Another East Van storefront is going dark, and this one barely had time to settle in.
Pokey Okey has permanently closed its Kingsway location, with the poke shop serving its final bowls on June 22.
The spot only opened back in May 2025, which makes for a short run by any measure.
In the announcement post, the team thanked the community and called it the end of the road for this particular address.
The closure stings a little more because the Kingsway shop was supposed to be a fresh start.
Pokey Okey had closed its Richmond and Burnaby locations back in early 2025, and the East Van opening was billed as the brand’s comeback.
The brand’s map has shifted a lot in a short window, going from its Richmond beginnings to a round of closures, then the Kingsway relaunch, and now back to two storefronts.
It moved into a former O’Pizza unit and leaned into a manga and Japanese theme, with a feature wall of manga panels from series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Spy x Family.
That wall made it a bit of a draw for fans of the genre, the kind of small detail that gets a spot tagged and shared.
The location also ran as a three-in-one concept, serving poke alongside katsu and gyudon under one roof.
It was an ambitious setup for a single Kingsway storefront, and clearly a tough one to keep open.
If you are new to the brand, Pokey Okey started in Richmond back in 2018, founded by longtime friends Victor and Jonathan.
It built its following on customizable poke bowls and signature builds like the Red Bowl and the Green Bowl.
Here is the good news for fans who are panicking.
This is not goodbye for the brand, just for the Kingsway address.
Pokey Okey is still serving poke at its downtown Vancouver shop at 995 Hornby Street and at its Richmond food hall spot at 180 to 6386 No 3 Road.
The team also confirmed that existing stamp cards remain fully valid at both of those locations.
So the loss here is really about the neighbourhood, not the poke.
East Van loses a quick, customizable lunch option that had only just found its footing on the block.
There is no word yet on what will take over the 2421 Kingsway space.
Pokey Okey’s Kingsway location joins a wave of recent Vancouver closures like Robba Da Matti in Yaletown, Dulcey, and Burgoo’s downtown location.
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Address: 2421 Kingsway, Vancouver BC