How does a Pokeworks franchise operate after opening?
A standard Pokeworks Restaurant is a location-based fast-casual unit where a full-time owner or approved Designated Manager directs food preparation, line service, digital orders, payment, inventory and local marketing. Beyond Franchise Group LLC controls the menu, recipes, approved sources, technology, data, brand standards and audit process under the 2026 FDD.
- Legal franchisor
- Beyond Franchise Group LLC; Beyond Restaurant Group LLC is the parent and owner of the Pokeworks Marks.
- Document basis
- Pokeworks U.S. FDD issued April 10, 2026; Items 1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 19 and 20, the Franchise Agreement and the Operations Manual table of contents.
- Applicable paths
- One standard Pokeworks Restaurant under a Franchise Agreement; a Multiple Unit Development Agreement covers commitments of at least three restaurants. Limited Access Locations and other Non-Traditional Venues are reserved separately and may operate differently.
- Footprint period
- Item 20 systemwide outlet data for 2023 through 2025, ending December 31, 2025.
- Public pages checked
- Official U.S. franchise information, current menu, ordering, rewards and customer-policy pages; checked July 31, 2026.
Evidence: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Items 1, 8, 12 and 20, pp. 9–10, 30–32, 46–49 and 70–74.
What does the franchisee sell, and who buys it?
The franchisee sells only required and authorized Pokeworks Products to retail guests, primarily for on-site or off-site consumption, plus approved catering and delivery orders.
Authorized menu
The Franchise Agreement requires all and only approved food, beverages, packaging and services. The current official Pokeworks menu shows Signature Works, build-your-own combinations, Hawaiian Hot Plates, sides, desserts and signature drinks. The Operations Manual, not the public menu page, controls recipes and preparation procedures.
Customer groups
Item 1 identifies individual consumers as the primary market. The current consumer site also supports group occasions through catering ordered online or by calling a restaurant. The FDD does not disclose a separate institutional-account sales force or required catering salesperson.
Sales channels
Orders can enter at the service line, through approved web or app ordering, through designated Delivery Programs, and through catering. The current site identifies pickup and delivery processing through Olo and loyalty services through Thanx; those are current public-platform facts, while Beyond Franchise Group LLC retains contractual power to change required technology.
Evidence: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Items 1 and 16, pp. 10–11 and 56; Franchise Agreement §§5.4 and 5.18, pp. 118 and 125–126; official online ordering and rewards terms.
How does work move from demand to reporting?
The disclosed operating sequence is a restaurant workflow: generate demand, capture an approved order, prepare and assemble it to recipe, hand it off through the selected channel, process payment and loyalty, then close the control loop through inventory, accounting and franchisor reporting.
- Actor
- Guest, franchisee marketing team and approved digital platforms.
- Action
- Demand arrives from system marketing, Local Marketing Expenses, walk-in traffic, the Pokeworks website or app, catering, or an approved Delivery Program.
- Required system
- Approved advertising, ordering channel and customer-facing technology.
- Output
- An authorized order routed to the restaurant.
- Actor
- Front of House team member or integrated online-ordering platform.
- Action
- The order is entered into the designated POS System, including modifiers, pickup or delivery status, and applicable gift-card, coupon or loyalty information.
- Required system
- Franchisor-specified POS hardware, software, connectivity and payment controls.
- Output
- A production ticket and recorded transaction.
- Actor
- Prep Cook, Back of House personnel and line team.
- Action
- Employees prepare proteins, vegetables, sauces and other approved inputs, then build the order through the disclosed service-line sequence: base, proteins, mix-ins or flavors, and toppings.
- Required asset
- Approved inventory, recipes, prep charts, cold storage, line stations and food-safety controls.
- Output
- A completed Pokeworks Product.
- Actor
- Shift Leader, Manager and service team.
- Action
- The unit applies portion, freshness, temperature, packaging and guest-service standards before dine-in handoff, takeout pickup, courier release or ready-to-serve catering fulfillment.
- Required asset
- Quality-control checklists, approved packaging and the designated order channel.
- Output
- The order reaches the guest or delivery partner.
- Actor
- Cashier, POS System, guest and approved loyalty provider.
- Action
- The restaurant accepts franchisor-designated payment types, gift cards, coupons and loyalty programs. Pokeworks Rewards currently awards one point per dollar spent and supports app or web participation.
- Required system
- POS System, payment network and Pokeworks Rewards.
- Output
- Payment, loyalty data and a completed sales record.
- Actor
- Designated Manager, owner, bookkeeper and Beyond Franchise Group LLC.
- Action
- The unit reconciles tills, tracks waste and inventory, retains transaction records, reports Gross Sales, submits required financial statements and supports inspections or audits.
- Required system
- POS data, standard forms, accounting software and, from January 1, 2027, Restaurant365.
- Output
- Operational records, required payments and compliance evidence.
Evidence: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Item 11 training curriculum, pp. 44–45; Operations Manual table of contents, pp. 303–309; Franchise Agreement §§5.6, 5.21 and 8.3–8.10, pp. 120, 127–129 and 135–138.
Who performs each function?
Pokeworks permits an entity-owned restaurant to be manager-run, but it does not disclose an absentee model: the Licensed Location must remain under direct on-site supervision, and either the franchisee or the approved Designated Manager must work full-time at the restaurant.
An individual franchisee must personally supervise the Pokeworks Restaurant. For a corporation, partnership or other entity, a shareholder or partner must complete the Training Program, while the Designated Manager completes training, receives franchisor approval and directs daily operations. The franchisee remains responsible for hiring, compensation, scheduling, employee training and legal compliance.
Which unit roles are disclosed?
