A new Ethiopian restaurant, Fasika, has opened on Blackstone Avenue in central Fresno.
Fans of Lucy's Lair, the Ethiopian restaurant at Maple and Behymer avenues, already are familiar with this type of cuisine, but it's a new one for many Fresnans -- including me.The food is served family-style, meaning you share a large plate with friends. Diners rip off pieces of the spongy, tortilla-like "injera," to scoop up bites of seasoned lentils or chicken and beef strips called "tibs."There's something a little unsettling about being served a huge plate of food without a fork or spoon in sight. But the staff is liberal with the napkins, and it soon feels like a natural way to eat.The sharing and comparing of dishes with friends adds an element of entertainment you don't get at many restaurants.The owners say Ethiopian food is similar to Indian food, made with lots of spices, onions, garlic and tomato. Dishes can be made mild or spicy. One includes raw beef, though there are extensive vegetarian options, too. "This has always been a dream, to open up a restaurant and show people our culture," says Sara Gizaw, part of the family who runs the restaurant.Fasika is at 4714 N. Blackstone Ave. Details are available on its Facebook page. Here's a quick link: www.fblinks.com/fasika.If cocktails are your thing, Salsa's Cantina now has a bunch of new ones to try -- including a gallon-size margarita.The restaurant, formerly called Salsa's Mexican Grill, moved last month to 410 Clovis Ave. The new location is almost three times as big as the original site, and it has a lot more visibility.Plus, the business now has a full liquor license.In the past it could only serve beer and wine, along with wine-based margaritas, which even owner and bartender Jesse Mendoza admits aren't as good as the real thing.Now it serves real margaritas -- 31 of them -- in fact. Salsa's recently unveiled its 31 flavors of margaritas, including kiwi strawberry and piña colada. There's even an "x-rated margarita" made with X-Rated brand liqueur.Margaritas come in three sizes: 16 ounces, a quart and yes, a gallon size, all in the shape of margarita glasses. Typically four people share the gallon size, Mendoza notes.The restaurant is also starting its 31 Spirits of Old Town drink menu.To thank its neighbors for their support, Salsa's is naming drinks after nearby businesses, with their input.The "barber bomb" drink is named after the Clovis Barber Shop, for example. It tastes similar to a White Russian and features vodka, cream and kahlua. The drink has black and white stripes, like a barber pole.Maybe those drinks will help you deal with some depressing news: more restaurants have closed.The Yen Ching Restaurant near Fashion Fair mall on Shaw Avenue is no more. The Chinese restaurant closed a while back, with a sign on the door stating it was closed for remodeling. Now it appears closed and a for-lease sign is on the building.Neither the owner nor the landlord could be reached for comment.The building is being marketed to national tenants, says Lewis Smith, a partner in Retail California, a commercial real estate brokerage."It's a rare opportunity," he says. "Not very often do you have a pad [for rent] in front of Fashion Fair mall."Yalla Yalla Mediterranean Cuisine also has closed.The restaurant at the RiverView shopping center at Friant and Fort Washington roads was open barely a year before closing on New Year's Eve.Owner Vatche Moukhtarian says Yalla Yalla had a one-year lease at a discounted rate -- a sub-letting arrangement, actually -- with the former Bentley's Bistro, which holds the original lease with the shopping center. Yalla Yalla did well, but when the one-year sublease came up for renewal, Moukhtarian says the Bentley's folks wanted the full amount they negotiated with the shopping center years ago when times were good. He says he couldn't swing the amount: $7,000 a month."We were doing OK, but not well enough to justify paying what they were paying for rent," Moukhtarian says. "There was no hard feelings between any of the people [involved]." Yalla Yalla may rise again. Moukhtarian is considering reopening in six months to a year at an undisclosed location.He asks that people not confuse Yalla Yalla's demise with his other restaurant, the Cracked Pepper Bistro at Shaw Avenue and Fresno Street. That restaurant is still open and doing great. Business has increased about 20% over last year, he says.