Horn Barbecue plans on hold + Fresno food spots closed after health inspections

Horn Barbecue is nearing completion on a 6,489-square-foot restaurant in Granite Park, despite delays after a citation from the Fresno County Department of Health.

The restaurant, from Fresno native and nationally known heavy-hitter chef Matt Horn, was supposed to open sometime this summer, though an official opening date hadn’t been set.

But in August, it was listed as one of 10 Fresno area food businesses on a facility closures report posted by the health department. According to the report, the restaurant remains closed, “due to remodel.”

In a message to The Bee on Thursday, Horn said “the report reflects a temporary administrative hold, while some final plan requests related to the bar and kitchen areas are being addressed.

“We are honoring their requests to ensure everything is done properly,” he said.

Horn has no doubt the restaurant will be opening soon.

“We are at the finish line.”

The Fresno restaurant would be the latest in Horn’s portfolio of popular and award-winning eateries. He also runs Horn Barbecue locations in Oakland, Lafayette and Elk Grove. Kowbird, a hot chicken sandwich restaurant he ran in Oakland, has closed, per the webiste Eater. Horn earned a James Beard Award nomination for Best New Restaurant and has been featured in the New York Times.

According to press of his restaurants, the Edison High School Graduate taught himself to barbecue in the backyard of his grandmother’s west Fresno home.

Other inspection closures for Fresno County in August

Nine other restuarants and food businesses were reported for temporary closures in August. Reasons for the closures included everything from a kitchen fire to lack of hot water and inadequate water drainage.

Per the report, those businesses are:

* Lam’s Chicken Farm, a meat market on South East Avenue in Fresno. It was cited for inadequate waste water drainage and closed for three days following an inspection Aug. 5.

* Fresno’s Island Water Park had its comminssary closed for two weeks after an inspection Aug. 7 due to a lack of hot water. A lack of hot water is one of the more common (and easily fixed) code violations.

* Nami Japanese Cuisine on Fresno Street and the Press Box Sports Grill on Fig Garden Drive were both temporarily closed due to a lack of hot water. Both were reopened within a day.

* The Wienerschnitzel restaurant on Blackstone Avenue at Gettysburg was closed Aug. 13 following a fire in the kitchen. Restaurants must be inspected when a fire is reported. The fast-food spot reopened the following day.

* 24 Hour Nutrition on McCall Avenue in Selma was closed for more than a week due after a Aug. 14 inspection that found “a lack of hot water and vermin activity,” according to the Health Department. Insect or vermin infestations are major violations that can result in immediate closure when observed by health inspectors.

* Curry House on Blackstone Avenue near the Villagio Shopping Center was closed for a day for what inspectors called a vermin infestation. The facility was serviced by pest control and found in compliance upon reinspection.

* The Hibachi House restaurant on Sierra Street in Kingsburg was closed for a day due to a “lack of hot water and vermin activity,” according to the report.

What inspectors look for

The Fresno County Department of Public Health has about two dozen environmental health specialists who monitor almost 5,000 restaurants, snack bars, grocery stores, commissaries, delicatessens and food vendors across the county.

They make unannounced visits several times a year.

Restaurants also are inspected following fires, or in response to complaints or other concerns from the public, including when people report what they believe are health or sanitation issues at restaurants.

When inspectors visit a restaurant or other food service business, there is a lengthy and detailed list of more than 50 things that draw their scrutiny.

They include: Whether the manager and all employees have the required food safety or food-handling certificates. Hygiene of individual employees. Ways to keep cold food at or below 41 degrees and hot food above 135 degrees. Use of proper sterilization for counters, tables, utensils and cookware. Overall cleanliness. Proper drainage of sinks and floor drains. Restrooms stocked with supplies. Whether the business has the proper license or permit.

Inspectors chronicle their findings in reports made available to the public online.

Those reports are available to the public. In most instances, if an inspector finds a problem, it’s something that can be fixed on the spot. This can include having enough bleach or sanitizer in the water used to wipe down food-preparation areas, replenishing soap, paper towels and toilet paper in the restrooms, or reminding employees to wash their hands and wear gloves and hairnets.

Serious violations, which can trigger closure and manditory reinspections, include things like refrigerators that don’t keep food cold enough or steam tables that don’t keep food hot enough to inhibit bacterial growth, or clogged sinks or drains that cause contaminated water to back up into kitchens.

These types of violations closed seven buinesses in July. That brings the total number of restaurants and food businesses that been temporarily closed following health department inspections to 53 so far in 2025.