{"id":419134,"date":"2026-07-31T06:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/419134\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T06:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:36:22","slug":"clovis-eatery-pivots-from-buffet-to-upscale-menu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/419134\/","title":{"rendered":"Clovis eatery pivots from buffet to upscale menu"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Dosan A Social Eatery ran a buffet with a Sweet Tomatoes-style salad and hot bar on Shaw.The restaurant closed for a month in February, removed the salad bar and added a new menu.The limited made-to-order menu features a 14-oz rib-eye, $20 French dip and salads.<\/p>\n

Clovis wanted a Sweet Tomatoes.<\/p>\n

So for four months, a local restaurant on Shaw Avenue \u2014 Dosan Social Eatery \u2014 tried to bring that big salad bar to town<\/a>, along with meat-carving stations reminiscent of Fresno\u2019s old Silver Dollar Hofbrau<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

So the restaurant is changing things up.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s an upscale restaurant with a regular menu, serving steaks, pasta, salads and more.<\/p>\n

It has an \u201cexpress lunch<\/a>\u201d for $11.95 to $13.95.<\/p>\n

It still has a full bar and specialty cocktails, such as a hibiscus margarita.<\/p>\n

But what about Sweet Tomatoes?<\/p>\n

The restaurant, in a big building halfway between Minnewawa and Villa avenues, used to be Elephant Lounge, an upscale Indian restaurant. Then it was a Straw Hat Pizza franchise.<\/p>\n

Both were run by the same person who owns it today.<\/p>\n

\u201cStraw Hat, it wasn\u2019t where my heart was,\u201d said Ranjit Dosanjh.<\/p>\n

So before switching to a new concept, he did a lot of research, asking people what they wanted, what was missing.<\/p>\n

Overwhelmingly, people said they missed Sweet Tomatoes, followed by the stations where workers would carve off hot slices of roast beef or turkey at the Silver Dollar Hofbrau on Shaw near Highway 41.<\/p>\n

And it made sense.<\/p>\n

Fresno and Clovis are obsessed with Sweet Tomatoes, after all. The internet went wild earlier this summer when a local TV station reported that the buffet \u201ccould come back to the area.\u201d The Bee\u2019s reporting burst that bubble<\/a> like an overripe cherry tomato. Sorry.<\/p>\n

But Dosanjh figured he\u2019d give the people what they want.<\/p>\n

The owners installed a 25-foot long salad bar. A hot bar had several kinds of meats, au jus sauce and more.<\/p>\n

The name of the restaurant, Dosan, is a play on his name. It also combines two Indian words to create the English expression of \u201ctwo things coming together.\u201d \u201cDo\u201d means two. \u201cSan\u201d means coming together, an owner told The Bee.<\/p>\n

But the restaurant didn\u2019t take off.<\/p>\n

The buffet cost $25, plus more for drinks.<\/p>\n

It got some good reviews, but it also got quite a few negative reviews criticizing the quality and variety on Yelp.com.<\/p>\n

People seemed to want another Golden Corral or HomeTown Buffet, Dosanjh said. They wanted more fried food.<\/p>\n

They told him: \u201c\u2019You need to add fried chicken. You need to go look at Golden Corral,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not what Dosanjh was about, he said. He couldn\u2019t offer more food without dropping the quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just wasn\u2019t feasible, with today\u2019s market and pricing and produce going extremely up and down, we were having a really difficult time keeping our margins and keeping our quality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So, it was time to pivot.<\/p>\n

The restaurant closed for a month in February. They ripped out the salad bar. Turned it into a lounge area. Added more cushy blue booths. Adjustable lighting at each table.<\/p>\n

Dosanjh went back to running the type of restaurant he used to in the Bay Area before moving to Clovis. He worked with a consultant who had experience working with chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe collaborated and designed a menu, and the response has been phenomenal,\u201d Dosanjh said.<\/p>\n

The menu<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a regular, limited menu. Everything is made to order.<\/p>\n

Top sellers include the 14-ounce rib-eye steak for $39, served with mashed potatoes, a sweet chile risotto and charred chimoy vegetables. The $20 French dip sandwich is another popular choice, made with sliced rib-eye and served with grilled onion and provolone.<\/p>\n

There are saffron potato samosas, a round of warm bread with garlic and white wine butter, a strawberry salad, and a creamy fettucine alfredo.<\/p>\n

Since the change, diner reviews on Google and Yelp.com have been primarily positive (with most of the negative ones coming from people who expected to find a buffet at the restaurant).<\/p>\n

Elite Yelper Jacqueline A. of Clovis left a review<\/a> July 18, after trying the tropical ceviche, the strawberry blush cocktail, and the cinnamon apple bliss dessert.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually hadn\u2019t heard of this place until recently, so it was interesting learning that it originally opened as more of a buffet-style restaurant before transitioning to its current concept. I personally think the change really fits the space and the aesthetic. It feels a little more elevated while still being approachable for a casual lunch, dinner, date night, or group gathering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dosan Dosan A Social Eatery is open along Shaw Avenue between Villa and Minnewawa avenues in Clovis with a new menu. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"A A lounge setting is seen at Dosan A Social Eatery, which recently changed its concept and menu, on Shaw Avenue between Villa and Minnewawa avenues in Clovis. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com \"The The charred, grilled rib-eye is on the menu at the newly revamped Dosan A Social Eatery on Shaw Avenue in Clovis. It\u2019s served with steak butter, sweetcorn and Hatch chile risotto and charred chamoy glazed vegetables. Special to The Bee Dosan \"The The grilled salmon with lemon and herb glaze at Dosan A Social Eatery, served with turmeric basmati rice and charred chamoy glazed vegetables. Special to The Bee Dosan \"Dosan Dosan A Social Eatery on Shaw Avenue in Clovis has a new menu and a new concept. 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":"AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom. Read our AI Policy. Dosan A Social Eatery ran a buffet with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-419134","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\/419134","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=419134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}