{"id":136825,"date":"2026-01-16T22:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/136825\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T22:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:27:11","slug":"new-owner-reopens-north-fresno-restaurant-and-music-hub-starving-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/136825\/","title":{"rendered":"New Owner Reopens North Fresno Restaurant and Music Hub Starving Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"

The north Fresno music-centered restaurant that closed after building a cult following has reopened, with a grand opening planned soon.<\/p>\n

Tony Gomez reopened Starving Artists Bistro at 9447 N. Fort Washington Road with a soft opening Tuesday, he told GV Wire. The reopening, even lacking liquor and alcohol and with all the kinks of a soft opening, packed out the house, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we\u2019re getting that great response. We\u2019re putting the word out there that we\u2019re back in business \u2014 no alcohol yet, it\u2019s still pending \u2014 and as soon as we get the alcohol and our machines ready, everything in place, what we would like to do is we want to do a grand opening,\u201d Gomez said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tony Gomez spent months preparing Starving Artist Bistro for reopening as seen in this Friday, Jan. 16 2026 photo. (GV Wire\/Edward Smith)
\nGrand Opening Coming January, Early February<\/p>\n

When Starving Artists closed suddenly in September 2024<\/a>, it sent a sour note throughout Fresno\u2019s art and music scene. It was a popular place to hear local bands \u2014 and some bigger artists \u2014 do more intimate sets behind a menu of American fare.<\/p>\n

Gomez said he wanted to bring that back, with a revised menu. Now, they feature a variety of appetizers with pastas, bowls, burgers, and entrees to keep guests fed while listening to artists perform.<\/p>\n

Like every soft opening, they\u2019ve had their difficulties, he said, but they\u2019ve worked through them. They will have their soda machine soon \u2014 right now, they\u2019re serving through cans in glasses \u2014 and they will soon have their liquor license approved, he said.<\/p>\n

He plans to be fully open by the end of the month or early February. The ultimate goal is to have a full liquor menu in time for Valentine\u2019s Day, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, we\u2019re working on Plan B, which is getting a menu with mocktails because that\u2019s another thing that apparently is trending a lot,\u201d Gomez said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The new owners of Starving Artist Bistro revamped the space after having a reopening in January. (GV Wire\/Edward Smith)
\nGomez Wanted the Freedom of His Own Restaurant<\/p>\n

After spending three decades in the corporate restaurant world, Gomez wanted a business to call his own. His experience at Fleming\u2019s Steakhouse and Outback Steakhouse made him want to build his own restaurant. He said he wanted the freedom to put his own touch on the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different when you have restaurants that all the systems are in place, everything works,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cThey have the blueprint for everything and everything is so easy. It\u2019s easier to operate in that aspect. When you\u2019re doing it for yourself, when you get out of that corporate world and start working at other little restaurants \u2026 it\u2019s a different vibe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The north Fresno music-centered restaurant that closed after building a cult following has reopened, with a grand opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-136825","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}