Four Fresno-area restaurants announced closures this month. What’s going on?
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- Four Fresno-area restaurants closed this January as owners cite falling sales.
- Operators blame higher costs, inflation, taxes, wages and declining demand.
- Owners cite systemic barriers, limited grants, rent and unstable policy impacts.
At least four restaurants in Fresno and Clovis announced they planned to close — or already did — in January.
The avalanche of bad news came from heavy hitters such as breakfast spot Benaddiction in north Fresno to smaller places, including a taqueria on McKinley Avenue.
Each has its own reasons for closing. But all have one thing in common: Times are tough right now, said Jeremy Brownstein, one of the owners of Plant Slayer, a downtown restaurant that sells vegan comfort food and remains open.
The situation inspired his restaurant to post on its Instagram page: “If you want local businesses like ours to survive and still be here in the future, we need your support now. Shop small. Eat local. Share posts. Tell a friend. Supporting any local business helps keep our communities alive.”
People are eating out less, and spending less when they do, Brownstein said, noting that he and co-owner Gina Perez have friends who are restaurant owners in similar situations.
“There’s a lot of political uncertainty. There’s economic uncertainty as well, inflation and such. Cost of living is extremely high,” he said. “I definitely think there’s a general sense of fear among the population that‘s influencing purchasing habits.”
Then there are the rising costs of restaurant supplies, power bills, rent, minimum wage, last year’s government shutdown and the cost of taxes and insurance in California, he noted.
Combined, the challenges are simply too much for many business owners. Here’s a look at what the closed businesses and their owners are saying.
Who’s closing?
Take 3 x Grumpy Burger Lady’s
The burger spot on Fulton Street opened with much fanfare about a year ago, but earlier this month, owner Des Washington announced it would close Saturday, Feb. 14.
She’s explaining why through a series of daily posts on Instagram.
She acknowledges some of her decisions led to the business’s closure: She overspent too early, keeping staff was difficult, and there were needed repairs she should have noticed earlier.
But she also draws on more than a decade of experience serving on various boards and running businesses downtown to criticize the systems that make it challenging for business owners to survive.
“We’re typically taught that if something doesn’t last then it must have failed, but that story leaves out too many details and context,” she said in a video. “What it doesn’t do is call to question, ‘What systems were in place to fail this business?’ ...
“Because really, the system is built to make rich people richer. It’s not built for everyday folk like you and me.”
She touches on money coming into downtown but not making it to individual business owners, the lack of support she said she felt from the Downtown Fresno Partnership, along with grant programs requiring red tape and matching funds local entrepreneurs don’t have.
“I didn’t deserve to drown,” she said. “No small business in this economy does, especially when it’s being presented as if there’s help and support for us, and there’s actually not.”
Benaddiction
The rock-n-roll-themed breakfast restaurant closed its Maple and Behymer avenues location Jan. 19.
It was the end of a run that started in 2012 with a food truck and later a restaurant at Bullard and Marks avenues that closed unexpectedly in 2023 after the location was rented to someone else.
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.
In April of last year, sales dropped 7% compared to the year before when the economy started to have problems, he told The Bee. Things got even worse when the government shutdown happened and the holidays hit, leading to a 30% decline in sales compared to the year before.
The Pickled Deli at Peacock Market
The Pickled Deli is the locally owned sandwich shop inside the Peacock Market at Tollhouse and Sunnyside avenues in Clovis. The owner also took over the coffee shop inside the market last year and called it The Parlor.
But both the sandwich and coffee shop are slated to close. Their last day is Saturday, Jan. 31.
Owner Nick Huerta cited the rising costs of operating a business, restrictions on building a separate entrance leading directly into his restaurant to boost foot traffic and his personal investment of time in a story by Bee reporter Bryant-Jon Anteola.
“With everything getting more expensive — food, your staff, taxes — my overall overhead had just gone up,” Huerta said. “I’ve ended up working a lot more than I wanted to. And it was getting to a point where it felt like I stopped owning the business. I was working for the business.”
The Fresno location of The Pickled Deli on First Street had previously closed.
Taqueria San Mateo 559
The taco shop known for its quesabirria tacos and birria pizza at McKinley Avenue and First Street announced last week that it would close permanently.
The owner could not be reached for comment.
The taqueria moved to the spot in October 2024, graduating from the space inside a gas station it previously occupied. It had been in business for five years.
