A new Fresno restaurant specializes in cheese and bread. But it’s got a Southern favorite as well
Melty cheese. Bread that’s still warm from the oven.
These are two things that most people love. So why not put them together and form a restaurant around it?
OK, the plan from the owner of a new restaurant called the Cheesy Bread House was a little more involved than that, but you get the idea.
Cheesy Bread House has other flavorful fried food on the menu too — like Nashville hot wings and even corn on the cob done up with the Nashville seasonings.
It opened in mid-June on West Shaw Avenue, near Chipotle in the same shopping center as Costco. (Tip: If you go during lunch hour, take Blythe Avenue north to Winco and loop around so you don’t get caught in the out-of-control lines waiting for discounted Costco gas.)
Cheesy Bread House
Cheesy Bread House is owned by Arut Mkhitaryan, the same man who recently opened Baklava House at Bullard and West, which The Bee told you about this spring.
He’s connected to the Angry Chickz restaurants and the family that used to run Flippin’ Dave’s Burgers and Fries. Cheesy Bread House is in its old location.
He declined to talk about what happened with the burger place, but note that a competitor, Hammy’s Smash Burgers, opened up just across Blythe.
Mkhitaryan constantly has ideas for new businesses in his head. He said his goal is to make people happy.
“When are people happy? When they’ve got good food ... reasonable prices, good service,” he said.
Cheese and bread
The cheesy bread is clearly the highlight of the menu here.
It goes by several other names too: Cheesy boat. Egg boat. Georgian cheese bread. Armenian khachapuri.
There’s no easy way to describe what kind of cuisine this restaurant carries, especially since food doesn’t respect borders.
It’s international, coming from several cultures, who all seem to claim the cheesy bread as their own, said Karine Sahakyan, cousin of the owner and branch manager overseeing several restaurants.
“Each of them are tasting and thinking, ‘That’s our food,’ and we’re like, ‘No, that’s our food,’” she joked.
The cheesy bread is a “boat” of scratch-made dough baked with a blend of three cheeses (which ones is a secret, but it’s got an Armenian influence, Sahakyan says) and an egg yolk.
You can get one with toppings such as pepperoni, chicken, mushrooms and — for the ultimate experience, basturma.
That’s an Armenian meat she describes as sort of like a cured beef bacon.
“This is my favorite,” Sahakyan said. “This is all Armenians’ favorite. Even though they have 10,000 toppings, they will choose the basturma because we grew up with the taste.”
They’re thinking of filming a video on how to eat the cheesy bread, because a fork and a knife are not the best path to deliciousness here.
Instead, tear off a hunk of bread with your hands. Break the yolk with it and swirl it into the cheese. Then scoop up a big pile of cheese and egg and toppings and pop it into your mouth. Chew and repeat.
More on the menu
Some other Middle Eastern-inspired dishes on the menu include cheese or beef in a blanket.
Basically the cheese or beef is formed around the same metal skewers used in making kebabs. Except then it’s wrapped in dough and rotated over a grill until golden brown.
It’s served with rice and salad.
“This is something new for everybody,” she said.
And there’s the American dishes, such as the Nashville hot chicken wings and chicken sandwich (available in very spicy, mild or no spice).
The fried shrimp in the Nashville seasoning are popular too. Cauliflower, mushrooms and corn on the cob cut into lengthwise strips are also fried and seasoned the same way.
Prices range from $5.95 to $15.95.
Details: Cheesy Bread House is at 4434 W. Shaw Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
This story was originally published July 5, 2023 at 4:05 PM.
