Pokeworks launches high-protein Surf & Turf Bowl with 44 grams of protein
Pokeworks’ new Surf & Turf Bowl packs 44 grams of protein into a limited-time poke meal, turning nutrition into the latest fast-casual marketing weapon.
Pokeworks is putting a hard number on lunch: 44 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber, and a limited-time bowl built to read like a fitness stat as much as a meal. The High-Protein Surf & Turf Bowl went live on June 17, with participating locations nationwide beginning service on June 16, and it lands squarely in the fast-casual race to turn menu boards into nutrition dashboards.
The bowl mixes premium ahi tuna and chicken breast with creamy avocado, surimi salad, double edamame, fresh greens, chilled ramen noodles and savory toppings. That combination matters because it does more than stack macros. It gives Pokeworks a meal that feels substantial without drifting into the heavy, engineered territory that can make high-protein items taste like punishment. The chain is selling fullness, texture and convenience in the same order.
That is the real macro marketing play here. Pokeworks has built its brand around Poke Your Way, which it says offers more than 50,000 ways to customize an order, so the 44-gram claim works as a traffic hook inside a broader build-your-own platform rather than as a rigid prescription. The bowl gives the company a clean headline for digital ordering and in-store merchandising, while still leaving room for guests to swap, add, or tune the base to fit their own routine.
The launch also fits a broader burst of menu and unit momentum. In April 2026, Pokeworks said it was coming off its strongest first quarter in brand history, with new stores in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, a reopening in Somerville, Massachusetts, and a multi-unit development deal in Boulder, Colorado. The chain also said it earned a spot on Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers for the seventh straight year.
Pokeworks has been leaning into portable, busy-day food as a theme. It introduced Poke Bombs nationwide in April 2026 as a grab-and-go item for guests with packed schedules, and the Surf & Turf Bowl follows the same logic with a more complete-meal pitch. The company said 2025 brought record-breaking franchise and consumer growth, and in September it said its loyalty program was growing four times faster than 2024 over the first seven months of the year, with July same-store sales up 14 percent versus a 1 percent fast-casual average cited in a Jefferies report. In June 2025, Pokeworks said it operated 73 locations across 20 U.S. states, Taiwan and Canada.
Taken together, the new bowl looks less like a one-off menu stunt than a sign of where fast-casual is headed. Protein is no longer just a nutritional benefit tucked into the fine print. It is the headline, the merchandised promise and, increasingly, the thing that gets guests to choose one bowl over another.
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