Eddie Wutangsy, the kind of guy he is, is fielding calls from a wheelchair parked in the spring sun outside Community Regional Medical Center. It’s the first time he’s been outside since he was admitted there last week.
You’d forgive the beloved chef and restaurant owner for being more subdued than normal. His heart is pumping at 15-20% capacity, he told The Bee on Tuesday, well below what it should be.
And yet, he’s still landing jokes.
“Running a business is not for the weak-hearted. No pun intended,” says the 31-year-old, whose My Guy Market helped popularized the chopped cheese sandwich in Fresno.
Chef Eddie hinted at his health issues in a social media post last week, announcing My Guy Market would close for the day while he went to get some X-rays. He’d been experiencing symptoms but kept working, despite calls from his business partner to take a few days off.
“I’m just a hard-headed person. This was me, pushing myself to the limit. It just finally started to stack up.“
Ironically, My Guy Market was having its best week ever.
“But me, I was at my lowest.”
What is My Guy Market?
Wutangsy was a known personality before opening My Guy Market, having done kitchen work at restaurants such as KuniSama, Benaddiction and Chef Paul’s Cafe. He was also known to pop up, sometimes on stage, maybe, dancing at community events, particularly in downtown Fresno.
My Guy Market was inspired by a walking trip through New York City, where Wutangsy was introduced to the chopped-cheese, a sort of deconstructed hamburger that gained popularity the past few years. As he told The Bee in 2023, he walked 20 miles from Manhattan into Brooklyn, through the neighborhoods made famous by rappers like ODB (Old Dirty Bastard) and Mos Def. He tried 20 different sandwiches, from 20 different bodegas (New York’s version of the corner store).
His original menu had four items: the NY-style chopped cheese; a bacon and cherry pepper version called the Chop Smoke; the Hippy Flip, with shitaki and enoki mushrooms; and a bacon egg and cheese (another bodega staple). Since then, he’s added the viral-worthy Checkmate sandwich, made with slow-smoked “dino” short ribs. The bone is meant to be pulled straight out of the wrapper.
He also created a menu of Laotian dishes for a series of pop-up events.
The restaurant took on the chef’s personality — full of energetic chaos, optimism and love. For a time, he took to hiding banded stacks of cash ($100 in dollar bills) inside to-go bags, as a way of giving back (quite literally) to customers. Sometimes, he just handed out the money, in person, just to see the reaction.
As such, My Guy Market became one of Fresno’s most buzz-worthy eateries. Fresno Bee readers overwhelmingly voted it the most underrated restaurant in town in 2023. It placed first or second in five categories in the Best of Central California readers poll for 2025 including best sandwiches and best curbside restaurant.
Upon hearing news of Eddie’s health issues, the community quickly rallied in support, raising more than $25,000 via a GoFundMe campaign. The money will help offset the loss of income while the restaurant is closed, along with medical costs.
Wutangsy says he is currently uninsured.
He’s surprised by the support, even if he knows he shouldn’t be.
“I’m not going to lie: It’s very emotional,” he says.
“I’m speechless.”
And that’s an odd thing for him.
If things go well, he thinks the hospital stay should last another week. It will probably be a week or so after that before he’s able to get back into the kitchen, he says. “My main focus is just to make sure that I’m good.”
In the meantime, the My Guy Market crew is hosting a Lao BBQ pop-up “in honor, love and support for our CAPTAIN chef EDDIE.” The meals feature Eddie’s take on Laotian cuisine including Lao sausage, sticky rice and jeow som (dipping sauce). A limited number of Checkmate sandwiches will also be available.
The meals are online, pre-order only with pick up 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, April 12.
Several of the dishes are already sold out.
A Chopped Cheese sandwich from My Guy Market, photographed Friday, Jan. 20, 2023 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
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The Fresno Bee
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.