These 20+ restaurants opened recently in Fresno area. Here’s what you may have missed
How busy is the Fresno restaurant scene lately?
Busier than a popular restaurant with an understaffed kitchen on a Friday night – which means super busy.
A slew of new restaurants have opened in the last month or two. Some opened with a big splash. But many opened with little fanfare, their owners planning to start quietly, work out the inevitable kinks and then promote the business.
If you’re a regular reader, you may have caught in-depth stories about some of these restaurants in recent weeks. But there’s plenty of restaurants in this story you may not have heard about. We decided to put them all in one place and give you a rundown of all the recent restaurant openings in Fresno and Clovis.
Amalgamation
Amalgamation Brewing Co. opened in north Fresno, a craft brewery that also serves food.
Near Herndon and Milburn avenues, and just south of the shopping center that’s home to Save Mart, Amalgamation is owned by the same couples who own Rocket Dog Brats & Brew.
Amalgamation brews its own beer on site. The brewer is big on combining flavors of various cultures here, like they did in its Meyer lemon and ginger saison beer. There’s also a sour peach IPA, a hazy raspberry IPA and a dessert stout.
It has other beers from the Valley and the coast on tap too.
A limited food menu includes tacos, nachos and sliders, with customers picking their protein and sauces (like southwestern, tandoori, Korean bulgogi or barbecue).
Details: 6585 N. Santa Fe Ave. (559) 375-1771.
Angry Chickz
Angry Chickz is the restaurant at Shaw and West avenues that serves chicken so spicy you have to sign a waiver. Literally.
The waiver is only for the spiciest option, though. There are no-spice and mild options too.
Angry Chickz specializes in the trendy Nashville hot chicken, served essentially as spicy chicken tenders. You can get them in sliders, on white bread or over rice.
Another location is in the works for Bullard Avenue and First Street.
Details: 5044 N. West Ave.
Ark Mediterranean
Ark Mediterranean Grill has opened a second location, this one at Herndon Avenue and Tollhouse Road.
Like the original on Champlain Drive, Ark has lots of quick Mediterranean favorites, including kebab plates featuring beef, lamb, chicken, salmon and falafel. The meats are also available in wraps.
Salads are also available, along with french fries, hummus, grape leaves and a selection of desserts including baklava. It also has beer on tap.
Details: 2230 Herndon Ave. (559) 840-8848.
Cajun Crack’n
This Cajun seafood restaurant lets diners eat off the tabletop and write on the walls.
Cajun Crack’n took over the former Hooters on Blackstone Avenue, which was evicted last year.
This place specializes in seafood, but has food for people who don’t like seafood, including burgers and chicken tenders.
But the seafood is the star of the show: There are mussels, clams, crawfish, shrimp, lobster, and several types of crab. Pick your food steamed or boiled, then pick one of four sauces and your level of spice.
It’s served by the pound, and in a bag. You can dump the contents of the bag right onto the paper-covered tables. Gloves are optional and sinks are available for washing up.
Another different aspect about this place: you can write on the walls, pillars, chairs, etc. There are Sharpies everywhere and the restaurant encourages customers to leave a little evidence of their visit behind.
Details: 7735 N. Blackstone Ave., Suite 115. (559) 558-8223.
Don Pepe
Remember the Steak ‘n Shake that opened on Kings Canyon Road to a ton of buzz – and then closed a year later?
It’s now home to locally owned favorite, Don Pepe. It has three taquerias of the same name in Fresno. Don Pepe is often mentioned as a place to get authentic Mexican food.
It serves tacos, tortas, burritos and “super quesadillas.”
With 22 tables, it’s the biggest of the restaurants, which are usually tiny and packed.
Details: 5085 E. Kings Canyon Road. (559) 449-3293.
Famous Ray’s
Famous Ray’s Northside Deli is a little New York-Italian deli that opened recently near Fresno State.
It’s got lots of meats and cheeses, including pastrami they brine for 10 days.
