Whatever happened to downtown Fresno’s first rooftop bar? Here’s the latest twist
Fresno’s first rooftop bar, Quail State, was ready to open downtown this week.
Within 24 hours of announcing its opening, reservations booked up for two weeks. They had planned to start serving drinks on ground floor sidewalk patio space at the corner of Fulton and Mariposa streets, instead of having people go inside to get to the rooftop space.
But then the intensive-care unit beds at Fresno County hospitals filled up and a stay-at-home order was triggered, mandating that bars close both indoor and outdoor operations in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Quail State owners Josh and Hayley Islas-Wolf aren’t letting that get them down. The couple is switching gears, reinventing their business in multiple ways temporarily until they can open as a traditional bar selling craft cocktails.
“We’re bummed but we’re happy to contribute to the solution of people keeping home and staying safe,” said Josh Islas-Wolf.
It’s been over a year and a half since Quail State first announced plans to open a bar on the second-floor rooftop of the historic Pacific Southwest Building, the tall downtown building with red awnings that is also home to La Boulangerie’s walk-up window.
The indoor portion of Quail State has been renovated, with a new bar stocked with bottles of alcohol.
Wine, takeout cocktails, bottles
The rest of the bar has been turned into a store selling natural wine, bottles of alcohol, bartending supplies and soon, to-go cocktails.
Natural wine is wine that doesn’t have dyes or additives and is otherwise produced in a natural manner, he said. There is also a natural wine club people can sign up for.
Quail State is selling bottles of all the alcohol that it uses in its cocktails, including “every spirit that we would carry in our bar — tequila, vodka, gin, some exclusive mezcals that nobody else in Fresno is carrying, some really wonderful rums,” Islas-Wolf said.
The shop also sells glassware and bartending tools like shakers and strainers, aprons and shirts.
It’s open from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays at 1060 Fulton St., Suite 201.
Takeout craft cocktails are coming next, including drinks like its popular “Juanita Appleseed,” a mezcal drink made with housemade apple cider and jalapeño maple syrup.
Keep an eye on its website or Instagram page for the menu and other details to be revealed soon.
Spirit tasting classes
Quail State is also continuing with its at-home tasting classes where people gather via Zoom and taste spirits together.
Classes cost $70 and include vodka, gin and aquavit tasting Dec. 17, agave spirits like tequila and mezcal Dec. 18 and whiskeys of the world Dec. 19.
Contact Quail State through Instagram or its website at https://quailstatefresno.com to register. The deadline is Tuesday, Dec. 15.
The owners are also working with a chef to eventually offer food at the bar when it officially opens.
Chef Matt Lee, who went to Fresno State and has worked at high-end restaurants in Napa Valley and Paso Robles, is coming up with a menu that will be prepared across the street at restaurant La Cocina de Mamá.
The food will be 80% sourced from California and of “pre-Hispanic influence in central California.” That means before cows, pigs and sheep were common, with meats like antelope, elk, duck, “things that were native to California before the Spanish settled in the area,” Islas-Wolf said.
They’re not quite sure when Quail State will open as a traditional bar yet, but “it will still be reservation based (and) socially distanced until we’ve reached herd immunity,” Islas-Wolf said.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 12:00 PM.
