Fresh Catch, the Petaluma poke bar that quietly launched last month at Deer Creek Village shopping center, will celebrate its official grand opening on Saturday, April 18, with special offerings, live music and an array of prizes for first-timers. The new fish-forward eatery replaces the novelty snack shop Mr. Stroopwafel, though both businesses are owned by the same team.

“It’s bittersweet, opening Fresh Catch but having to close Mr. Stroopwafel in Petaluma,” acknowledged owner Amannur Singh. Also the co-owner of the two Sonoma County franchises in the popular national Teaspoon boba tea chain, Singh opened the Petaluma branch of Teaspoon in January 2025.

Then, inspired by his lifetime love of the sweet Dutch snacks that he grew up with in the Netherlands, he added the compact Mr. Stroopwafel shop to the back half of the boba tea store.

While Teaspoon is still going strong, the adjoining stroopwafel business never picked up steam.

“The spot we chose to launch Mr. Stroopwafel turned out not to be big enough a market to build momentum with such a completely foreign concept,” Ammanur said. “So we decided to put something else there instead, which is fresh Hawaiian poke, something that is already a known product in the area. We plan to move Mr. Stroopwafel to another location, probably in Marin County or San Francisco. But right now our focus is on Fresh Catch.”

With two other dedicated poke bars already operating in Petaluma — Pokémoto Petaluma at the East Washington Place shopping center on Kenilworth Drive, and Aloh-o at the Redwood Gateway Shopping Center on North McDowell Boulevard — Singh says it just proves that Petalumans already love poke.

“It’s a known market, and what makes us different is that we use all fresh fish, nothing ever frozen,” he said. “And a poke place goes well with the Teaspoon shop next door. So far, everybody who’s stopped by and discovered what we are serving up at Fresh Catch has really liked it. We are still getting the word out, and haven’t had the new signs up. The signage should be up by the grand opening.”

The Fresh Catch opening celebration begins at noon on Saturday, with raffles beginning at 12:30 p.m. and continuing through 3 p.m. The poke bar itself will be open until 9 p.m.

“We really hope people find us and like what we are doing,” Singh said. “We think the freshness and the taste of our poke bowls and other offerings is the best around. We are very happy to be open, and though it’s a little sad that the other place didn’t work out, we couldn’t be more excited to bring Fresh Catch to the people of Petaluma.”

Fresh catch is located at 441 N. McDowell Blvd. in Petaluma.