There isn’t much in the way of seating, but there’s plenty of prepared food to take home or to eat while tailgating before a game at Bulldog Stadium across the street.
“Big sloppy sandwiches,” as the owner calls them, are available — piled high with pastrami, meatballs and more. They cost from $8.99 to $13.99.
Famous Ray’s also sells prepared meals like chicken Parmesan, lasagna and more. Almost everything is made in house, including the meatballs, sausage, pasta and sauce.
The Ray in Famous Ray’s is the owner’s father, who runs a school teaching students how to make sausage in New York.
Details: 1764 E. Barstow Ave. (559) 412-8109.
Fatburger
Fatburger is back, open on Clovis Avenue near Kings Canyon Road.
The chain, which has more than 70 locations nationwide, took over the short-lived BurgerIM restaurant that closed last year.
Fatburger is known for its multiple sizes of burgers, ranging from its one-sixth pound “baby fat” burger to its 1.5-pound “triple king” burger. It has meatless burgers too.
Technically, this is a Fatburger and a Buffalo’s Express restaurant, serving Buffalo’s Famous Wings in more than a dozen flavors.
Longtime Fresnans will remember when Fatburger had a location in Fresno in what is now Colorado Grill on Herndon Avenue.
Details: 570 S. Clovis Ave. (559) 228-9922.
Golden Harbor Buffet
This is a huge buffet restaurant serving mostly Asian food next to the Regal UA Broadway Faire theater on West Shaw Avenue.
Golden Harbor has favorites you’ll typically find at Chinese restaurants, like orange chicken and fried rice. There’s also dim sum (including some adventurous options like chicken feet and pig feet). There’s also some basics, like pizza, fries and mashed potatoes with gravy.
It has a huge selection of sushi served buffet style. There’s a teppanyaki grill and a noodle station that prepare foods fresh.
Lunch costs $12.99 per person Mondays through Fridays and dinner is $16.99 (less for kids depending upon their ages). On Saturdays and Sundays, the buffet costs $17.99. Drinks are 99 cents extra.
It has several large rooms for private events.
Details: 3273 W. Shaw Ave. (559) 221-8882.
Happy Lemon
This is a global chain boba drink place that opened recently at Cedar and Herndon avenues, in the same shopping center as Teriyaki Don.
Happy Lemon serves boba, or bubble tea — the drinks with little chewy balls made from tapioca. The drink’s popularity in recent years has exploded in Fresno.
At Happy Lemon, you can get fruit teas, milk teas, fruit smoothies, and lemon slushies. There’s also Yakult drinks, which are drinks like green tea mixed with Yakult, the fermented milk drink full of probiotics. The store has non-dairy options like soy milk too.
One interesting option here: The salted cheese tea. No cheddar involved, but the salted cheese is instead sort of like a creamy drinkable version of a cream cheese that sits atop the drink. It tastes sweet and tangy. Pair it with your choice of tea, including black tea (a top seller) or more dessert-like options such as chocolate tiramisu drink.
After they order, Happy Lemon hands customers a little plastic lemon with a number on it that corresponds with their drink. Most drinks range from $3.75 to $4.25.
Details: 6759 N. Cedar Ave. (559) 492-1388.
K-bop
K-bop Korean Rice Bar is sort of like a Chipotle restaurant for Korean rice bowls.
It’s at the northwest corner of Nees and Willow avenues, in the same shopping center as The Point Patio Bar & Bistro.
It specializes in bibimbap, a dish where diners pick a base like rice, then choose their meat, toppings and sauces.
It’s got options like bulgogi beef (with a sweet and savory flavor), spicy pork, pork belly, chicken, or marinated tofu. Add a fried egg for $1.50.
Details: 2950 E. Nees Ave. (559) 712-6221.
Kuppa Joy
The Fresno-based coffee shop by former NFL football player Zack Follett opened yet another location recently. The Kuppa Joy Grand Cafe took over a former Starbucks at Cedar and Shepherd avenues.
