Why is Benaddiction closing? What the owner of Fresno breakfast restaurant says
For more than a dozen years, Benaddiction has been serving up rock-n-roll-themed breakfasts from its food truck and two restaurants.
But now the popular Fresno restaurant is scheduled to close Jan. 19.
Why?
Owner James Caples said dropping sales due to last year’s unsteady economy, debt and the surprise closure of the original restaurant all played a role.
Caples started Benaddiction started as a rock-n-roll-themed breakfast food truck in 2012. It blossomed into two restaurants — the original at Bullard and Marks avenues and a second at Maple and Behymer avenues in northeast Fresno.
The restaurants were packed on weekends, serving up indulgent breakfasts, such as the Clapton — an eggs Benedict topped with bacon — and other music-themed dishes.
The first location closed unexpectedly in 2023 after the location was rented to someone else.
When opening the second restaurant in 2021, owner Caples said he took out loans with the expectation of having income from two restaurants.
“The north restaurant was just never able to get enough sales to cover that much debt,” he said via text message.
Then in April, sales dropped 7% compared to the year before when the economy started to have problems, he said.
Things got even worse when the government shutdown happened and the holidays hit, he said. Sales were down 30% compared to the year before.
Over the years, Caples tried other ways to bring in more business, including transforming the restaurant into Cheeks’ Chicken & Burgers in the afternoons and evenings. But apparently it wasn’t enough.
Caples is inviting customers to come in and dine one last time before the closure. The restaurant has a loyal following that was saddened to hear the news.
“Worst news of 2026,” said one customer on Facebook.
On Instagram, another person said: “I’m devastated. If you ever choose to/are able to do future projects please get the word out and your fans will be there.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 10:17 AM.
