Former village resident Jessica Alt, right, recently purchased Miguel’s Poke Island restaurant at 135 Dayton St. To her left, employee Brady carefully made a sushi burrito — one of the restaurant’s specialties. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Poke Island under new ownership
- Published: November 3, 2023
By Dennis Bova
A former Yellow Springs resident has taken over Miguel’s Poke Island restaurant. She’s making no changes — for now.
Jessica Alt, a 1987 graduate of Yellow Springs High School whose family lives in the village, completed the purchase of the restaurant, renamed Jessica’s Poke Island, at 135 Dayton St. last month.
“I’m running it with the other people who were working there,” said Alt, a Dayton Public Schools teacher who lives in Fairborn and has no plans to change the staff.
“I’m keeping the same concept,” she said. ‘I may introduce some items to the menu, but it’s staying pretty much the same.”
Alt does plan to rebrand with a new website, which she said could be up and running in the next couple of weeks. Because the original website no longer is available, Alt said the only way to order takeout is to phone the restaurant. The phone number is unchanged: 937-319-0491.
The restaurant’s hours are noon–3 p.m. and 5–8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, noon–8 p.m. Saturdays and noon–6 p.m. Sundays.
“Roughly the same as before,” Alt said. “We may open at 11 [a.m.] during the week.”
The menu is unchanged. Poke is meat diced into small pieces. There’s a variety of topping choices, and patrons can build their own poke bowls, 24 or 32 ounces. Chicken and tofu are available, and there are sushi burritos and smoothies. All the food is fresh, Alt said.
Alt earned a bachelor of science degree in business from Wright State University in 2012 and a master of arts in career technology from The Ohio State University in 2021.
“I’ve always had a fascination for food,” she said.
Alt added that she looked into buying a food truck over the past three or four years, but “when this opened up, something clicked and I decided to do it. Everything is in place. Instead of buying a truck and buying items to go into it, this place is ready to go with almost everything I need.”
*The author is a freelance reporter for the News and was a longtime copy editor for The Toledo Blade. He currently writes for Wright State University, the Dayton Business Journal, Dayton Real Producers and Toledo-based Healthy Living News.
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