It looks nothing like a Starbucks now — its design amped up a notch above the other Kuppa Joy locations, with giant scripture on the wall and the trademark throne hanging from the ceiling.
The coffee shop serves all the same coffee and espresso-based drinks as other locations, including the signature kuppa joy drink, espresso mixed with chocolate and milk infused with a creme brulee flavor. A protein shake and meal replacement shake are also on the menu here.
This location serves some food, including breakfast bowls and sandwiches.
Details: 8821 N. Cedar Ave. (559) 207-3101.
Los Amigos
Los Amigos Mexican Restaurant isn’t actually a new restaurant, but it did open in a new home recently.
The restaurant that had been at Shaw and West avenues has moved to Blackstone Avenue, just north of Shaw Avenue, in the former Plaza Ventana spot that closed last year.
The new location has a bar devoted to mezcal, the Mexican spirit.
The menu features lots of Mexican food favorites and mariachi perform every Friday night.
Details: 5088 N. Blackstone Ave. (559) 439-0477.
Modernist
Cocktail bar Modernist opened in downtown Fresno in mid January and is getting a ton of attention. The little cocktail bar is in a remodeled building on Fulton Street in downtown’s brewery district.
Modernist hired some of the top bartenders in town who are making craft cocktails. That includes options like the drink called Barry Naught’s farm (Like Knott’s Berry Farm but “naught”) made with a simple syrup made from cookies, vodka, and boysenberry jam. Each pink drink is topped with a shortbread cookie.
Classic cocktails are on the menu too.
Details: 719 Fulton St. (559) 492-3585.
Out of the Barrel
This craft beer taproom took over the former We Olive store in Fig Garden Village.
Out of the Barrel Taproom is a little bar focused on top-quality craft beer, mostly from California. There are at least 30 beers on tap, and cans and bottles.
It’s got a laid-back vibe, patio seating and is dog friendly.
Snacks are available and you can bring in food from other restaurants.
Details: 722 W Shaw Ave., Fig Garden Village. (559) 272-5463
Panda Express
This fast food Asian restaurant opened on the site of a former Frostee Freeze on Clovis Avenue, just north of Kings Canyon Road. Widely considered an eyesore, that building was torn down and Panda Express built a new restaurant on the site.
It’s open.
It serves fast food versions of Chinese-inspired dishes like orange chicken, broccoli beef and eggplant tofu.
Details: 445 S. Clovis Ave. (559) 540-2762.
Poke Bowl-Rrito
At Sierra Vista Mall next to Chipotle, Poke Bowl-Rrito is exactly what its name implies: Part poke place, part burrito shop.
Poke is the Hawaiian dish that’s been growing in popularity in Fresno, featuring bowls of raw marinated fish, often tuna. Customers pick their base like rice or salad, and add various veggies, other toppings and sauces. At its heart, this is what Poke Bowl-Rrito does.
You can also get a chicken bowl or a vegan bowl.
But this restaurant adds a twist to the traditional poke bowl by offering a sushi burrito. You can get all those ingredients wrapped up in a seaweed or soy wrap, or in tomato-basil, whole wheat or spinach tortilla. There’s even a wrap made from Cheetos.
Most meals range from $9.50 to $13 and the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner.
Poke Bowl-Rrito has art all over the walls and one corner ideal for selfies. It features a painted set of wings that customers stand in front of, with blinking multi-colored lights behind them. Above them, neon letters spell out “#I like it raw.”
Details: 1210 Shaw Ave., Clovis.
Rocky Hill
Rocky Hill Brewing Grill & Tavern is open in the Tower District.
These are the people behind the rural brewery in Exeter, also called Rocky Hill. They’ve opened a tap room and restaurant at the southeast corner of Van Ness and Olive Avenues.
The space looks drastically different inside. Giant murals. Crushed velvet curtains 16 feet tall. Blue lighting. Candles on wall sconces.
It has 16 taps highlighting Rocky Hill’s beer.
