If Fresno’s best coffee shop is forced to close, someone deserves a good roasting
Octavio Vargas opened Fulton Street Coffee in January 2018 because he believed in the potential of downtown Fresno.
“There’s no place I like more,” he said.
Three years later, the reality of downtown Fresno could force Vargas out of business. And not due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or any lack of demand for his finely brewed coffee.
Fulton Street Coffee hasn’t served a pour-over or specialty tea since a March 2 visit from the Fresno County Department of Public Health. Inspectors ordered the place closed because water temperature measured from various faucets failed to meet the 120-degree minimum set by Chapter 7, Article 1 of the California Retail Food Code.
In addition, Vargas got dinged for minor, nonpermitted modifications he made to help protect customers and employees from COVID-19. One of them, a pickup window installed at the front door, was determined to have too large an opening and lacked “either an air curtain or be self-closing to prevent insects from entering,” according to an email from Steven Rhodes, manager of the county’s environmental health division.
“Just when business was starting to get back to where it was before the pandemic,” Vargas sighed. “People have been coming back. People have been going out of their way to buy coffee from us — people from other towns, other parts of Fresno and from Clovis.”
Until Vargas can make the fixes and get the necessary approvals, Fulton Street Coffee will remain shuttered besides online orders of coffee beans, bottled cold brew and merchandise.
That could either take a few more days, provided the hot water issue gets addressed, or a couple more weeks. Vargas said he submitted permit applications for his minor renovations March 4, which gives the county health department until March 24 to review them.
Why so long?
“The plan check process is dependent on how many plans have been submitted by other applicants,” Rhodes wrote. “It is possible that the plans may be reviewed sooner than that. The changes that have occurred to the facility would also require permits from the city building official.”
Meaning county health isn’t the only bureaucratic hoop Vargas must jump through before he can resume serving downtown Fresno’s best coffee.
Overreach on Fulton Street
I realize health codes exist for good reasons and health inspectors have the necessary job of enforcing them. But ask yourself this: Does it really make sense to shut down a business whose sole purpose is serving steaming hot drinks for failing to produce 120-degree tap water?
And why must two government agencies approve minor renovations (the pickup window and moving around a few counters, according to Vargas) to a coffee shop that hasn’t allowed any customers inside during COVID-19?
While not enough to holler “Overreach!” at the top of my columnist lungs, it definitely merits some side-eye.
“We’re in a 100-year-old building with old plumbing,” Vargas said of the Warnors Theater complex. “It’s the reality of doing business in downtown Fresno where you work with what you have.”
Fulton Street Coffee has been on my radar since Oct. 20, 2017, the day before the city celebrated its namesake’s grand reopening. Someone at the Downtown Fresno Partnership came up with the idea to fill vacant storefronts with pop-up businesses, just to give the sense of a vibrant street.
I met Vargas and his co-investors while they set up temporary digs inside a former optometrist office next to the Pacific Southwest Building. While inexperienced, the enthusiasm they expressed for Fresno’s urban core — a place many residents considered long dead and not worth revitalizing — made a stronger impression.
The following evening, after more than 10,000 people packed Fulton Street for the parade, speeches and after party, I came back for a look-see. Fulton Street Coffee was mobbed. A line of people spilled out the door and onto the sidewalk.
A few months later, Vargas and his two partners purchased Raizana Tea Co. With it came the lease to a small retail space at 2015 Tuolumne St.
“We kept the name even though we were no longer on Fulton Street,” he said with a chuckle.
Devoted to coffee business
Fulton Street Coffee has since developed a devoted following. Vargas purchases most of his beans directly from farmers in Colombia and Nicaragua and roasts it himself in Oakland. Every cup is freshly prepared.
Vargas made his plight known earlier this week on social media. He explained the situation and asked his customers to purchase newly released merchandise and coffee — pledging all sales and donations would go to operational costs and paying his six employees while they are out of work.
The response has been overwhelming (20-ounce bottles of café con leche cold brew are sold out) but not enough to make up for lost revenues.
“I have a hard time expressing myself emotionally, but we are super grateful for the community that’s shown us so much love and support,” Vargas said.
Far as I know, Fulton Street Coffee is the only new pop-up from the Fulton Street reopening still operating downtown. It survived a global pandemic that forced so many local restaurants and breweries out of business.
So if something as trivial as a water heater claims downtown Fresno’s best coffee shop, some bureaucrat will deserve a good roasting.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
