About Poke House
Founded in 2016, Poke House is a Bay Area-based fast-casual restaurant known for its Hawaiian-inspired poke bowls made with fresh, sustainable seafood and seasonal ingredients. The first store opened in 2016, and now, Poke House has 12 locations in the Bay Area, with more locations in the works.
Jason Huang is the Operations Manager at Poke House, and he takes pride in Poke House’s commitment to serving the freshest seafood and produce. “Ensuring customer satisfaction for us comes down to one simple thing — and that's fresh fish,” he says. “We adhere to these very strict operating guidelines; we don’t even have freezers in our restaurants.”
Standing out from the crowd
In May 2023, Poke House switched to DoorDash Online Ordering to strengthen its online ordering system. Online Ordering is a commission-free,* online ordering platform from DoorDash that lives on merchants’ websites. Online Ordering's clean, customer-friendly platform provided a convenient way for customers to place online orders directly from Poke House’s website. Within two months, Poke House saw an increase of 72% in total sales ($435,000).
While Poke House already had Marketplace, adding Online Ordering was a way to deepen their partnership with DoorDash without affecting their bottom line, especially in the Bay Area restaurant scene. “As a small business in the Bay Area, it's super competitive. In order to run a lean business, we look at things like COGS and other costs we can control,” Jason says. “We had an opportunity to work with DoorDash, and we’re happy to further our relationship.”
You are our top owners in the third-party delivery space. DoorDash is about 65% of our total delivery volume.
With a more integrated partnership, Poke House saw increased brand visibility online. “We have a strong brand presence in the Bay Area, and a lot of it has to do with word of mouth and social media,” Jason says. “However, we wouldn’t have the online presence if it wasn’t for DoorDash.” For Jason, the success of Poke House on Marketplace (especially during the pandemic) played a role in adding Online Ordering a few years later. “We were able to flourish during the pandemic because we had been working with DoorDash for three years already,” he says.
Keys to success
Poke House prides itself on delivering fresh food, but also delivering the best customer service. “Having a positive culture inside the store is really important, and we select managers that are really good with people and empathetic,” he says. It’s contributed to their growth via word of mouth, but Jason also acknowledges Online Ordering for strengthening their online presence. “Online sales are super important and without online sales and presence, it would be an uphill battle,” he says.
For Jason, the success of the Online Ordering partnership has solidified his commitment to the DoorDash partnership. “I would love to continue working with DoorDash,” Jason says. “You take such good care of us.”
*2.9% + $0.30 processing fee applies.
