A little cheesesteak place is opening in central Fresno, and it’s got a story to tell
A little cheesesteak shop is opening in central Fresno.
It’s a takeout place at the southeast corner of Fresno Street and Ashlan Avenue. There’s no seating, but there’s a lot more than going on inside than you might expect, from the food on the menu to the backstory of the owners.
TNT Cheesesteaks started as street vendors in early 2020, selling from a tent, often in downtown or in the Tower District.
Valentino Lee and Santana Vargas go by “Tino” and “Tana” and make up the TNT in the business name. They’ve worked at some of the best restaurants in town but have faced some huge challenges—more on that in a moment.
Now they’re opening their first brick-and-mortar restaurant, behind the Sinclair station in the same shopping center as Moy’s Restaurant. It opens for the first time at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
On the menu: Eight types of cheesesteak, including ones with bacon, gouda or brie.
Also available for lunch or dinner are burgers, salmon burgers, crispy chicken sandwiches, several kinds of french fries, and fried artichoke hearts.
And they’ll switch it up with daily specials. While doing the mobile street vending, their specials include everything from Cajun po’boys with soft shell crab to Philly cheesesteak soup in a bread bowl.
And for dessert? Vargas is a pastry chef so expect mini banana cream pies or creme brulee – a rare to-go option because it’s usually cooked in a ceramic dish. Here, it’s cooked, torched with a flame for that smooth as glass top, and sent home in the same container.
TNT Cheesesteaks’ owners
Vargas and Lee met 10 years ago when she worked as a pastry chef and he as a chef at the same restaurant.
They’ve both worked at restaurants like Pismo’s, The Lime Lite, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and the former Slates. Lee considers chef Roy Harland (the closest thing Fresno has to a celebrity chef) a mentor and worked with him in several restaurants.
Lee had a dream of opening a restaurant and figured he’d start with a food truck. Finding the money to get it up and running proved difficult. He went about it the wrong way, he said.
“I just wasn’t living right at the time. I grew up kinda ghetto with gangs and stupid things,” he said.
He ended up doing five years in prison. (He doesn’t want to go into details but says people who know him know why).
It was there he enrolled in Defy Ventures, an entrepreneurship program. It taught him basic business skills. He wrote a business plan and practiced his elevator pitch for TNT Cheesesteaks.
He told Vargas he would quit the gang and focus on starting the business when he got out.
“I was that guy, selling a fairy tale,” he said. But, “when I came home, I was everything that I said.”
And he’s quick to give Vargas credit too. While he was away, she was building her career and setting him up for success when he got out.
Together they started selling sandwiches in their driveway, starting with $300 worth of meat and some borrowed tables and ice chests from his mother.
The operation grew into a legitimate enterprise, and they were eventually able to sign a lease on the space behind the gas station. They still plan to cater and still have the food truck, though they mostly use it to carry the tent and other equipment to events.
The couple has faced plenty of challenges, including Lee’s mom dying six months ago.
“Right before we got the keys to the place,” he said. “I know she’s watching down on me. It was a big blow. It’s been a battle, but I got goals, and we’re going to make it happen.”
Details: TNT Cheesesteaks is at 2612 E. Ashlan Ave. Find them on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 a.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 8:00 AM.
