Island Fin Poke Bringing 20 New Restaurants To Tampa Bay

TAMPA BAY, FL — Island Fin Poke, an Orlando-based restaurant chain, announced it will be opening 20 new locations across Tampa Bay and West Florida.

Island Fin Poke is a build-your-own poke bowl concept that specializes in serving farm-to-fork, locally and responsibly sourced ingredients to create fresh Hawaiian poke bowls. The brand currently has one location open in Wesley Chapel and will have new locations popping up in the area in the new year.

A Sarasota location is set to open in January, and additional restaurants in Carrollwood, Trinity and St. Petersburg are expected to open in the first half of 2021.

Matthew McNulty, managing partner of Pelagic Hospitality Group, has partnered with Island Fin Poke and is serving as an area representative to help expand the brand’s presence in West Florida. The group is responsible for opening Island Fin Poke restaurants in Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties.

In addition to being the area representative, Pelagic acquired three franchises initially and will open more as the market dictates. The remaining locations will be owned by other local franchisees. McNulty brings 25 years of business experience to Island Fin Poke. He began his career on Wall Street before transitioning to operational and strategy consulting, and now serves as senior vice president of Global Sales for IRONSCALES, a cybersecurity tech firm.

“As a St. Petersburg native, I am so excited to help Island Fin Poke grow in the area. I think that poke is such an underserved segment in the quick-service restaurant market; it’s a unique menu with plenty of healthy and fresh options,” said McNulty. “The people here will definitely enjoy what Island Fin Poke has to offer.”

The restaurant allows guests to create their own poke bowl with eight proteins, more than 25 toppings, house-made sauces and specialty mix-ins.

After working in the restaurant industry for 36 years and overseeing 10 restaurants throughout Las Vegas and Los Angeles, co-founder Mark Setterington decided to launch Island Fin Poke to bring guests high-quality poke in an immersive beach shack environment.

The first location opened in Winter Springs in 2017 and, over the past three years, Island Fin Poke has grown to 10 locations across five states, including Nevada, Maryland, Delaware and Massachusetts. Island Fin Poke now has over 30 locations in various stages of development across the country.

Of the 20 locations coming to the area, the brand already has commitments from local franchisees for nine of them. They are eyeing areas like St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Tampa, among others, within McNulty’s eight-county territory.

“Mark was a huge reason why we decided to join Island Fin Poke,” said McNulty. “The guest experience is his No. 1 priority, and he makes sure that every franchise owner understands that and lives by it. Having a business partner like Mark who embodies these principles and does everything to make sure that each guest has a warm and interactive experience is so important."

Island Fin Poke’s operating locations have been successful throughout the pandemic, which has poised the brand for continued growth. The brand’s business model gives restaurants the ability to pivot quickly to remain up-to-date on local guidelines to ensure the safety of staff and guests, said McNulty.