Clovis Colorado Grill restaurant<\/a> has thrived in solitude for 21 years and counting.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s kind of become a local destination for a good burger,\u201d said Hossein Nekumanesh, who heads the Colorado Grill operations these days and is the son of the restaurant founder Ali Nekumanesh.<\/p>\n
Despite its odd location on 0.35 acres of triangular-shaped land at the southeast corner of Barstow and Willow avenues, the Clovis Colorado Grill isn\u2019t exactly a hidden gem.<\/p>\n
Its parking lot often is packed, with customers regularly coming in and out of the restaurant since it opened in 2005.<\/p>\n
![\"Colorado](\"\" "\\"FRS_EPZ_COLORADO_GRILL_07.JPG\\"")
Colorado Grill’s location at Willow and Barstow avenues is uniquely isolated, caught between a freeway, orchards and an apartment complex with no other businesses around. Photographed Friday, April 24, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n
But even Ali Nekumanesh had initial reservations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I wasn\u2019t too high on the location,\u201d Nekumanesh said. \u201cWhen we bought the land, the building there wasn\u2019t really even a building. It was a skeleton. The boards were up. Nothing else was done. The person who had it (previously) wanted to do a convenience store.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife (Debbie), though, she was high on the spot. It was at the corner of a traffic light. Close to Fresno State, and Fresno State\u2019s (campus) wasn\u2019t going anywhere. And there was no way other businesses could come around and hide our restaurant. It became a great spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colorado Grill’s location at Willow and Barstow avenues, center, is uniquely isolated, caught between a freeway, orchards and an apartment complex with no other businesses around. Photographed Friday, April 24, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Keys to success<\/p>\n
Among Colorado Grill\u2019s keys to success has been first off, cooking a good burger. Colorado Grill, whose original location is in Fresno near Blackstone and Herndon avenues, has been recognized multiple times for having the best burger in the Valley by the California Restaurant Association Fresno Chapter, most recently in 2023.<\/p>\n
But Colorado Grill also has tried to stay true to its roots of being a fast-casual restaurant that strives to provide good customer service and an appealing in-dine atmosphere with its 1950s-themed interior.<\/p>\n
The interior of Colorado Grill at Willow and Barstow avenues is seen Friday, April 24, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n
Nekumanesh has long argued that his restaurants serve \u201cgourmet\u201d food with \u201cquick service.\u201d<\/p>\n
It helps to maintain a loyal customer base.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt almost feels like the customers feel a sense of ownership here,\u201d said district manager Quawhan Phillips. \u201cOur employees take pride in working here. The customers take pride in being a loyal customer here.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I wear my Colorado Grill shirt out in public, you don\u2019t know how many people come up to me and tell me \u2018Man, that\u2019s my favorite burger place.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n
Origin story<\/p>\n
Colorado Grill was originally created in 1998 after Nekumanesh decided after five years that he no longer wanted to be a franchise operator of a Fat Burger but the owner of his own burger restaurant.<\/p>\n
Immediate success led to Colorado Grill exploring expansion ideas. Customer feedback led to Nekumanesh looking for a second location to be opened in the Clovis area.<\/p>\n
Colorado Grill founder Ali Nekumanesh greets customers at the Willow and Barstow avenue location, Friday, April 24, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n
Nekumanesh once forecasted that building the Colorado Grill restaurant at its spot in Clovis would beat the eventual trend of farmland becoming commercial real estate.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s yet to happen, with the adjacent farmland owned by Fresno State. Retail development in the area ended up getting built just to the southwest at Campus Pointe.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, Nekumanesh said he\u2019s been plenty happy with business at the Clovis Colorado Grill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt didn\u2019t start as a struggling endeavor as some businesses do,\u201d Nekumanesh said.<\/p>\n
Colorado Grill eventually opened a third location, in northwest Fresno, before that restaurant was renamed Wagyu 2 Go Burgers.<\/p>\n
Colorado Grill also operates a food truck.<\/p>\n
Colorado Grill never became a national chain like a McDonald as Nekumanesh once envisioned when he first opened his own burger restaurant.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s OK, Nekumanesh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that if we make a promise to the consuming public that we\u2019re going to serve a premium, fresh burger … that\u2019s not going to change,\u201d Nekumanesh said. \u201cWe\u2019re a small mom-and-pop family restaurant who cares about their customers and their experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s been the genius behind it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colorado Grill’s location at Willow and Barstow avenues is uniquely isolated, caught between a freeway, orchards and an apartment complex with no other businesses around. Photographed Friday, April 24, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Colorado Grill original owner Ali Nekumanesh, left, with his son, current owner Hossein Nekumanesh, right, at Colorado Grill\u2019s Willow and Barstow avenue location, photographed Friday, April 24, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 1:44 PM.<\/p>\n
Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n
Bryant-Jon Anteola<\/a><\/p>\n The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n
Bryant-Jon Anteola is a multimedia reporter for The Fresno Bee, writing stories and producing videos about sports, news and random topics relatable to those in the Fresno area. He\u2019s won a McClatchy President\u2019s Award and received honorable mention by the Associated Press Sports Editors. He enjoys sports because of the competition, camaraderie and energy, and views sports as a microcosm of society.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just beyond the acres of farmland on Fresno State\u2019s campus and to the north of Highway 168, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-291153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291153","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=291153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}