Inside Look is a Fresno Bee series where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses, local landmarks and news stories.
There is a Disneyland kind of thing happening at Moses McQueen’s; in that it’s chock full of intentional, curated place-markers.
“It’s attention to detail and spacial surprises,” says Phillip Kliewer.
He admits he took inspiration from the amusement park in the planning and design of the restaurant/bar/hang-out space that will open in downtown Fresno later this month (after plenty of anticipation and more than a half-decade of work).
Moses McQueen’s is the brainchild of Kliewer and wife Kristen along with friends Miguel, Diego and Chandelle Arambula.
They approached the project as a kind of love letter to Fresno.
The name comes from a combination of two pioneering Fresnans: Moses J. Church and Anthony “McQueen” Easterby. Both are credited with helping the very creation of the city.
The space itself is also historic: a two-story duplex built in 1915 in what was then the Armenian Town neighborhood. The so-called Elia Home is on the local register of historic places (thanks to Kliewer and crew) as “a rare surviving example of live/work residential construction in the downtown area from the early 20th century.”
Historic Elia Home, transformed
It wasn’t in great shape when the group bought it in 2017.
The white paint was peeling and the aged brick foundation was crumbling. At one point, the house was actually lifted from the foundation, which was replaced to meet updated load requirements needed of a commercial space.
Some speculated that the house was being moved, or demolished.
Most people would have demo’d the place and built something new.
The Moses McQueen team saw the value of its preservation.
“All of us kind of grew up in historic parts of Fresno,” Miguel Arambula said during a sneak peek tour with The Bee.
Miguel Arambula, co-owner of Moses McQueen’s, explains the concept of the new bar that’s opening in March 2026 in a 100-year-old Armenian home on Van Ness Boulevard in downtown Fresno. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
Of course, very little of what you see inside Moses McQueen’s is original to the home, save for the dark hardwood floors and a pair of sliding pocket doors on the library upstairs. The interior was gutted, the plaster pulled from the walls to clear out any remnants of lead paint. Everything had to be rebuilt, to match the original work, as per code standards on a 100-year-old historic property.
“We had carpenters in here for like two or three months,” Miguel Arambula says.
“They painstakingly did all the details.”
Like with Disneyland, it’s the details that sell Moses McQueen’s.
That’s everything from the choice of wallpaper (on the second story landing, it’s a pattern of monkeys smoking cigars and swigging from bottles of vodka) and light fixtures, to the covers on the electrical outlets (brass with a pineapple design).
There’s a purple velvet chair with matching love seat and couch. A second couch is long and low and full of button tufting indicative of its mid-century modern heritage.
The foot railing around the bar (both upstairs and down) is reused. Most of the furniture and other pieces were pulled together from multiple trips across the state.
Just off the front door is hidden-door bookshelf that leads, speakeasy style, to the stairs and the second floor.
There’s a wall of set stone with a 1960s-era (faux) fireplace that gives off heavy vibes of grandma’s living room.
The main downstairs bar at Moses McQueen’s has a 1960s kitchen look because, owners say, that’s the place where everybody tends to hang out at parties. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
From that spot, the main bar comes off as a retro-kitchen counter (an original General Electric refrigerator adds to the aesthetic).
That’s very much the point, Kliewer says.
“At a house party, people hang out in the kitchen or outside.
Same at Moses McQueen’s.
Outside is the backyard, with a new deck, large shade tree (original to the property) and plenty of space for tables and barroom games (think corn hole, maybe beer pong).
Even out here, there are Easter eggs to be found in the details.
For instance, the rows of pavers underfoot are hand-pressed adobe, made by Miguel Arambula himself, through his company, Valley Adobe.
The backyard area at Moses McQueen’s is the main gathering space for the bar in downtown Fresno. It will have outdoor bar service as well as games, music and a restroom. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com What’s on the menu?
Parked in the backyard, house-party style, is Moses McQueen’s food trailer. This serves as the restaurant’s kitchen, delivering chef Vancent Edward’s Caribbean-soul take on classic bar fare: smash burgers and fries, fish tacos and various desserts.
The drink menu is classic bar stuff and what one might expect from a spot looking to become a neighborhood favorite.
You can certainly grab a beer and a shot (there will be eight of so beers on tap), or any mixed well drink. But you can also order an old fashioned or something off a small menu of specialty cocktails (and mocktails).
And there will likely be some surprises, too, says bar manager Alexa Leyva. She’s pitched the idea of drinks served in old-fashioned party punch bowls as something to match the vibe and be shared with friends.
A speakeasy-style secret bookcase door leads to the upstairs at Moses McQueen’s, a new bar created by five Fresno friends in downtown Fresno. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
The upstairs bar at Moses McQueen’s has a vintage 1930s look. The nearby balcony is where the DJ will set up during events. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
Moses McQueen’s, a new bar created by five Fresno friends, will open soon in a 100-year old Armenian home on Van Ness Boulevard in downtown Fresno. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
This story was originally published March 4, 2026 at 10:18 AM.
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Joshua Tehee covers breaking news for The Fresno Bee, writing on a wide range of topics from police, politics and weather, to arts and entertainment in the Central Valley.