Freestyle Poke abruptly closed three restaurants in November. New owners to reopen one

Freestyle Poke shut down a month ago, with just a note posted on the doors of its three locations: “Due to unfortunate circumstances, we will be closed indefinitely.”

Now the River Market restaurant, at 509 Delaware St., will reopen under new owners in late January.

James and Rebecca Clark, and Edward Mitchell, partners in Ni Hao Fresh in Mission, have purchased the rights to the Freestyle Poke name and recipes, and taken over the lease for the River Market location.

“We’ve operated Ni Hao Fresh for about a year. This is a great way to get a second location,” said James Clark. “We really liked their concept and recipes.”

But the new owners plan a few immediate changes.

The previous owner had a “no cash” policy, but the new owners will accept cash. They also will offer some lower-priced food and drink options.

Freestyle Poke opened in mid-2018 in the River Market and this year added locations in Liberty and Overland Park. After the restaurants closed in mid-November, founder Jeremiah Dupin said he was looking for a buyer.

Dupin couldn’t be reached for comment.

The Clarks and Mitchell first teamed up with Rebecca’s parents (Richard and Theresa Ng, owners of Bo Lings Chinese Restaurant), and her brother, Raymond, to open Ni Hao Fresh in Mission, a poke and stir-fry concept.

They plan to have a “Friends & Family” event in January where they can get feedback from Freestyle Poke customers. And later, they hope to introduce some of their popular Ni Hao Fresh stir-fry options to the Freestyle menu.

“But we are a little bit limited with that space. The kitchen is pretty small and they don’t have an exhaust system,” Clark said.

This story was originally published December 26, 2019 at 5:00 AM.