Having just celebrated a 5th Anniversary on Bull Street in Savannah, Harold and Ashley Schroeter have always had their eyes on expansion. As is usually the case with a small business, you can hope all you want, but ultimately need a successful first location before you can eyeball a second. Thankfully, things are going well in Savannah. Well enough, in fact, that the Schroeters will open their 2nd Nom Nom Poke in Bluffton, which is actually where they live. Construction at the New Riverside development has been in the works for nearly a year. They hope to open in very late this year or early 2025.

We caught up with Harold Schroeter a few days back to learn a little more about their time in Savannah and what you can expect from their expansion to Bluffton.

JB: Were you looking for another spot or did that just happen (expansion to Bluffton)?

Harold: We were. There were a couple. We were looking over in Washington Square. Are you familiar? We were looking there at first. Then there was a spot in Old Town just wouldn’t work in terms of Hood and all that.

JB: Do you live over there?

Harold: We live in Bluffton, yeah.

JB: So was the whole plan if we expanded, it’ll be back over there.

Harold: Yes. It was always never Hilton Head just because of seasonality. We’re seasonal here, which is okay. But the seasonality on Hilton Head is a little different. But yeah. And we know that we’ve lived in New Riverside and the Cypress Ridge just right down the street from there for seven years. Okay. So we know the area well and there’s an abundance of families and nowhere to eat.

JB: No, no, obviously. So you’re going in there. Local Pie is going in there. Frosty Frog. How long does it take you to get there? 15-20?

Harold: Not even.

JB: So yeah, it’s not as far as people think. So what’s the plan? Is it going to be same copy and paste or different over there?

Harold: Essentially? A little bit different. We will offer the same build your own and Signature Bowl menu. We will expand our appetizers, maybe some sashimi and more fun combinations. And then sushi burritos will be the new fun thing. So we’ll have a couple of premium, and then your regular, we’ll do a large California tempora shrimp, things like that. We’ll have it all. And we’ll just give it a nice cut and there you go. And we’ll do some little dipping sauces, things like that.

JB: Same name? Everything’s the same?

Harold: Well, it’ll be Nom Nom Poke, no shop. We’re dropping that. But yeah, other than that. We will offer beer, wine, and Saki in that location. We lost the fight here, but it’s okay. Very cool. And then the same, try and keep it friendly for takeout or takeout heavy.

JB: So you’re takeout heavy here in Savannah?

Harold: Oh yeah. The DoorDash and all that stuff. We do our online ordering and then we do Uber Eats too. Uber Eats? Yeah. We, it’s funny sometimes there’s a couple people in the restaurant, but we’ve got a rail full of tickets.

JB: Are you largely student driven here?

Harold: Yeah, definitely. We’ve got a great amount of locals, young couples and things like that. A lot of people we still see after five years, which is great.

JB: How big is the new space?

Harold: So we’ll be double the size. Oh wow. Yeah, we’ll be around 1600 square feet. So we’ll have about 40, 40-ish seats.

JB: How long will it be at this point?

Harold: Yeah, we’re hoping to be open before the end of the year. They said September, early October, they’ll hand over to us so that we can finish our, so that’s like right now. There’ll be a nice mix of spots out there. There’s a butcher shop I saw going out there. It’s called New York Butcher. Then it will be Berks Pharmacy, us, Hilton Head Ice Cream. Yeah, it’ll be nice in there.

JB: So, I don’t want to over dramatize, but is this kind of like a homecoming for you and Ashley?

Harold: Yeah. There’s a comfort level. I would say so. I mean, my wife and I, we’ve been on Hilton Head for 15 years. I’ve worked at Michael Anthony’s for a long time. And Wise Guys, we’ve both worked there for a long time. We know quite a few people.

JB: I’m sure. But in five years, I’m sure you’ve gotten very comfortable over here too.

Harold: Yeah, I would say so. We love it here and it’s got our regulars and just grounded at home.

JB: How are you going to split your time over there? I’m sure at the beginning.

Harold: Well, yeah, definitely. And over the past year, year and a half, we have a general manager here, Julia. She runs the show. I’m here for support, but she is essentially Nom Nom Savannah.

JB: So that’s the goal? Put someone in place and let it go?

Harold: Yeah. And then we have our kitchen manager for Bluffton here now. He’s been here since May. So it’ll be what we hope is fairly seamless. A seamless transition.

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