The Manhattan Steakhouse is selling. Fresno ‘legacy restaurateurs’ retiring
It’s the end of an era.
Two of the ever-present friendly faces at The Manhattan Steakhouse & Bar in Fresno are selling the business and retiring. David and Karyn Milutinovich are in the process of selling the 33-year-old eatery at Bullard and West avenues.
The restaurant is known for its steaks, cozy leather booths, and a happy hour that had people lining up outside waiting for it to open.
The Milutinoviches are from a breed of longtime Fresno entrepreneurs that the owner of The Elbow Room called “legacy restaurateurs.” Their extended family owned lots of restaurants over the years, including The Lime Lite, the Broken Bit in Coarsegold and more.
The Milutinoviches will be around for another month or two. The sale of the business hasn’t closed yet.
They are selling it to Michael and Heather Richards, owners of Fresno-based Right Now Couriers and other businesses. The couple has operated more than 20 businesses in California, including auto, distribution and logistics, and food delivery companies.
All the employees of The Manhattan will likely stay on, Michael Richards said. The restaurant will also accept existing gift cards.
The Richards don’t plan to make major changes for now, except for some small renovations and menu tweaks — including buying produce from local farmers markets and purchasing higher quality meats, he said.
“Our logistics and distribution that we’ve been doing for the last 30 years will allow us to pretty much farm-to-table anything,” he said.
As for Dave Milutinovich, when asked why the couple decided sell The Manhattan, he said: “Hell, I’m 78. I started when I was 45 and she was 35, and now all of a sudden it’s 35 years later.”
He also recalled watching the film “The Shawshank Redemption” recently.
“Morgan Freeman said, ‘You better get busy living or get busy dying’ — and figured I’d better move along,” he said.
Fresno restaurants over the decades
The Milutinoviches — the name is of Yugoslavian origin — and their extended family helped shape the Fresno restaurant scene.
“I view both of them as just being absolute pillars in the restaurant industry,” said Mike Shirinian, who once worked for Milutinovich and now owns The Elbow Room.
In addition to The Manhattan, Dave Milutinovich ran D’Mil’s, a restaurant located where The Elbow Room is now, Wall Street West in downtown Fresno, The Remington and Haute Dave’s, a gourmet sausage restaurant that once served rattlesnake sausage in Fig Garden Village.
“I kinda run off on tangents until I figure things out,” he said. “And then when I actually concentrated all my efforts on The Manhattan, that’s when we started doing the business we should have started been doing all along.”
Karyn Milutinovich spent 37 years working in The Bee’s circulation department, followed by evening shifts at the restaurant.
Dave Milutinovich and his siblings George and Diane grew up in the restaurant business washing dishes and bussing tables. Their parents Buck and Violet ran the 310 Club at Belmont and Palm avenues in the 1950s, and later the Broken Bit in Coarsegold.
George and his wife Cathy ran The Lime Lite for years (George is now a judge at the Westminster Dog Show).
The siblings’ mom did the bookkeeping for both her sons’ restaurants for a long time (“That’s why we had money,” Dave joked.)
Diane was a longtime top athletics administrator at Fresno State, now retired.
Running a restaurant
The restaurant industry has been challenging, especially with the rising price of food and imported liquor. And the price of steaks has been going up for 10 years, Dave Milutinovich said.
“If my dad was alive and knew what we’d be paying, he’d be going ballistic,” he said. “The hardest part about being in business is acting and looking successful when you’re not.”
But the best part?
The people you meet, both Dave and Karyn said. They’ve made lifelong friends with suppliers, customers and other restaurateurs.
“We’ve made connections with a lot of people,” Karyn Milutinovich said “When they’re there, they’re part of us.”
Their customers agree.
“I just think it’s worthy that they lasted that long so successfully and so well received by their customers,” said Pat Ogle, a customer and friend.
The Milutinoviches will be around to help the new owners through the transition and say goodbye to customers.
Once they have more time on their hands, they plan to travel, spend time with their three out-town-grandkids and rediscover what it’s like to have free evenings.
“We’re just going to miss the people,” Karyn Milutinovich said. “I’m going to have to start making dinner.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
