The team behind Ingleside’s sesame seed-centric Dots Boba is now serving up poké and inari sushi.
Dots owners Adonis Chu and Ericson Li, along with high school friends Victoria Vuong and Benjamin Chow, opened Paku on Oct. 19 in the former Poké Bowl space.
“Dots was where our journey began, and Paku is how we continue growing,” Chu said. “We want both businesses to feel connected while offering customers something different to enjoy.”
Chu and Li had expanded Dots’ menu to include bites — eggettes and rice bowls — but the limited space prevented them from doing everything they wanted. So it was time to start a new endeavor, just a block away on Ocean Avenue.
The restaurant’s menu was inspired by a Hawaii trip during which Li fell in love with the traditional style of serving raw fish. Li and company also wanted to break out of a stereotypical poké store format. So they added inari, stuffed fried tofu pockets, alongside shaved ice. Its name drew inspiration from the Japanese term for biting and chewing.
They also wanted to stay on Ocean Avenue because they have felt such great support from the community with Dots Boba and that experience inspired them to continue growing and discover new ideas within the same neighborhood.
Li said they aim to provide patrons with an authentic experience and designed the menu to reflect unique flavors. And, as they do with Dots Boba, they will continue to experiment with different flavors and items.
“Although Dots and Paku have their own unique menu and identities, they share the same passion for quality, creativity, and friendly customer service,” Chu said. “We are proud to connect the two businesses and hope customers have support. That would be just as exciting as discovering Paku.”
Customers can choose to build poké bowls with one to three proteins, which come with the corresponding scoops of rice like one protein with one scoop of rice for $13.50 to $23.50. They can choose from seven protein options, including shoyu tuna, spicy mayo chili crunch salmon and garlic shrimp, with each sauce or dressing being made in-house and each bowl is served with sesame red cabbage slaw and cucumber salad.
Their inari sushi selection comes in boxes of three, five or eight for $12 to $28. Patrons can pick from 10 options, including corn cheese, sukiyaki beef with shiso and miso mayo imitation crab at no additional charge, while premium-priced options like unagi and quail egg or other raw fish options like spicy ground tuna and spicy mentaiko salmon can be selected for an additional $0.75 a piece.
Paku also serves four options for shaved snow that range from $8 to $8.50 and include flavors like the strawberry cheesecake option, which comes with strawberry, condensed milk, cheese cream, toffee bits and mochi and the matcha red bean option, which comes with toppings like ceremonial matcha, condensed milk, red bean and mochi.
Drinks include tea-based options, a nod to the duo’s first business, with unique names like Yuzu Got This and Kale Me Maybe for $6.50 to $7.
For customers like San Francisco State University nursing student Malinda Lee, Paku has quickly become a new go-to favorite. She first discovered Paku on Instagram and came during the restaurant’s first week. She returned with friends on a second visit to continue trying all of Paku’s menu items.
“I think this is way better than the Poké Bowl that used to be here,” Lee said. “There were so many flies but the way they decorated this place, it’s very open and inviting. I think it would be a good study spot as well.”
Li said the feeling a customer has as they enter and leave the space is their main focus. They hope it will be a space where patrons can grab a quick bite or stay to hang out with friends or get work done, all while being served with top-quality ingredients and high customer service.
“We basically try to release the full potential of this spot to make sure that everybody can enjoy this place,” Li said. “This spot is also one of the best parts on Ocean Avenue…We try to offer good food and then maybe help to build a better community.”
The space has been renovated to create a spacious, inviting feel by the addition of wooden benches and built-in silver tables beside the register. The interior aesthetic offers a warm-toned appearance with salmon colored walls in the main dining area that is accompanied by light tan wooden benches and silver tables.
Though Paku has only been open for two weeks, they are already taking feedback and adapting processes to be more ideal for customer needs, like having patrons start at one end of the food bar and make their way to the register rather than ordering at the register first and with menu items like their coconut ube mash that Li said will be back once they develop a better way to store it.
Paku will hold a grand opening soon, Chu said.
“It’s new, so come give it a try,” Chu said. “You might like it, because you never know until you try it.”
Paku
Address: 1250 Ocean Ave.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily
Phone: 628-318-8288
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