Pacific Counter, a celebrated poke concept in downtown St. Petersburg is officially expanding to Downtown Tampa. This new restaurant will be located at North Ashley Drive and West Tyler Street in the Modera Apartments building. In addition to serving poke bowls, this restaurant also offers sake slush, pineapple Dole Whip, spam musubi, and amazing hotdogs served on Hawaiian rolls.
Projected to open their newest location by the end of March, this will be the third brick and mortar location for the local St. Petersburg restaurant group. Pacific Counter was the first build-your-own, fast-casual poke bowl and sushi burrito option in Pinellas County, having opened in September 2018, at 660 Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg. Pacific Counter opened a micro-location inside Tropicana Field in 2019 where they operate during Rays baseball games and events like Enchant Christmas Market. Their Lakewood Ranch location celebrated two years of being open in January of this year, and they currently have locations under construction in Downtown Tampa and Sarasota.
Pacific Counter brings Dole Whip to downtown Tampa
Pacific Counter is a chef-driven concept, with an emphasis on serving fresh, high-quality ingredients, in a customer-crafted Build Your Own format. Accessibility and affordability is what the restaurant group aims for. Food items on the menu are all priced below $12, with all drink options coming in at $5 or less. The menu features 8 ready-to-order Counter Creations, as well as the Build Your Own option. We have an affinity for the noodles, aloha chicken, kale, carrots, kimchi (made in house) and daikon salad.
Traditional sides such as edamame, miso soup, and Spam musubi are also found on the menu, along with their highly addictive pineapple Dole whip for dessert. Their alcoholic beverage selection includes a rotation of craft beers and their one-of-a-kind Sake Slush!
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Their Downtown Tampa location will further expand on these efficiencies through significant investments in the digital ordering process, including in-house kiosks, and an entirely new immersive digital ordering platform. In addition to what they are doing inside the four walls of their restaurant, Pacific Counter is also partnered with every third-party delivery service, and offers an expansive catering program, to get their food to you.
Named one of the best poke spots in the entire region
Pacific Counter has been named to the Tampa Bay Times list of Best Restaurants and Best of The Best List. They have won several Creative Loafing’s Best of The Bay Awards, including “Best Poke Bowls”. Pacific Counter was a fan favorite at Tropicana Field, where they remain one of the top vendors during the Rays games.
“When we started looking for locations back in 2017 our search was focused on Tampa, but we ultimately ended up in Downtown St. Pete, so it feels really good to have the opportunity to move forward with a Tampa location now.” says Eric Bialik, co-founder at Pacific Counter. “We’ve had such tremendous support from our community over the years, which has afforded us these opportunities, and we are so appreciative of everyone for that,” Loebel added.
Tampa has been on Pacific Counter’s radar since day one. “We are sending catering orders to Tampa on a weekly basis, so having a store closer to those order destinations was a logical move for us.” said Chitthasack Noythanongsay, Pacific Counter’s third co-founder. These past two years have been a whirlwind to say the least. “Times have definitely been tough, but we remain focused on our goal of serving Good Food & Good Vibes throughout the Tampa Bay area” Noythanongsay continued, “we would ultimately like to become one of Tampa Bay’s homegrown brands with seven to ten locations throughout the region.”
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Opening this summer in downtown Tampa
The South/Downtown Tampa market is familiar to Eric Bialik, having been the general manager of Ciro’s Speakeasy & Grille One Sixteen for several years prior to launching Pacific Counter. “I look forward to being back in Tampa where I originally became established in the restaurant industry. I have many former guests and colleagues I am excited to see again!” said Bialik.
Pacific Counter will offer online ordering, delivery, takeout, and their full-scale catering program. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. daily.
Follow Pacific Counter on Facebook, Instagram and their website for updates. You can also watch a full video of the Pacific Counter concept on Instagram.
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