This longtime Fresno sandwich shop is closed. It’s asking for public’s help to reopen
Geno’s Sandwiches and Salads is in trouble.
The sandwich shop has been serving Fresnans at Ashlan and Blackstone avenues for 40 years. But now, the restaurant, along with the second location that opened last year in northeast Fresno, is closed.
Owner Shawn Warehime is asking for the public’s help to get one or both of the restaurants open again. A GoFundMe fundraiser online is seeking $50,000.
Warehime bought Geno’s in 2017, after working at the restaurant for nearly a decade.
Last year, he opened Geno’s To-Go, a little space for take-out orders at the southeast corner of Herndon and Cedar avenues near R-N Market.
“It was a little too soon and we took on a little more debt than we should have and we struggled. I was incredibly stressed out and I wasn’t taking care of my diabetes,” said Warhime, who is 30 years old and was diagnosed with diabetes at age 14.
He ended up in the hospital.
Employees ran the restaurants while he was away. But a required certified food safety manager – in this case, Warehime – wasn’t on site when the health department inspected and it was shut down in November, he said. Since prep for the Cedar and Herndon location was supposed to be done at the Ashlan restaurant, that one eventually closed, too, he said.
Now, Warehime is doing better, and wants to reopen the Ashlan location or move to a new spot very close by.
There’s a lot to pay for. The restaurant needs remodeling. The restrooms aren’t compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and need to be upgraded, for example.
There’s also some bills that need to be paid, from vendors, PG&E, taxes, and a week of payroll, but most of the money would go toward remodeling, he said.
There’s some work that needs to be done at the Cedar and Herndon location, too, in order for it to reopen.
But first, Warehime wants to focus on reopening the site that customers have been coming to for 40 years on Ashlan.
“It’s glaringly apparent now that I’m better that Ashlan is what we should have stuck to,” he said. “The goal is to reopen what we had. All of our staff is eagerly waiting.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, 46 people had donated $2,700. Customers are promised varying levels of discounts for life, depending upon how much they donate.
