Longtime Tower District favorite is voted Fresno’s most romantic restaurant in poll
Veni Vidi Vici is a Tower District classic.
And it’s a romantic spot too, according to Fresno Bee readers.
The bar and restaurant with candlelit tables in the cozy brick dining room and on the shady patio was voted most romantic restaurant in Fresno in a recent Bee poll.
Veni Vidi Vici, at 1116 Fulton St., beat the competition with 58% of the vote.
The next closest restaurants were Max’s Bistro & Bar, Cracked Pepper Bistro and Elbow Room, all tied with 11% each of the vote.
Veni Vidi Vici is a Latin phrase meaning “I came, I saw, I conquered,” though regular customers often shorten it to “Veni’s.”
Food and Drink
The business is a small place that’s been around since 1992.
Tony Briseno has worked there since the mid-90s, when he was hired as a dishwasher and maintenance guy. He’s co-owned the place since 2004 with his sister, Cynthia Briceno (and yes, they spell their last names differently. The Mexican last name somehow ended up with different spellings on their birth certificates).
Veni’s patio gets packed on hot weekend nights with cocktail drinkers.
Many of those younger weekend customers come back later for dinner, Briseno said.
“A lot of people come back and say, ‘Oh you’re a restaurant?’” he said. “We’re a restaurant first.”
The romantic part happens inside, especially on weeknights. That’s where lots of couples dine from the limited but upscale menu that hasn’t changed in 10 years,
Chefs Adams Holland and Tim Woods — who would go on to found the now-closed classic Tower restaurant Echo — were there at the beginning.
The popular appetizer — goat cheese encrusted with cracked pepper and served in a pool of roasted garlic, olives and olive oil with bread — is a favorite of many. That’s a Holland-and-Woods creation that Briseno remembers trying when he first got hired.
“I was like a starving Tower kid and it was the best thing I’d ever had,” he said. “I fell in love with that and I’ve been eating it ever since.”
The menu, with many entrees hovering around $30, features salmon, steak, pasta and more.
And the Stockholm royale is a frequently ordered Fresno famous cocktail.
The drink was invented by the late bartender/musician Brad Hufft at The Daily Planet (another backbone business in Tower that closed years ago).
When it shut down, head waiter Ronald Harris Contrestano got hired at Veni Vidi Vidi, along with Daily Planet piano player Jim Wright, and the cocktail became popular at Veni’s too.
A spin on the Stockholm 75, the Stockholm royale features vodka, lemonade simple syrup, pink Champagne and Chambord, a raspberry liquor.
Although Yelp.com reviews ding the restaurant for its service, it’s still a staple of the Tower District.
Romance
Many Fresnans made memories at Veni Vidi Vici with first dates, first kisses on the patio, and weddings and receptions under the large shady trees surrounded by benches by on the patio.
“We have a lot of people who have met there, dated, and then came back to have their wedding reception,” Briseno said. “We’ve had over 10 (couples) in the last 20 years. They still keep coming back for their anniversary. Some have gotten divorced, and we see them with different people … but they still come for dinner.”
Local musician Brian Kenney Fresno recorded a song about the business called “Veni Vidi Vici” on his “We’ll Always Have Fresno” album. It features an interview with the sibling owners in the middle of the song where a guitar solo would go.
Its lyrics include: “It’s the upscale restaurant with the hip hop shows/Beautiful waitresses so everybody goes/Where it’s such a scene when they pack ‘em in at night/And the food’s so delightful/That they worship every bite-full.“
