Popular restaurant in Fresno’s River Park making changes — menu updating, too
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Spicy J’s in Fresno’s River Park is celebrating a grand reopening this week.
- Owner Jason Lin added dishes from his hometown of Fuzhou, including changle bing fan.
- The menu now features sizzling crab fried rice and staff received new hospitality training
When the owner of Spicy J’s Specialty Chinese Cuisine was growing up in China, he and his siblings used to eat a dessert that combined sticky rice, boba, watermelon and other sweet ingredients.
Starting this week, that dish will be available on this menu at the restaurant in Fresno’s River Park.
It’s one of several changes at the popular restaurant that is celebrating its re-grand opening this week.
Jason Lin bought the restaurant when it was Dai Bai Dang seven years ago, after the previous owner retired. Lin’s company also owns other restaurants in River Park, including J-Pot Mini Hot Pot & Bar and O-iza, and others around the city, such as Hino Oishi, Ichi Sabu, Ramen Hayashi and Lin’s Fusion.
He wants to bring what he’s learned at those restaurants to Spicy J’s, he said.
“We feel like we could do better,” he said. “It’s just an opportunity for a fresh start.”
That means new uniforms for staff and new dishware are on the way. Staff is being trained to new hospitality standards, he said.
The menu is changing, too.
Old favorites, such as orange chicken, will still be available. But new dishes from Lin’s hometown in China, Fuzhou, are now available.
That dessert, for example, is called changle bing fan.
“It’s like slushy ice with toppings like boba, watermelon and peanuts, and it has sticky rice in it,” Lin said. “That’s something we grew up eating in the Chinese street food scene.”
Several other dishes from the Fujian region have also been added to the menu.
And one highly Instagrammable dish that’s new?
The sizzling crab fried rice.
It’s fried rice with soft shell crab and crispy garlic on top that’s finished cooking at the customers’ table.
Discounts are available throughout June to customers, with details available on the restaurant’s Instagram page.
This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 10:00 AM.
