Wisefish began in New York in 2016 as a poke concept, but the team quickly expanded to add many cooked items to the menu. Today, guests can choose from ahi tuna, spicy tuna, salmon, and shrimp poke bowls alongside roasted market salmon, mahi-mahi, cod, and shrimp in two soft-shell corn tacos, or as a plate with a grain and sauce. Both cooked options are served with a super greens salad.

“At Wisefish, our mission is simple: to make healthy, consciously sourced seafood accessible to the communities we serve,” says Drew Crane, cofounder of the two-unit fast casual. On top of sustainable sourcing, Crane also emphasizes the concept’s dedication to made-to-order menu items. “A lot of quick-serve restaurants batch-cook their seafood and hot-hold it,” he says, adding that this process doesn’t work for seafood, as it’s too delicate of a protein. “It dries out, falls apart, or has an unpleasant taste or texture when it’s handled that way.” Thus, even though Wisefish’s ticket times are only 4–6 minutes on average, the team uses no steam tables or heat lamps. “[It] makes a huge difference in quality and taste,” Crane says.