New sandwich spot planning to open three more Fresno-area restaurants — including Clovis
West Coast Sourdough, a sandwich shop that recently opened its first Fresno location, is expanding into the Valley with at least three more new restaurants in the works.
The restaurant sells sandwiches, salads, and soups, and is known for its sourdough bread.
The company opened its first location in May on West Shaw Avenue in the former Jimmy John’s spot near Feland Avenue.
Next up is a Clovis location, at the southwest corner of Herndon and Fowler avenues, in the former Firehouse Subs spot.
The restaurant is still in the permitting phase, and is aiming to open at the end of August or early September, said spokesman Kay Uppal.
A Visalia West Coast Sourdough is in the works at the southwest corner of Akers and Cypress avenues, just south of Highway 198.
And a lease has been signed to open another location in Fresno. This one will be at the southeast corner of Herndon and Brawley avenues, in the same shopping center as Tractor Supply Co. and the future The Habit Burger Grill.
This one is in the very early beginning stages, so could it be a while before it opens.
There may end up being even more locations, but it’s too early to go into specifics, Uppal said. The company takes the process step by step, opening a new location and evaluating before deciding upon more, he said.
What’s on the menu?
The lunch and dinner menu at West Coast Sourdough includes 20 sandwiches, such as pastrami, BLT, French dip, and a veggie sandwich that can be made vegan. There are also five kinds of turkey sandwiches, including a garlic-turkey pesto and a cranberry-turkey one with Swiss cheese and cranberry sauce.
The bread is made from the same San Francisco sourdough starter used since 1995. It’s partially baked by Raymond’s, a bakery in San Francisco and flash frozen. Then, it’s thawed out and baking is finished at West Coast Sourdough’s restaurants, Uppal said.
“When you bite into that sandwich, the bread will literally have been baked five minutes ago,” Uppal told the Bee earlier this spring. “We are constantly, throughout the entire lunchtime, constantly throwing the bread in the oven and baking it.”
