New fast-casual acai, poke bowl joint brings taste of Hawaii to Fort Myers

It couldn’t have worked out much better for Mike Cardascia.

After a year of searching for a second location for his Naples-based fast-casual Oahu Fresh Bowls, he found a perfect one in Fort Myers.

“This spot just came up,” he said of his just-opened Hawaiian-flavored restaurant in Palm Pointe Shoppes on Cleveland Avenue, just south of Page Field. “About 50,000 cars a day come by there. It’s pretty much on the main road.”

And customers have been quick to find it.

After a week of soft opening, a grand opening was held on July 5.

“Probably about 150 (people) were lined up before the doors opened,” Cardascia said. “It was fantastic. The line was around the building.”

They’ve been lining up for Oahu Fresh Bowl’s poke bowls, burritos, acai soft serve, boba and more.

Eat healthy

“It’s great tasting food and it’s super healthy,” said Cardascia, who also owns Zen Asian BBQ, an award-winning fusion restaurant in Naples. “We have a great variety of really healthy food that’s different than most places.”

Most items are customizable, including the acai soft serve and boba drinks — with popping pearls and jellies — and poke bowls, made with fresh, sushi-grade fish and a range of sauces and toppings.

“The poke is selling the most so far,” Cardascia said. “They really love poke bowls. Especially the build your own.”

It’s his favorite too, he said, adding that he loads his up with “everything on it, crab, shrimp, even chicken.”

Besides the build-your-own acai bowl, signature options include cookie butter, PB lover, da classic and Nutella with granola (blueberry flax) with a colorful array of fresh bananas, strawberries, coconut flakes and, of course, Nutella. Additional toppings on any order include more fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, honey and more.

There’s also a signature series of cheesecake milk tea (strawberry, Oreo, taro and matcha), iced green teas, classic and flavored milk teas and no caffeine icy milk boba.

“It’s all very affordable,” Cardascia said. “Our acai bowls are less money than typical acai bowls. Our poke burrito is a giant sushi roll. I don’t think you’ll find another comparable one for $15. That’s not going to happen.”

More Oahu Fresh Bowls on the way?

Cardascia opened his first location in Naples about a year ago.

“It does fantastic even though there is zero visibility there,” he said. “It’s a weird location. You can’t see it from Pine Ridge Road or Livingston (Road), but it does really well.”

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And although the Fort Myers location just opened, he’s already looking for more spots.

“It’s a simple concept,” he said. “And it’s easy to grow. It was originally going to just be acai. Then the decision was made to add poke after we came up with the right marinade. Then boba was simple to incorporate.”

Fortunately for Cardascia, the Fort Myers space previously housed a bubble tea business — Navi Milk Tea.

“It was already built out,” he said. “All we did was bring in equipment. We didn’t change the infrastructure at all.”

He did, however, change the look of the space.

“I did some designs to give it a Hawaiian theme,” he said. “I want it to feel like you’re in a beach community in Hawaii.”

Aloha and welcome to Fort Myers.

Oahu Fresh Bowls, 11621 S Cleveland Ave., Unit 20, Fort Myers, open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily; also at 13040 Livingston Road, Naples; (239) 331-2200; oahufreshbowls.com and on Facebook and Instagram

Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Naples-based Oahu Fresh Bowls opens a new location in Fort Myers