The Tower District’s newest hangout is understated among the restaurants, bars and nightclubs lined up along Olive Avenue.
There’s no massive signage or thumping music to give it away, just a reflection of the Tower Theater from across the street, cast onto the blacked-out windows and door. The only real hint of what’s inside is the name, written out in gold cursive script, and the hours of operation.
Electric Olive — 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.
“It’s small, but it’s exactly what we wanted,” says Jason Pistoresi, who opened the bar earlier this month in a 1,500-square-foot retail space that had once been a sandwich shop and then the skate-themed craft beer bar Fresbrew, which closed last year.
Pistoresi also owns Strummer’s, a restaurant bar and attached music venue, where there’s “cheap beer and lots of well drinks being served.” His business partner, Russel Stone, owned Shepherd’s Inn, the downtown restaurant bar that was rebanded Shep’s Club before it recently closed.
With Electric Olive, the pair is going for something different.
Electric Olive is a new cocktail bar in Fresno’s Tower District Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025 in Fresno.
Classic bar revival
Inside, the room is dark hard wood, green velvet and stitched leather. The faux marble floors are set off by two chandeliers. A large gilded mirror serves as focal point at the end of a row of leather-backed barstools.
The stools face an ornate back-bar that runs nearly the stretch of the room. Its columned arches and woodwork trim were made by the Brunswick company in the late 1800s (they also did church pews, store counters and bowling alleys). It was in use through the 1980s as a military bar frequented by high-ranking naval officers, Pistoresi says.
He found it in Monterey, had it hauled in and completely restored.
Pistoresi commissioned three oil paintings (all women in red) for the room’s east wall. A third, larger painting is in the works.
There’s a set of TVs, but they’re hidden above the bar and will likely only be used as menu displays, Pistoresi says.
A cinnamon stick tops the Churro Old Fashioned cocktail at the new Electric Olive cocktail bar in Fresno’s Tower District Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025 in Fresno.
High-end whisky + classic drinks
The menu keeps with the aesthetic.
There’s beer on tap, but nothing off the wall or too hopped-up palate busting. Think Peroni, Guinness, Sierra Nevada. There is also a selection of wines and a rotating collection of high-end whisky and tequila (four or five at any given time, Pistoresi says).
But mostly, the bar does old-school cocktails, with a few twists (no pun intended).
There’s a Churro Old Fashioned, which brings a touch of cinnamon to the bourbon and bitters.
The Sweet Heat is a simple vodka drink with homemade pineapple syrup.
If there’s any novelty here, it’s a set of infused cocktails that play on the bar’s name. There are whiskey, gin and tequila options; infused with extra virgin olive oil for 36 hours. This gives the drinks an open, expanded flavor profile.
“You’re not going to find any of the new school, modern stuff,” Pistoresi says. “We wanted to create something different for down here.”
So far, patronage at Electric Olive has come by word of mouth or the curious passerby. There was no big grand-opening party with celebrity invites, Pistoresi says, and there won’t be. They don’t need it. The capacity inside at any given time is just 50 people, which should fill up quickly on weekends. In that case, the bar may start requiring reservations, he says.
You can follow the bar @electricolivebar on Instagram.
Owner Jason Pistoresi, center, with bartender Alexa Rodriguez, left, and manager/head bartender Andrea Wright, right, pose during a look inside the new Electric Olive cocktail bar in Fresno’s Tower District Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025 in Fresno.
A Churro Old Fashioned, left, with a Sweet Heat using vodka and homemade pineapple syrup and more, are two cocktails served at the new Electric Olive cocktail bar in Fresno’s Tower District Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025 in Fresno.