Healthy-eating restaurant opens first Mississippi location on the Coast
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- Koibito Pokē opens first Mississippi location in Gulfport near U.S. 49 hub.
- Customizable poke bowls focus on fresh proteins, health and local flair.
- Franchise adds unique Gulf Coast touches like crawfish and boba offerings.
Foodies in South Mississippi love to try a new restaurant, especially when it’s the first one in the state.
Koibito Poke is newly opened at 15520 Daniel Drive in Gulfport, off U.S. 49, near Sam’s Club and across from Texas Roadhouse. It’s not just the first franchise in Mississippi — the next closest is in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It’s all about healthy eating, said Trey McCaige.
He’s a co-owner of the new eatery with John Landers and Alex McCondiut, who are owners of Smoothie King franchises in the New Orleans area. Landers, who has 10 years of experience in the food industry, is general manager.
It’s all about healthy eating — bowls typically are just 500 calories and have 40 grams of protein — and the ingredients are fresh cut, tasty and selected for their immunity-boosting qualities.
The menu lets customers choose from nine signature bowls like a keto bowl, teriyaki chicken and a salmon bowl that still can be customized to allow substitutions. Or there’s the option to make-your-own bowl.
Layer on the toppings
“So we start with our base, which could be either white rice, brown rice, spring mix or cauliflower rice,” McCaige said.
He’s making a Koibito Bowl, with scoops of salmon, Hawaiian tuna, and ahi tuna. He adds sriracha aioli, cucumber, edamame, cilantro, seaweed salad and sesame seeds and tops it with one of the seven signature sauces, like the house that’s sweet and tangy, sesame oil, champagne butter or a combination.
“You can add or take away anything you want from the signature bowl,” he said, choosing from ingredients like cucumber salad, marinated shaved Brussels sprouts or crispy garlic. “The customer is the most important part here.”
The bowls range from about $9 for a veggie to $16 for a large signature bowl and are priced depending on how many scoops of protein are requested. Kids’ bowls are $7.95.
“The size of bowl does not change,” McCaige said. The price is based on the scoops of protein you get. The medium and signature bowls start with three scoops of protein and customers choose as many vegetable and herb toppings as they want, with a small additional charge for avocado and masago roe.
Gulf Coast flair
The ingredients are slightly different on the Gulf Coast than they are in Arizona or one of the other locations. “I am doing crawfish instead of octopus,” he said and that will change when crawfish is out of season.
“The franchise has given us a little bit of extra freedom,” McCaige said. They’ll be adding boba itea in the next month or two, with a bubbler on the counter.
For now, boba is available in the cooler.
The concept’s a home run
Koibito Pokē was founded in 2018 in Arizona, and is run by former MLB pitcher and two-time World Series Champion Todd Stottlemyre.
The company’s mantra is “health is wealth” and it’s built on quality ingredients and preparations.
“We like to marinate things and make sure everything’s fresh every day,” McCaige said.
His mother is from Ocean Springs and his parents retired there, “I’m happy to bring affordable, healthy food, right the Gulf Coast.
The restaurant opens at 10 a.m. and stays open until 8 p.m.. Delivery is available through popular services. The restaurant also has an app for loyalty members, with a sign-up bonus.
This story was originally published June 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
