Poke Burrito opens its ninth location in Glenview
A ninth location of Poke Burrito restaurants recently opened in The Glen.
"I'm so excited to be in Glenview," says veteran restaurateur Jimmy Chen, founder and owner of the Hawaiian-Asian fusion chain.
About 350 customers attended a "soft opening" on Aug. 11. Chen said there was a line of people waiting up to two hours to try the "fast casual" restaurant at 2085 Tower Drive.
"A lot of people have been to our other restaurants. It's created a lot of excitement because people have been waiting for almost a year since we announced we were coming," Chen said.
Chen started the Poke Burrito concept on Nov. 28, 2017, at the still-existing North Center location on North Lincoln Avenue in Chicago.
Poke refers to the cube-shaped cut of fish, which is served with a variety of ingredients and sauce in a Poke bowl or in a sushi "burrito" with steamed rice, ingredients, and wrapped by seaweed paper or soy paper.
It's namely raw fish, he said, but his restaurants also serve cooked fish items as well as salads, rice, ramen, tea, Mochi doughnuts and other selections.
"We're always inventing new items," said Chen, who came to the United States with his parents when he was 13 years old.
A former sushi chef and second-generation restaurateur, Chen said he's worked in kitchens for 27 of his 39 years. Other Poke Burrito locations include Highland Park, Park Ridge, and Deer Park.
Though he owns them all, Chen said many of the other stores are operated by former employees, or family members.
"We really want to be part of a community wherever we go," he said.
Equipped with outdoor dining, Chen said the Glenview location features compostable packaging, minimal use of plastic and emphasizes an "eco-friendly environment" to go with healthy, fresh ingredients.
A "hands-on" owner-operator, Chen said he felt "blessed" with the attendance at the soft opening. He is planning a more complete grand opening next week, Aug. 22-27, with different promotions around food items.
"You really have to have a passion to be doing this for 27 years," he said. "But when I see the result, and people like it, I feel satisfied. I'm so excited to be in Glenview."