THE PLACER HERALD

Local owners scouting locations throughout Sacramento region

Coconut’s Fish Café, a Maui-based Hawaiian restaurant chain, has announced its intention to open a store in Rocklin this year.

The chain belongs to Sacramento native and former Rocklin resident Michael Phillips, whose daughter, Frances Oney, still lives in Rocklin with her husband, Dan, and is the company’s vice president of franchise operations. Coconut’s Fish Café has four locations – one each in Maui, Scottsdale, Dallas and Plano – but announced in a news release last month that it will expand into key markets throughout California this year, possibly including a corporate training facility in Rocklin.

“Despite the interest over the years, we’ve been patient to start franchising, and now that we’ve begun, there is tremendous buzz with restaurant investors,” said Phillips, founder and CEO, in the news release. “It’s amazing what happens when a brand like Coconut’s delivers on its promise to bring world-class, Hawaiian-inspired dishes and a piece of Maui’s distinctive environment to restaurants throughout the country. And, we’re doing it with exceptional service focused on Aloha and Ohana (family).”

A tropical “fast-casual” restaurant, Coconut’s Fish Café is most known for grilled fish on rice, on a bun or in tacos, plus fish and chips, salads and other Hawaiian dishes. It also serves, chicken, steak and other options for non fish-eaters. Oney said the restaurant is planning four stores around Los Angeles, four in the Bay Area and then three to five throughout the greater Sacramento area, possibly including stores in Rocklin, Roseville, Auburn, Lincoln, Folsom, or Davis. She said she was touring building sites Monday and leaning toward Rocklin or Roseville for the corporate training facility, and she “absolutely” expects the company will have a presence in Rocklin, whether it’s a restaurant or the corporate office.

“You have a lot of health-conscious families here that are looking to feed their families a really great product that’s still at a reasonable price, and that’s what we offer at Coconut’s,” Oney said. “We’re a fast-casual, family-friendly restaurant. That’s why my husband and I live here, that’s why my parents raised me here, and I think it just really fits the community.”

Oney said the company is “aggressively” scouting locations and hopes to open one in Rocklin by the end of the year, or possibly within the next three to four months.

See the original story here.