Popular restaurant seeks new downtown Fresno spot as rail, parking disruptions continue
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Fresno’s Libelula to relocate after parking loss and high-speed rail construction.
- The owners plan to remain downtown and hope to relocate by the end of the year.
- Libelula asked customers for location input on social media.
The owners of Fresno’s Libelula have decided to move their popular downtown restaurant after the loss of nearby parking and traffic disruptions created by high-speed rail-related construction.
But the plan is to remain downtown, where the family-owned eatery opened in 2019. Since then, the restaurant has become known as a downtown staple with artistic interior and creative menu options.
“We went to downtown for a reason: To help downtown,” chef and co-owner Ian Cookson told The Bee on Tuesday. “We want to stay there.”
Cookson said in April that the restaurant was bracing for struggles as the California High-Speed Rail Authority began closing adjacent streets for roadwork that is expected to last until next summer. The rail authority’s work followed the January closure of a state-owned parking lot located across the street from the restaurant, which Cookson said led to a drop in sales.
The restaurant previously attracted a wave of customer support as word of its troubles spread. But Cookson was still worried the restaurant would have to relocate anyway. In late May, the family also closed Salty Bitch, the weekends bakery attached to the restaurant.
He confirmed on Tuesday that the parking loss and road work led to his family’s decision to relocate Libelula.
“We’re not ready to say what we’re going to do,” Cookson said of the pending relocation. “We’re getting opinions from our customers first.”
Downtown Fresno’s Libelula asks customers to weigh in on new location
In a Tuesday social media post, the restaurant said it hopes to relocate by the end of the year. The post called on the restaurant’s customers to provide their opinions on a potential new downtown location.
“Is there a building, street or part of downtown that feels Libelula? Tell us,” the post says.
Some of the restaurant’s Instagram followers have suggested Libelula relocate to Chinatown or the Brewery District.
The restaurant said in the post that it originally chose to open downtown because it believed in the area and “wanted to give people another reason to come downtown.”
With the loss of parking and disruptive roadwork, “uncertainty became our new normal,” the post says. The restaurant ultimately decided that staying downtown was still best for the community and for Libelula’s future, the post says.
The restaurant added that it will have to temporarily close before moving into a new downtown location, though the timeline for that is not yet known.
“The address may change, but our heart is staying in downtown Fresno,” the post says.
