An avalanche of restaurant closures hit Fresno recently. Here are 5 readers miss the most
Tons of Fresno restaurants have closed recently — at least 30 in the last 12 months.
They blame the rising cost of ingredients, along with employee pay rates and energy bills. Combine it all with customers pulling back on spending, and it’s a recipe for failure.
The closures include breakfast spots, big-name franchises and little but popular coffee shops.
We asked readers who they missed the most among the restaurants that closed in the last year. The top five were all longtime favorites.
1. Hunan Chinese Restaurant
This popular spot at Cedar and Herndon avenues publicly put itself up for sale for $180,000 about a year ago in hopes of someone rescuing it. Inflation and a declining number of customers were killing the business, despite its reputation for authentic and Americanized Chinese food.
“No one is willing to take the risk,” manager Isaac Huang said at the time.
With no takers, it closed in late October of 2023.
2. Javier’s Mexican Restaurant
This longtime restaurant at Kings Canyon Road and Clovis Avenue almost made it to 50 years.
For decades, Louie Duran ran the restaurant he founded with wife, Lupe Duran, using recipes he learned from his mother. It was named after his son, Javier. The elder Duran died in 2022 and customers have missed him ever since.
Other family members have tried to keep the restaurant alive, including by adding Sunday brunch. But rising food prices, power bills, and a slowdown in business forced it to close.
Javier Duran said last summer that he and his siblings hoped to reopen the restaurant, but he could not be reached for comment this week. The restaurant has been closed since June.
3. Shanghai Chinese Cuisine
Fresnans seemed to always rave about Shanghai’s food in the same breath as they complained about its location.
At Blackstone Avenue and Griffith Way in a dying shopping center, it closed in March after 44 years.
The restaurant faced an cascade of challenges: a slowdown in business, a declining neighborhood and shopping center, a broken air conditioner, thieves stealing copper wiring, and reports of pests and other health code violations.
Owner Pauline Dunn said at the time she wanted to reopen in a new location. But she did not immediately return a phone call or text seeking comment this week.
4. Oggi Cosi Si Manga
Oggi, as most people called it, closed last year after a fire. Owner Louie Maglieri always planned to reopen the restaurant in the quaint house in the Tower District on Van Ness Avenue south of Olive Avenue.
That was until the burned-out spot was plagued with problems with homeless people camping outside and living inside the building. Unhappy with the response from police and the city, Maglieri left Fresno in a blaze of angry restaurateur glory.
“F___ them,” he said in a phone interview with The Bee. “I will never open another business in Fresno. No freakin’ way.”
He’s now in Pismo Beach, where he opened Louie the Lip’s Weenie World, a Chicago-style hot dog restaurant.
5. TGI Fridays
The only Fridays in Fresno closed abruptly in March after 45 years. It was the quintessential chain/franchised restaurant Fresno is known for loving.
At Herndon Avenue and First Street, it had low-priced specials on food such as loaded potato skins, and an “all day, every day” happy hour with $4 cocktails and $2 beers.
TGI Fridays closed several other locations around the same time.