Its diverse menu defies labels, featuring everything from chicken and waffles with maple whipped cream to moco loco, a Hawaiian dish made with rice, beef, gravy and a fried egg on top.
It’s open from 11 a.m. to midnight daily
Details: 1140 N. Van Ness Ave. (559) 592-4594.
Shobu
Shobu Japanese Cuisine owner Jerry Yang has a heck of a back story. He’s a former Hmong refugee who also won the 2007 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas and its $8.25 million prize.
But as for his newest restaurant, at Blackstone and Herndon avenues, it specializes in sushi, ramen, teriyaki and curry.
Yang recommends the “Jerry Special,” made with spicy crab and eel, with cream cheese and avocado inside and topped with spicy and teriyaki sauces.
As for ramen, the Japanese soup, the traditional pork-based version with ramen noodles is the most popular. There’s eight kinds of ramen on the menu, along with several types of soup with udon, a thicker noodle.
Details: 6640 N. Blackstone Ave. (559) 261-9745.
Shawarma Corner
This little cafe is in the back of a grocery store, the newly opened Papaya Fresh International Marketplace at Shaw and West avenues.
It’s got a handful of tables and is generally open the same hours at the store, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The menu features Mediterranean food like kebab plates featuring chicken, beef and lamb. A sandwich category includes gyros, chicken, lamb kebabs and beef shawarma.
There also Greek salads, appetizers like hummus, and vegetarian and meat dolmas. Most dishes are $7.99 and under.
Fresh-baked desserts like baklava are available at the in-house bakery next door.
Details: Inside Papaya Fresh International Marketplace, 2047 W. Shaw Ave. (559) 319-8675.
The Quirky Cafe
The Quirky Cafe opened in downtown Fresno serving up a Hot Cheetos burrito and other food.
If the name sounds familiar, it’s because the owners run a food truck of the same name. The couple has taken over the former BoxCar Cafe at Kern and L streets. It’s open for breakfast and lunch.
That Hot Cheetos burrito is popular. It’s pulled pork, french fries, Hot Cheetos and nacho cheese wrapped in a red tortilla.
But there’s also more “normal” options, like sandwiches, chicken strips, a cheeseburger and the meatless Beyond Burger. Breakfast options include a breakfast burrito, and a ham and egg croissant.
The restaurant also sells blended coffee drinks and surprisingly popular blended fruit energy smoothies made with energy drinks and fruit puree.
Details: The Quirky Cafe is at 901 L St. (559) 696-4466.
QWENCH
QWENCH juice bar in Clovis specializes in fresh-squeezed juices, smoothies, salads, acai bowls and more. It’s at the corner of Fowler and Herndon avenues, next door to Butterfish.
It makes juices to order, pressing various fruits and veggies into drinkable form.
The smoothies, called “blends” here, are made with hemp milk, almond milk or Greek yogurt.
There’s also more hearty meals, like acai bowls made from the tropical berry, and Greek yogurt bowls, both topped with options like hemp granola and all kinds of fruit.
You can build your own salads made with chicken, tuna, or tofu and order bowls that have rice and quinoa as a base.
Details: 1850 Herndon Ave., Clovis. (559) 900-4170.
The Vyxn
The Vyxn is a restaurant and lounge next door to The Standard at Friant and Fort Washington roads by the same man who owns LUXS.
Vyxn is open for dinner Wednesdays through Saturdays and has a popular brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.
Its menu is American grill style, serving steaks, pork chops, fish, pasta and pizza from its pizza oven.
The “bee sting” pizza is a popular option, served with hot Italian sausage, soppressata (a spicy salami) and drizzled with honey for a sweet and spicy combination. A seven-layer rainbow cake “flies off the shelf,” said owner Lewis Everk.
A cocktail menu features $14 and $15 drinks, including the popular “hot girl summer.” It’s a drink with a kick made with tequila, ancho chile liqueur, mango, pineapple and lime.
Vyxn turns into a lounge with a DJ and a limited late-night menu after 10 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Details: 9455 N. Fort Washington Road. (559) 353-2204.
