High demand for Latino cuisine is leading to a trend in Fresno when empty fast food locations are quickly repurposed into new Mexican restaurants.
Tacos la Villa recently opened at 1052 East Shaw Ave., which previously housed a Carl’s Jr. Aliberto’s Jr. Mexican Food opened earlier this summer at 1140 C St. in downtown Fresno in what was a Wendy’s. Victoria’s Mexican Food is now open at 4145 E Jensen Ave., which used to be a KFC.
Fast food chains have been struggling to maintain their Central Valley market presences for some time now. Beyond that, there’s consistent demand in Fresno for Latino cuisine, with the U.S. Census Bureau finding that more than half of the city’s 555,000-plus population identify as Hispanic or Latino.
Michael Arfsten, a partner at Retail California, is involved with the sale of commercial buildings in the Central Valley, including two Taco La Villa restaurants that have opened, one in Fresno and one in Visalia. He said that for every fast food restaurant space that comes to market, he gets four to five inquiries, and most of those inquiries will be from people looking to convert the space into a Mexican restaurant.
“It’s less expensive for a new operator to come into a second-generation space than to go into a blank space,” Arfsten said.
Already standing restaurants come with necessary improvements and equipment new owners can inherit, he said, such as walk-in freezers and refrigerators, plumbing, grease interceptors and additional tools. Additionally, many former fast food restaurants will already have drive-through lanes and set-ups, offering additional savings to new operators.
The savings aren’t just in money. Jonathon Ortiz, an associate at ASU Commercial, said the savings also translate into time, which can make a significant difference when a new restaurant is trying to get up and running. New permits, such as for a new drive-through lane, can be extremely costly and add months to a restaurant’s grand opening date.
That doesn’t mean every new Mexican restaurant is taking over the space of a former fast food place. Tacos el Franc, a highly-decorated Mexican restaurant with Tijuana roots, is opening at 110 E Shaw Ave., where Heroes Comics used to be.
Related Stories from Fresno Bee
The Fresno Bee
Amber Hair (they/them) is the food and restaurants reporter and influencer. Amber has been in professional journalism for more than a decade, writing for outlets like the Orlando Sentinel, The Villages Daily Sun, the Pacific Coast Business Times and others. In their spare time, they enjoy going to concerts, reading and spending time with their cats.