The Operations Manual table of contents identifies a Manager, Shift Leader, Front of House positions, Dishwasher and Prep Cook, plus a District Team Leader function. It also assigns opening, mid-shift, closing, till, cleaning, receiving, inventory and scheduling procedures. The FDD does not prescribe headcount, shift ratios, labor hours or wages.
Evidence: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Items 11 and 15, pp. 37–39, 43–46 and 55–56; Franchise Agreement §§5.2, 5.3 and 5.6, pp. 117–120; Operations Manual table of contents, pp. 304–306.
Which suppliers, systems and operating inputs are mandatory?
The system is highly specified: the 2026 FDD estimates that required, approved or specification-compliant purchases represent 90% to 100% of operating purchases, while the franchisor can change suppliers, products, hardware, software and standards.
Franchisee execution
- Order, receive, store, rotate and count approved inventory.
- Maintain the Licensed Location, equipment, network and firewall.
- Hire and supervise unit employees and maintain required food-safety coverage.
- Keep books, inventory counts, inspection reports and transaction records.
Franchisor specification
- Approve menu items, recipes, packaging, uniforms, fixtures and equipment.
- Designate POS System, Required Software, data formats and Technology Upgrades.
- Approve suppliers and proposed alternatives; inspect purchase records.
- Access electronic data, audit records and revise the Operations Manual.
Named third parties
- Sysco: five proprietary sauces and certain food items.
- Butterfield Foods: approved sauce manufacturer.
- Clayton Kendall: uniforms and printing materials.
- Clark National Accounts: specified kitchen equipment and supplies.
- Restaurant365: required ERP platform beginning January 1, 2027.
- Olo and Thanx: current public ordering and loyalty providers, subject to system change.
The POS System must connect to a franchisor-designated facility so Beyond Franchise Group LLC can collect Gross Sales and other sales or labor analysis. The Franchise Agreement also permits remote access, data copying, software updates and broad use of consumer and transaction data. The franchisee bears responsibility for PCI compliance, privacy-law compliance, network security and required upgrades.
Evidence: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Item 8, pp. 29–32, and Item 11, pp. 42–43; Franchise Agreement §§5.5 and 5.21, pp. 118–119 and 127–129; official Pokeworks privacy policy.
What does the franchisor control, and what remains with the franchisee?
Beyond Franchise Group LLC controls the customer promise and compliance architecture; the franchisee controls local employment, daily execution and several commercial choices within the Franchise Agreement’s boundaries.
Evidence: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Items 1, 11, 15 and 16, pp. 10–11, 38–46 and 55–56; Franchise Agreement §§5.6, 5.10–5.19, pp. 120 and 124–127.
Does the Franchise Territory protect every customer and channel?
No. The Franchise Territory limits placement of another standard Pokeworks Restaurant, but it is expressly non-exclusive and does not block approved delivery, internet sales, Non-Traditional Venues, Limited Access Locations or other reserved distribution channels.
A franchisee operates from one Licensed Location and needs written permission to relocate or use another site. The Franchise Territory generally reflects a combined residential and commercial population of about 150,000, with no minimum geographic size or minimum sales quota. Approved Delivery Programs may deliver into the area from another Pokeworks Restaurant without compensation to the local franchisee.
Beyond Franchise Group LLC also reserves universities, hospitals, airports, arenas, mobile outlets, pop-ups, cloud kitchens, grocery stores and similar Non-Traditional Venues. A qualifying Limited Access Location inside the Franchise Territory may generate a ten-day right of first refusal, but host-facility or master-concession arrangements can preempt that opportunity.
Evidence: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Item 12, pp. 46–50; Franchise Agreement §5.4, p. 118. Current consumer access points appear on the official Pokeworks location finder.
What does Item 20 show about the operating network?
At the end of 2025, Item 20 reported 69 U.S. outlets: 63 franchisee-owned restaurants and six outlets categorized as company-owned, although the FDD clarifies that affiliates—not Beyond Franchise Group LLC itself—owned and operated those six restaurants.
The network was predominantly franchised, while the six affiliate-owned restaurants provided an operating base that the FDD describes as substantially similar to franchised outlets.
Source: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Item 20, Tables 1 and 4, pp. 70 and 73–74. Calculation: 63 ÷ 69 = 91.3%; 6 ÷ 69 = 8.7%; total = 100.0% after rounding.
Which operating questions still require direct verification?
The FDD defines the control framework but does not disclose the current labor model, every vendor contract, the precise POS configuration or the unit-level economics of each channel.
- Obtain the current Operations Manual sections for staffing, scheduling, prep pars, waste, receiving, food-safety inspections and service-line deployment.
- Confirm the current designated POS System, online-order integrations, Delivery Programs, hardware replacement cycle and all required Technology Upgrades.
- Request the current approved-supplier list, distribution coverage, product-substitution procedure and any sole-source or affiliate-supplied items.
- Map the proposed Franchise Territory against nearby traditional restaurants, cloud kitchens, host facilities, catering routes and delivery radiuses.
- Verify who will serve as Operating Partner and Designated Manager, and how full-time on-site supervision will be maintained during all operating hours.
- Confirm the restaurant’s current menu mix, catering process, rewards rules and local marketing calendar against the latest system directives.
Operating-model synthesis
Pokeworks converts retail, digital, delivery and catering demand into sales of authorized Pokeworks Products prepared through a controlled service-line and food-safety process. The franchisee’s central responsibility is full-time, on-site execution: people, prep, inventory, service, records and local compliance. The strongest dependency is Beyond Franchise Group LLC’s authority over menu, suppliers, technology, data and the Operations Manual.
The key boundary is that the Franchise Territory protects a traditional Licensed Location more narrowly than it protects customers or digital channels. The largest unresolved operating question is the current labor and shift model—headcount, deployment and management coverage—which the 2026 FDD does not quantify and must be verified from current system materials and existing operators.