This Fresno downtown restaurant’s closing, but you can still find their food around town

Ohana Pantry – the smoothie and acai bowl spot in downtown Fresno – will be adding its name to the list of restaurants and businesses that closed in 2019.

The restaurant/cafe is closing its brick-and-mortar location on Friday, according to a post on Instragram.

But it’s not going away altogether.

“On the upside, we will be participating full-time in farmer’s markets here in Fresno and Clovis,” the post says.

Angelica Garcia opened Ohana Pantry last year on Fulton Street just across from the Cultural Arts District Park. It was a way to bring healthy food to downtown, she said at the time.

“You can find McDonald’s on every corner. You can find Jack in the Box on every corner,” she said. “You can’t find a healthy spot on every corner.”

The menu was mostly smoothies and acai bowls (with added hemp seed, nutritional yeast and the like), plus paninis, toast and soups (broccoli cheddar and posole). It also offered a meal-prep style service for pick-up or dine-in.

Most of that menu will be available at the pop-up locations, according to the post.

Garcia actually started doing farmer’s markets in Wasco, before moving to Fresno and opening up Ohana Pantry. The restaurant has been doing local farmer’s for more than a year. Currently, it can be found the River Park Farmer’s Market on Tuesday and Saturdays at the Kaiser Permanente Fresno Farmers Market on Wednesdays and the The Valley Fresh Farmer’s Market at Valley Children’s Hospital.

Garcia hopes to add another three markets next year. A full schedule of events will be available to those following Ohana Pantry on Facebook or Instagram.

Leaving the downtown location wasn’t an easy decision, she says. The restaurant has really been accepted and become a part of the community. She often sees the same customers multiple times a week.

“It’s been like family,” she says.

“That’s the hardest part.”

This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 11:30 AM.