{"id":313277,"date":"2026-05-13T07:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/313277\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T07:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:01:13","slug":"teriyaki-time-opens-fast-casual-spot-in-clovis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/313277\/","title":{"rendered":"Teriyaki Time opens fast casual spot in Clovis"},"content":{"rendered":"

If young children are the most honest and blunt critics, then a new Asian fusion restaurant in Clovis already has passed one of the most challenging taste tests.<\/p>\n

Soon enough, customers might feel the same way.<\/p>\n

Teriyaki Time, a fast-casual restaurant, opened last week at the corner of Clovis and Shaw avenues, next to the Planet Fitness gym. A grand opening is roughly a month out.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is already receiving rave reviews for its dishes. Its platters of teriyaki chicken, perhaps as expected, and fried chicken have been drawing praise from children and adults for their flavors and textures.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son tells me all the time: \u2018This is making my stomach really happy,\u2019\u201c said owner Mai Thao, whose son is 7 years old. \u201cIt\u2019s really important for us to ensure that every bite that you take is really good and makes you happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mai Mai Thao introduces us to her and her partner’s new fast-casual restaurant teriyaki Time, serving teriyaki dishes, sides and drinks. Photographed Thursday, May 7, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

Thao and her team ate at various Asian restaurants throughout the Fresno area to gauge what they liked about each establishment and especially evaluate the teriyaki chicken.<\/p>\n

When they came back, Thao and her team came up with an approach that they believed would stand out from others.<\/p>\n

At Terikayi Time, their teriyaki chicken is marinated 48 hours in advance to ensure flavorful bites even without someone adding any sauce.<\/p>\n

The fried chicken is lightly battered to provide a fluffy but also crispy texture rather than an overwhelming crunch in which the taste of the chicken is almost hidden.<\/p>\n

\"The The Crispy Fried Chicken teriyaki entree with rice and fresh vegetables, available at Mai Thao’s new Teriyaki Time fast-casual restaurant, newly opened on the southwest corner of Shaw Avenue at Clovis Avenue. Photographed Thursday, May 7, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a beef teriyaki dish, orange chicken, teriyaki shrimp and tofu teriyaki, along with six appetizer options such as potstickers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put a lot of effort into this,\u201d Thao said. \u201cYou\u2019ll see that it\u2019s very different from any other place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do skillet. We don\u2019t do pan (fried). It\u2019s actually fire grilled. That really makes a big difference. We make it how we\u2019d want to eat it at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The The Chicken Teriyaki entree with noodles and fresh vegetables, available at Mai Thao’s new Teriyaki Time fast-casual restaurant, newly opened on the southwest corner of Shaw Avenue at Clovis Avenue. Photographed Thursday, May 7, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

In addition, the sauces at Teriyaki Time are homemade, from the ones that go in the marinades to the ones that go on the side or used as salad dressings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make everything from scratch,\u201d Thao said. \u201cIn doing that, it comes with a lot of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past 10-plus years, Teriyaki Time operated as a pop-up, food tent and food trailer for special events around town, including the Hmong New Year celebration.<\/p>\n

\"Beef Beef is stir fried at Mai Thao’s new fast-casual restaurant Thursday, May 7, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

After feedback from customers to open a restaurant, as well as Thao\u2019s desire to remain in one central location, she decided it was time to open a brick and mortar.<\/p>\n

She also liked the concept that eating from food trucks provided, with customers essentially getting their food to go and enjoying it elsewhere. So rather than a full-service restaurant, Thao elected to maintain a fast-casual approach.<\/p>\n

\"Customers Customers order at Teriyaki Time, a new fast-casual restaurant at Shaw and Clovis avenues. Photographed Thursday, May 7, 2026 in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to make our food as homemade as possible and get people in and out of here as fast as possible, too,\u201d Thao said. \u201cWe want to make sure (you) make the most of your 30-minute lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terikayi Time is open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., though it does close at 7 p.m. on Sundays.<\/p>\n

Thao believes her restaurant is unique to Clovis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love the city,\u201d Thao said. \u201cWe love the small town feel. For us, it felt like there was a need to open one here.<\/p>\n

\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Firecracker Firecracker Potstickers with chili sauce served at Mai Thao’s new Teriyaki Time on Shaw Avenue near Clovis Avenue in Clovis. Photographed Thursday, May 7, 2026. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 11:52 AM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/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":"If young children are the most honest and blunt critics, then a new Asian fusion restaurant in Clovis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-313277","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\/313277","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=313277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}