{"id":237927,"date":"2026-03-26T19:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237927\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:10:11","slug":"fresno-restaurant-boom-and-the-horn-barbecue-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237927\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno restaurant boom and the Horn Barbecue fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresno is seeing a wave of new restaurants \u2014 at least 17 are in the works \u2014 but one high-profile opening is already hitting trouble, with Horn Barbecue<\/a> employees alleging bounced paychecks just weeks after its debut.<\/p>\n

From a Michelin-recognized Tijuana taco shop to a fine-dining brunch launch, here\u2019s what\u2019s happening and links below to original stories.<\/p>\n

\"Lunchtime Lunchtime visitors wait in line at the counter inside Horn Barbecue in Fresno’s Granite Park shopping center on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. The long-anticipated barbecue restaurant opened on Tuesday, Jan. 20. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

FULL STORY: Surge of new restaurants coming to Fresno area. Here are 17 to keep an eye on<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are key takeaways:<\/p>\n

Tacos El Franc, a Tijuana-based taco shop recognized by the Michelin Guide in 2024 and 2025, is taking over the former Heroes Comics building on Shaw Avenue near Highway 41. Tacos run $4.75 each. Owner Roberto Kelly said the building is getting \u201ca reconstruction,\u201d not a remodel. Click here for full story.<\/a> \"Pork Pork belly, pan seared with sweet chili sauce and served with fresh basil and a fried egg, has become a favorite at Cracked Pepper Cafe, says Vatche Moukhtarian, who started offering counter service breakfast and brunch at his Cracked Pepper Bistro. Photographed Tuesday, March 10, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Cracked Pepper Bistro, a 19-year-old fine-dining spot in north Fresno, now serves brunch from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Prices run $12 to $16, and you order at the counter. Chef Vatche Moukhtarian roasts the coffee himself weekly. Click here for full story<\/a>.Multiple Horn Barbecue employees say their paychecks bounced repeatedly, with some paid in cash or through Venmo and Zelle. At least two have filed unpaid wage claims with the state. A Horn representative blamed permit delays that pushed the opening from July to late January.Horn\u2019s troubles extend beyond Fresno. His Elk Grove location closed in January over unpaid rent, he was evicted from his Lafayette restaurant, and according to the San Francisco Chronicle, he has faced more than $500,000 in lawsuits and wage claims. Click here for full story<\/a>. \"Bulle, Bulle, at Herndon and Marks avenues, is one of 15 new restaurants opening in the Fresno area. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Among the 17 new restaurants on the way: Bulle, a high-end spot at Marks and Herndon aiming to open by early April; Taqueria Yarelis\u2019 third location (home of the viral 3-foot Anaconda burrito); and Lisa\u2019s Southern Smokehouse, a Nashville-inspired barbecue joint targeting a May opening in Clovis. Click here for full story.<\/a><\/p>\n

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published March 26, 2026 at 11:03 AM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Christopher Kirkpatrick<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Christopher Kirkpatrick is senior editor of The Fresno Bee and Vida en el Valle.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno is seeing a wave of new restaurants \u2014 at least 17 are in the works \u2014 but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113,91390,107296,4930],"class_list":{"0":"post-237927","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","11":"tag-fresno-restaurants","12":"tag-horn-barbecue-unpaid-wages","13":"tag-tacos-el-franc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237927","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=237927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}