Opening Monday: 2 new-to-us restaurants in Fresno, Clovis

Here’s an excuse not to pack a lunch Monday.

Two restaurants are opening that day that are new to the Fresno-Clovis area: Corner Bakery Cafe and Which Wich.

Corner Bakery Cafe is one of the rare situations where Visalia got a big-name restaurant before Fresno. Often restaurants go to bigger cities first, but Visalia has had a Corner Bakery in Packwood Creek for two years. The Fresno location is in the new Park Crossing development at Friant Road and Fresno Street, the same center as Sportsman’s Warehouse. It opens at 6 a.m. Monday and this one might attract a crowd.

Corner Bakery has salads, breakfast food and sandwiches. And because they really are a bakery, they’re proud of all the things that they bake on site. That includes bread used in paninis and sandwiches, foccacia rolls served with salads and the multi-grain bread topped with eggs and bacon or avocado and spinach for breakfast.

What to eat here? Employees say go for the chicken pomodori panini. It’s all-natural chicken, basil, spinach, roasted tomatoes and provolone cheese with pesto mayo on sourdough. (Side note: Sandwiches are served with a pickle and chips, but if you’re the healthy type you can swap chips for baby carrots.)

They also say the cinnamon creme cake is a must try. It’s a coffee-cake like dessert with cinnamon crumble on top and cinnamon streusel dripping through the cake . The cafe sells slices and the whole cake.

Corner Bakery Cafe is open daily from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. They’re expecting a big crowd for the opening, noting that Visalia had the biggest opening by sales in the cafe’s history (until another one outdid it by a little last year) says operations partner Randy Ivie.

The first 100 people at the Fresno opening will receive a travel mug with a free coffee for a year. Eight customers who sign up for the eCafe mailing list at the opening will win either free paninis or free pancake combos every week for a year.

The cafe will present a $1,000 check to Poverello House Monday, too.

And Clovis readers, the Corner Bakery folks are looking around the Herndon and Sunnyside avenues area in hopes of opening a spot there in 2017 or 2018.

Which Wich

Another new-to-the-Valley restaurant is Which Wich.

The sandwich shop will open at 10 a.m. Monday at Sierra Vista Mall in Clovis. It’s in an outbuilding near the Dickey’s Barbecue Pit.

Which Wich a sandwich shop that’s all about customization. So much so that you check off ingredients you want on a brown paper bag with a red Sharpie and hand it off to the sandwich makers.

If you don’t want to think that hard, the restaurant has suggestions of sandwiches available. The owner’s favorite, for example, The Wicked, made with turkey, ham, roast beef, pepperoni and bacon and three cheeses of your choice that get all melty when the sandwich is toasted.

Does the name make sense now? “Which ‘wich” do you want?

The shop has 50 different sandwiches and 60 toppings to choose from, such as four types of mustard, Cheez Whiz and crispy strings of onions. It’s also known for its vegetarian options, including a black bean patty and hummus.

Which Wich is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays.

And Fresno readers, Which Wich is looking to open another location along Herndon Avenue in northeast Fresno.

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Opening Monday: 2 new-to-us restaurants in Fresno, Clovis."