New Tower District restaurant opens with Japanese food and cocktails. Here’s a peek inside
A new restaurant and bar in Fresno’s Tower District has a lot to catch your eye: A giant colorful mural, unique sushi, and cocktails you probably can’t find elsewhere in town.
Banzai Japanese Bar & Kitchen in the Tower District is in the very early stages of opening – with a grand opening planned in a couple of weeks – but is already getting plenty of interest from Tower customers.
It’s in the former Casa de Tamales spot at 609 E. Olive Ave., right near The Lincoln Pub & Grub. Casa de Tamales has moved down the street to the Tower Theatre building.
The Banzai space is almost unrecognizable when compared to its predecessor.
A giant colorful mural with a geisha and samurai takes up one wall. A U-shaped bar that seats about 18 dominates the center of the space. And a window into the kitchen lets customers watch the sushi chef at work.
“We gutted the room,” said co-owner David Rasavong. “We made sure our bar was the centerpiece of the room.”
A local artist who goes by the name editrrr painted the mural and another on the opposite wall.
Banzai is co-owned by Rasavong (who is one of the partners in The Lincoln), and his wife Anna Nguyen and her brother, Westley Nguyen.
The name Banzai – not to be confused with the potted trees called bonsai – is a shouted Japanese cheer or war cry.
The food
For now, Banzai has a limited menu with sushi rolls, salads, appetizers and “banzai bites” – smaller dishes like “kamikaze nachos” for people who might be bar hopping.
One sushi roll in particular is already becoming a favorite, the Golden Gate roll. It features shrimp tempura, crab mix, avocado and salmon, with the unusual addition of paper thin slices of lemon, including the rind.
“Every bite, that zest comes in and brings the whole bite together,” said Rasavong.
Another unique option is sushi with steak on top. The A1 roll has crab meat, avocado and cucumber inside and is topped with a slice of steak that blends seamlessly into the more traditional flavors.
Banzai’s opening marks the return of a sushi place to the Tower District since Tower Sushi closed last year. (Tower Sushi’s owners – who are friends with Banzai’s owners – have opened a new restaurant called L’Apéritif Bistro Fusion.)
Banzai also has other seafood options on the menu for people who don’t want raw fish, or are vegetarian, including a paprika and ginger flavored tofu and tempura.
The drinks
Anna Nguyen put herself through nursing school while bartending at various Tower District spots. She created the cocktail menu with Asian-inspired drinks.
Her favorite is the “lychee-tini.” It’s a vodka martini made with the lychee, a small round fruit native to southeastern Asia that gives the drink a mellow floral flavor.
There’s also a “shiso-ito,” made with green shisho leaves, which are sometimes used in sushi plates.
Banzai also has wine and saki. Eight beer taps are being installed.
What about COVID-19?
Banzai can seat 60 people inside once all coronavirus limits are lifted. It has room for 20 on the patio.
This weekend it’s doing takeout and seating people on the patio. It does not take reservations.
Fresno County is on track to graduate into the red tier of COVID-19 restrictions that could allow indoor dining at 25% capacity as early as Tuesday.
Banzai’s owner plans to expand its food and drink menu as time goes on and as more diners are allowed inside.
The restaurant is open for dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. or so on Fridays and Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.
This story was originally published March 27, 2021 at 10:13 AM.
