This ‘Grumpy’ restaurant will serve up burgers inside Fresno brewery’s new tasting room
What is a Grumpy Burger Lady and what does she have to do with downtown?
Grumpy Burger Lady is the social media handle used by Desirae “Des” Washington, who plans to open a burger restaurant under the name Grumpy Burger Lady’s inside Full Circle Brewing Co.’s new craft beer tasting room.
Full Circle recently took over the tasting room at 712 Fulton St. (formerly Zack’s Brewing) in the Brewery District. Neither the tasting room nor the restaurant are open to the public yet, but both will eventually open with burgers and beer.
Together, they’ll bring two new Black-owned businesses to the Brewery District. Both owners are big supporters of downtown.
Many people are already familiar with the Grumpy Burger Lady name as Washington is part of the family who owns Take 3 Burgers, also on Fulton Street. That restaurant is temporarily closed but is expected to reopen.
Washington has hosted events downtown that have attracted crowds, including Powamekka Cafe. The one-night only, pop-up restaurant was a tribute to rapper Tupac Shakur and attracted about 1,000 people and international media attention.
The smushburger
So what’s a smushburger? Not to be confused with a smashburger, this is Washington’s method of smushing toppings into the hamburger meat.
Customers pick toppings like blue cheese, bacon, or jalapenos, which go on the grill first. Then comes the meat.
“You’re going to smash the meat directly into the toppings,” she said.
Cheese and the bun come next and the whole thing is smushed into one luscious burger. It’s the “Cold Stone Creamery of burgers,” a friend says.
Expect lots of dipping sauces for the burgers too, like creative takes on barbecue and aioli.
“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but I’m just trying to take something and do it in a fun way,” Washington said. “This is going to be a lot of my own creations.”
Opening date?
Neither Grumpy Burger Lady’s nor Full Circle has an exact reopening date yet. Brewery CEO and majority owner Arthur Moye and CEO says he hopes to be open within the next month as coronavirus restrictions allow.
He plans to install a kitchen in the tasting room. Grumpy Burger Lady’s may open with pop-ups or a food truck before an official opening.
Another downtown business will also have a presence inside the tasting room. Root General Store, which has a shop further north on Fulton Street, will have a kiosk selling “I love downtown” merchandise like T-shirts, Moye said.
Black-owned businesses downtown
Washington, who also works as a business-to-business support specialist at the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce, said she’s excited to have two Black business owners collaborate.
“Everything that I do is with the intent of creating a platform and having representation so young Black kids can see, there are Black people doing anything,” she said. “You can own restaurant. You can own a brewery.”
Just 1% of breweries are Black-owned, according to Forbes, which featured Moye in a recent story.
Grumpy Burger Lady’s also brings another eatery to the Brewery District, which doesn’t have many. That makes it easier for people to hit up the entire area for food and drink, instead of deciding to eat elsewhere first, Moye said.
“The tipping point for that Brewery District is so close,” he said. “We’re trying to use the space to bring other local businesses together and help push it over that tipping point.”
