New places to eat and drink are opening in downtown Fresno. Here’s the latest

If you’re visiting downtown Fresno or living or working there, chances are you’re always looking for someplace new or different to eat.

Several new mom-and-pop restaurants have opened — or reopened — recently. They sell a range of foods, including Korean corn dogs, boba tea, classic sandwiches, and wine and beer.

Here’s a look at who’s doing what.

BrownBag

After selling the Sequoia Sandwich Company in Clovis eight years ago, owner Chris Dias never thought he’d open another restaurant. He’d stick to catering the trays of sandwiches that are his bread and butter.

But then a little spot popped up in a newish building between the new IRS office and the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services on P Street, near Ventura Avenue.

“The rent was reasonable,” he said. “Everything just lined up to make it feel just right.”

Now, Dias sells sandwiches and salads to walk-in customers too at BrownBag.

He still does catering — as do his neighbors, Tapsi with its Filipino fast food and Golden Tamale with Mexican food. That way the three businesses don’t have to rely solely on foot traffic in an area with only paid parking. They also share some outdoor tables.

BrownBag’s menu features hot and cold sandwiches, ranging from $11 to $12.50.

The most popular? Either the turkey with avocado on a molasses bread, or the hot Italian sandwich with salami, pepperoni, roast beef and ham.

Sandwiches are served on locally made Max’s bread, usually on a 7-inch sourdough roll.

“What makes it special is the bread we put it on,” Dias said of the sandwiches. “We went through every one of them to find the perfect roll.”

Soups are coming in the fall, and locally made giant Crave Cookies are available too.

Details: BrownBag is at 744 P St., #102. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Mochilicious Society

What do you get when the owners of a boba tea spot, a Korean corn dog maker and the baker of French macaron cookies get together?

A new food truck.

Mochilicious Society debuted last weekend and will be regularly parked outside The Grand 1401, the historic skyscraper at Fulton and Tuolumne streets.

Seth Vann, the owner of Vanntastic Sweets has been selling his macarons (the little French sandwich cookies with filling inside) via boba shops and other places for years.

He made a deal with The Grand’s landlord to provide a lunch option for the 300 or so people working in the building, since there are not many restaurants nearby.

Meanwhile, he was also selling his cookies at MilkT Society (a boba shop with three locations in Fresno), and Mochilicious (a mochi donut and Korean corn dog shop at Chestnut and Butler avenues).

“We ended up doing a lot of collaboration with each other and now we’re just one company,” Vann said.

Now the truck is available for events and parked weekdays in front of The Grand for the public.

The menu includes food and drink from the three businesses: all kinds of boba drinks, mochi donuts, macarons and Korean corn dogs. There are also sandwiches, including a turkey pesto melt and breakfast ones on English muffins.

Those trendy Korean corn dogs?

“They’re insanely popular,” Vann said. “We always have lines at the (559) Night Market.”

At the truck, they come in beef, chicken, turkey, hot link and mozzarella versions. They are then dipped in batter and rolled in creative toppings such as hot Cheetos, potatoes, ramen, sweet potatoes, cornflakes and more.

The boba shops and Mochilicious will start carrying much of the menu, too.

Details: Mochilicious Society will be parked at Tuolumne and Fulton streets from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. You can also find them at several farmers markets, including the Tower District market on Thursday evenings.

Saint J Wine

Saint J Wine, formerly known as Saint Joaquin, is the wine bar in the Peerless Building at Broadway and Amador streets that opened in 2021 and later expanded in 2022.

It’s been closed since early July, but reopens with Art Hop at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The bar was sold by its original owners, who also recently sold their rooftop bar, Quail State, this summer. When new owner Mike Wass and manager Andrew Ueland (both connected to Clovis bar of Hook & Ladder) took over Saint J, they closed during the transition.

The reopening took longer than expected. The pair learned right before the planned mid-August opening that the portion of the building Saint J had expanded into didn’t have the right permit from Alcoholic Beverage Control, according to an Instagram post. Rather than allow drinks only in half the business, they postponed the opening.

But now Saint J is fully legal and ready to serve.

They’re not changing much. Trivia nights will be back and they’re working on getting live jazz on Sundays back, Ueland said.

They still have smalls bites such as meat and cheeses, though they have tweaked the drinks.

“We are just a wine and beer bar now,” he said. “We still have our natural wines, but we’ve expanded to traditional wines as well.”

Details: Saint J Wine is at 1755 Broadway St #106. Hours: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Downtown Oak

This little sandwich shop at Kern and L streets reopened last week after a vandal broke in and damaged the place enough to shut it down for four months.

Regular Bee readers may remember reading about Downtown Oak’s opening — and then it’s reopening — in these pages.

It serves sandwiches, a limited breakfast menu, snacks and drinks.

The business is still getting on its feet after the break in. The cash registers were stolen and haven’t been replaced yet, so it’s operating with cash and Cash App.

Details: Downtown Oak is at 901 L St. For now, it’s open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, though those hours will eventually expand.

Coming soon

There are more places in the works also.

Downtown regulars may have noticed a new sign at the former Downtown Deli spot near Fresno and P streets.

Garlishious Deli isn’t open yet, but it’s coming.

It’s a sandwich shop by the makers of Garlish, a garlic spread with varying degrees of garlicky punch. It’s found in at least 70 grocery stores.

The company recently moved its manufacturing operations to Fresno from Sacramento. No word yet on when the deli will open.

Gelateria Del Centro is also getting ready to open. It’s a gelato shop by a former Bitwise employee that will serve the icy Italian treat.

It’s next to Fulton Street Coffee (which itself recently expanded), in one of the spaces that’s part of the Warnors Center for the Performing Arts.

The owners are hoping to open in October. They are also working on a bicycle that serves gelato at events.

Frida Café is also still in the works. The coffee shop with the Frida Kahlo artist theme is planning to open inside the historic Fresno Water Tower downtown, along with a visitors center.

It’s taking a lot longer than expected. Work is currently underway on rerouting the irrigation system and the wrought-iron fence at the water tower.