A McDonald’s and a Popeyes are closing in Fresno. One won’t reopen
While locally owned mom-and-pop coffee shops and a Mexican restaurant are opening in Fresno, fast-food restaurants aren’t having much luck this week.
Two chain restaurants are closing. One temporarily and one for good.
The Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at First Street and McKinley Avenue near the canal has closed.
The restaurant was listed as “temporarily closed” on the company’s website for weeks. But now it is closed for good.
One small “Sorry, we are closed” sign hangs on the door. The seats, menu signs, cash registers and most of the equipment have been removed.
It’s no longer listed on the website and a real estate company’s “available” sign hangs on the building.
Popeyes and the franchisee that owns the location did not return repeated messages seeking comment about why it closed. The owner, California QSR Management, also closed another of its locations in San Diego.
In Fresno, Popeyes still has four restaurants open: on Blackstone Avenue, Kings Canyon Road, Cedar Avenue north of Shaw Avenue, and West Shaw Avenue.
McDonald’s
A busy McDonald’s in southeast Fresno is also closing — but not forever.
The restaurant at 5645 E. Kings Canyon Road near Clovis Avenue will shut down in June and reopen about two months later in August, according to an employee and a notice filed with the state of California.
During that time, the restaurant will remodel, according to a permit application filed with the City of Fresno. The restaurant already has a double drive-thru lane, but will build a new drive-thru window and a bypass lane.
It will add a new roof over the trash enclosures, re-stripe the parking lot and make minor changes to the exterior, including adding new doors.
Inside the building, it will reconfigure the dining room and kitchen, upgrade the restrooms to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and make other improvements.
The closure means 105 employees won’t be able to work their normal jobs at their regular location for about two months, according to a notice filed with the state as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act. McDonald’s hopes to accommodate employees at other locations during the work.
This story was originally published April 11, 2025 at 11:06 AM.
