisee owner of the new Poke House located at The Avenue at Heritage Grove, photographed Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

Poke House is the latest spot to debut at The Avenue, the upscale, mixed-use complex completed last summer<\/a> and located at the southeast corner of Willow and Shepherd avenues in Clovis.<\/p>\n

The complex has strived to bring aboard unique restaurants and shops that\u2019s void of repeated, nearby locations.<\/p>\n

And Poke House fits that bill, with the next closest Poke House located along the Central Coast in Monterey.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing this was a fresh, new development, we really wanted to get into (it),\u201d Yang said.<\/p>\n

\"Poke Poke House has opened at The Avenue at Heritage Grove, photographed Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Poke popularity<\/p>\n

What exactly is poke or a poke bowl?<\/p>\n

At its core, poke is diced up raw fish, sometimes marinated.<\/p>\n

Think of a sushi roll that\u2019s been deconstructed and with the raw fish cut up in cubes.<\/p>\n

A poke bowl, which is a traditional Hawaiian dish, essentially is cubed pieces of raw fish or other meats (like shrimp or beef that\u2019s been cooked) that\u2019s served over a bed of rice or greens while topped with various vegetables and sauces.<\/p>\n

\"A A salmon handroll is created the new Poke House located at The Avenue at Heritage Grove, Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

According to Technavio, a market research company with global coverage, the poke foods market is an $8.78 billion industry<\/a> with future market opportunities expected to reach almost another $6 billion over the next four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe poke foods market has evolved from a niche Hawaiian specialty into a mainstream dining category, driven by consumer demand for healthy, customizable, and convenient meals,\u201d the Technavio market summary states. \u201cThis expansion is supported by the inherent nutritional benefits of its core components, such as raw fish and fresh vegetables, which align with modern wellness trends.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Poke House, customers regularly customize what items they\u2019d like to fill their poke bowl<\/a> \u2014 from the base (rice, vegetables, noodles) to the proteins, mix-ins, sauces and toppings.<\/p>\n

Among the meat\/protein selections, folks can choose among Scottish salmon, ahi tuna, octopus, shrimp, organic tofu, spicy miso salmon, spicy tuna, garlic oyster tuna and krab salad.<\/p>\n

For those wanting a tasty meal but without putting much thought in how it\u2019s constructed, Poke House has six signature bowls with predetermined ingredients. Pricing ranges from $15 to $22.<\/p>\n

\"A A handroll with Krab is created at the new Poke House located at The Avenue at Heritage Grove, Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat stands out is the value that we provide and the little taste of Hawaii if you haven\u2019t been there,\u201d Yang said. \u201cThe best compliment we\u2019ve gotten is when someone\u2019s from Hawaii and says it tastes like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poke House is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

\"A A customer has a poke bowl made to his order at the new Poke House, located at The Avenue at Heritage Grove, Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Bryant-Jon Anteola<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Bryant-Jon Anteola is a multimedia reporter for The Fresno Bee, writing stories and producing videos about sports, news and random topics relatable to those in the Fresno area. He\u2019s won a McClatchy President\u2019s Award and received honorable mention by the Associated Press Sports Editors. He enjoys sports because of the competition, camaraderie and energy, and views sports as a microcosm of society.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tou Yang knows he could\u2019ve played it safe. For five years, Yang worked at Apple Park, the corporate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-332140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}