{"id":346614,"date":"2026-06-04T15:41:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/346614\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:41:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:41:22","slug":"former-wendys-and-kfc-now-locally-owned-fresno-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/346614\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Wendy\u2019s and KFC now locally owned Fresno restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the KFC and Wendy\u2019s on C Street in downtown Fresno closed<\/a>, they left behind a barren scene of boarded-up windows, empty sign posts and chain-link fence.<\/p>\n

But just a few months later, the side-by-side restaurants are already home to new locally owned eateries with fresh paint and new signs.<\/p>\n

The Wendy\u2019s is leased by Aliberto\u2019s Jr Mexican Food that\u2019s now open.<\/p>\n

And a new owner bought the KFC property, which will soon open as a Smashville Burgers & Chicken restaurant.<\/p>\n

\"Smashville Smashville Burgers & Chicken will be opening in the former KFC on C Street near Fresno Street in downtown Fresno, photographed June 3, 2026. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com What is Smashville?<\/p>\n

Smashville owner Ahmed Nabill and his family also own several other businesses nearby, in the Foodmaxx shopping center just across Fresno Street. That includes two clothing stores, ice cream shop Creamy Delight and the Manhattan Deli.<\/p>\n

Because of that, Nabill said he knows what the area wants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that neighborhood,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the big companies are leaving and no big companies want to come down here.\u201d<\/p>\n

His uncle bought the KFC building, and they kept it running as Kentucky Fried Chicken for a while before closing it for renovations for Smashville.<\/p>\n

Work is finishing up and soon as Smashville gets city approval to open, it will. He\u2019s aiming for mid-June or early July.<\/p>\n

Smashville is a concept that Nabill came up with that combines smashburgers and Nashville hot chicken \u2014 hence Smashville.<\/p>\n

Expect the menu to feature a Western burger, for example, with a thin smashed patty, bacon and onion rings served on a potato bun.<\/p>\n

The Nashville chicken is crunchy and also served on potato buns, he said.<\/p>\n

There will be sides such as mac \u2018n\u2019 cheese and soft-serve ice cream.<\/p>\n

Smashville will use the drive-thru.<\/p>\n

If all goes well, Nabill hopes to open more Smashville locations.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be hopefully a hit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Aliberto's Aliberto’s Jr. Mexican Food has opened in the former Wendy’s on C Street near Fresno Street in downtown Fresno, photographed June 3, 2026. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Aliberto\u2019s Jr<\/p>\n

Aliberto\u2019s is already open, leasing the former Wendy\u2019s.<\/p>\n

It will celebrate its grand opening June 12, with discounts all day.<\/p>\n

Aliberto\u2019s is a franchise with local owners. It\u2019s the second Aliberto\u2019s in Fresno to open. The first is at Dakota and West avenues in a former KFC and run by different owners.<\/p>\n

Other Aliberto\u2019s franchises are open throughout California and in Washington and Texas.<\/p>\n

The menu features tacos, breakfast burritos, tortas and aguas frescas.<\/p>\n

But its top-selling items?<\/p>\n

The loaded fries. There are several kinds available from buffalo chicken fries with beans, guacamole, sour cream and cheese for $15.45. You can get the same toppings on Hot Cheetos. There\u2019s also a vegetarian version of loaded fries called \u201csuper fries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s drive-thru will be open 24 hours a day Mondays through Saturdays, though it will close for a short time Sundays into Monday mornings.<\/p>\n

\"Crazy Crazy Fries from Aliberto’s Jr. Mexican Food, photographed June 3, 2026. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"Smashville Smashville Burgers & Chicken, still under construction, will be opening in the former KFC on C Street near Fresno Street in downtown Fresno. Photographed June 3, 2026. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"The The Wendy’s, foreground, and adjacent KFC on C Street just south of Fresno Street are closed, seen Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


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

Bethany Clough<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers\u2019 questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the KFC and Wendy\u2019s on C Street in downtown Fresno closed, they left behind a barren scene…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-346614","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\/346614","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=346614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}