SUKI Newstead blames Covid lockdown for store closure

An innovative poke bowl store in Brisbane’s inner city has closed its doors saying “it was one lockdown too many”.

A POKE bowl chain — which describes itself as a healthy fusion of Hawaiian and Japanese cuisines — has closed another store citing “one lockdown too many”.

SUKI, which at one stage had six stores in Queensland, told customers that it has had to close its Newstead restaurant in the Gasworks precinct.

On a note on its front door, SUKI told customers: “ Sorry Newstead fam, this was one lockdown too many for us. Thankyou for all your support over the years.”

The closures leaves SUKI with two stores — at Southbank in Brisbane and in Townsville.

Since its peak, it has closed restaurants in Birtinya on the Sunshine Coast, Bulimba and Cairns.

SUKI was the brainchild of Leon McNiece and restaurateur turned developer Eddie Isik who opened the first SUKI — Brisbane’s first dedicated poke bowl and sushi burrito store — in April 2017 at Southbank.

SUKI Newstead closes is doors because of "one lockdown too many".

The franchise business is currently controlled by an ownership group and chief operating officer Neven Vanderzee who took over in 2019 when Kim Toovey stood down as chief executive.

A representative of the company at the Southbank store told The Courier-Mail he was ”instructed to say no comment”.

SUKI Newstead has closed its doors

SUKI business sources Australian produce and Hawaiian flavours to create an eclectic range of poke combinations including pairings of salmon and orange or katsu chicken and seaweed are combinations.

SUKI — which in Japanese means “to like, to love” and according to its website “no poke mix is too outrageous”.