New taco and beer joint opening in Tower District. It’ll be their second Fresno spot

Claudia Moreno did her last DJ set on a Friday night in September.

After 20 years of playing weddings and quinceañeras and nearly five year hosting events at her own taco and beer spot on Belmont Avenue, DJ Tipzy has set aside her turntables.

Her brother is the DJ in the family, now.

Moreno runs restaurants — one of which has its grand opening 8 a.m. Saturday in a spot off of Olive Avenue in the Tower District next to the Howling Wolf bar.

“I’m excited,” Moreno says.

“And nervous.”

Plenty of folks are familiar with DJ Tipzy and Tipzy’s Tacos and Beer on Belmont Avenue.

Moreno opened the sports bar/taqueria in 2019 on $20,000 and a series of maxed-out credit cards. The place was filled with music and murals (Tupac, Dr. Dre and Selena) and became known for its LGBTQ-friendly vibe and nightlife (with the kitchen open late to accommodate).

As a queer woman, Moreno says, she had always dreamed of owning a business in the Tower District.

The pandemic gave her the opportunity. She secured a small business loan and put it toward the expansion. It was “the only good thing to come out of COVID,” she says.

Still, it took nearly two years and some amount of luck to open.

Good commercial space, especially with foot traffic along Olive Avenue, gets snatched up quickly. Moreno only managed to score an in with the landlord on the recommendation of his brother, who had been into the original Tipzy’s and was a fan.

“He said, ‘You guys would be a perfect fit in Tower,’” Moreno recalls.

“This was basically my last chance.”

Mexican food + vibes

The Tower location keeps the tacos and beer, but expands on the food serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Moreno pulls from Mexican heritage with dishes based off her mother’s recipes, which she says took while to perfect; her mother didn’t do exact measurement, rather “a pinch here, a pinch there.”

The specialty is the homemade tortillas, which are used in the tacos and burritos, but also available on their own, with butter.

You can get flour and corn, both made from scratch and pressed on-site in the kitchen. Before she saved up for a tortilla press, Moreno used to roll every tortilla by hand, she says, even the ones used for burritos.

It got to be a bit much, she says.

There will be a seafood menu, with a shrimp cocktail and ceviche, plus longtime favorites like asada fries and chilaquiles (for breakfast). There will be a brunch menu, Moreno says, but that is still getting figured out.

The restaurant also keeps with Tipzy’s overall vibe.

The space has seating for 60 people, plus indoor/outdoor patio with a roll-up door facing the parking lot.

It’s bright and colorful. One wall is painted with murals of Mexican singers — Vicente Fernández, a young Antonio Aguilar and, of course, Selena. The other wall is cultural iconography — Dia De Los Muertos and Loteria cards and sunflowers and roses.

The work was done by Fresno artist who paints under the name EditR, @editrrr_ on social media.

While the DJs equipment is gone, there is a karaoke machine in the corner. The restaurant will host karaoke nights several times a week.

There is also no shortage of TVs. Moreno and her partner are San Francisco 49ers fanatics and Tipzy’s will show NFL games during football season.

Tipzy’s Burgers and Beer

The original Tipzy’s meanwhile has a new menu and branding.

Tipzy’s Burgers and Beer will focus on ... burgers, obviously, but also sandwiches, especially hand-breaded chicken sandwiches, which you can get club style or Buffalo style, Moreno says.

And because the Tower District location closes at 10 p.m. (at least during its first year), the original location will also continue to be the nightlife spot, though Moreno envisions people hopping from one place to the other as the night progresses.

“The dancing continues over there.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2023 at 11:10 AM.