If it seems like restaurants have changed drastically since these restaurants were around, it\u2019s because they have, said Bob Farrar, the owner of the Refectory at Blackstone and Shaw avenues, who spent a lifetime in the restaurant world.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s the normal business cycle of life,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery 20 years things change and it certainly does in the food business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Restaurants Fresno misses the most The former Outpost restaurant in southeast Fresno, Calif. For long time Fresnans, the Outpost will be remembered long and fondly as a good neighborhood steak house. RICHARD DARBY The Fresno Bee The Outpost<\/p>\n
The Outpost was at Olive and Chestnut avenues and once described as a \u201ccozy 1950s roadhouse.\u201d Its heyday was in the 1960s to the 1980s, when its signature clam chowder was a customer favorite, according to retired Bee columnist Paula Lloyd.<\/p>\n
With the Sunnyside area still mostly undeveloped, the Outpost was a destination restaurant, Farrar said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a wealthy area with big homes,\u201d he said. \u201cThey were the restaurant to go to.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1994, a Learjet crashed on Olive, narrowly missing the Outpost. Two men on board were killed and several people on the ground were injured.<\/p>\n
Estrada\u2019s Spanish Kitchen ![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1788066129_538_FRS_estradas-thenandnow.JPG\" "\\"FRS_estradas-thenandnow.JPG\\"")
An archive photo shows Estrada’s Spanish Kitchen which used to be at this location on North Blackstone Avenue at Grant Avenue near downtown Fresno. The building is now Saiz Construction & Development, which buys and manages\/rents houses and does construction. Estrada’s was there from 1928 to 1997. It was hugely popular. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n
Estrada\u2019s Spanish Kitchen had an eight-decade history in Fresno, nearly all of it on Blackstone Avenue, south of Belmont Avenue.<\/p>\n
The two-story house \u2014 with family members living upstairs \u2014 was famous for its \u201chot salad,\u201d also known as the tostada compuesta.<\/p>\n
Estrada\u2019s served early California cuisine, which explained the Italian macaroni on the menu, alongside the margaritas. The Bee profiled the restaurant and its building, now home to a construction company<\/a>, earlier this month.<\/p>\n It closed in 1997, though you can still buy a cookbook with its recipes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nicola\u2019s The restaurant on Maroa Avenue, just south of Shields Avenue, closed in 1997 after 25 years<\/p>\n It was best known for its stuffed steak. The 16-ounce New York steak was stuffed with Italian ham, provolone cheese and mushrooms saut\u00e9ed in pasta sauce.<\/p>\n At one point, it accounted for one-third of Nicola\u2019s business, Bee food writer Joan Obra wrote when owner Nicola \u201cNick\u201d Troiani died in 2005. The restaurant closed in 1997.<\/p>\n Old Fresno Hofbrau The Old Fresno Hofbrau at Tulare and R Streets was a Fresno icon. It had a dark wood interior, stations where turkey and roast beef were hand-carved for customers for sandwiches, and guests dating back to William Saroyan.<\/p>\n The owners closed it in 2007, after learning it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring it up to code after they were sued for failing to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to Bee archives. The hofbrau got its start in the 1940s across from the Greyhound bus depot before moving to the Tulare Street site in 1964.<\/p>\n The building was torn down.<\/p>\n The Refectory This restaurant and bar with more than 300 live plants operated near the southeast corner of Blackstone and Shaw avenues, next door to Bob\u2019s Big Boy.<\/p>\n One of 22 in the chain, it served prime meats and high-end seafood. Farrar owned it from 1967 to 1988.<\/p>\n \u201cWe bought more liquor than anyone else except the Peppermill,\u201d he said his liquor supplier told him once.<\/p>\n The Refectory employed \u201cgood-looking, nice college guys and gals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a marketing tactic I took,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was the draw, to have a pleasant server who actually cared about you.\u201d<\/p>\n The Refectory burned down in 1988. It was replaced with several buildings that included a Barnes & Noble before it moved north and an electronics store.<\/p>\n Silver Dollar Hofbrau For more than three decades, the Silver Dollar Hofbrau on Shaw Avenue near Highway 41 served up corned beef and tri-tip sandwiches.<\/p>\n Big basketball and football games would pack people eight deep at the bar and use up every glass the hofbrau had, owner Truman F. Campbell told The Bee in 2015.<\/p>\n Like the downtown hofbrau, it had that old-school feel with elaborate woodwork, circular booths and a dark atmosphere.<\/p>\n It closed 11 years ago and is now home to Hustler Hollywood.<\/p>\n Grandmarie\u2019s Chicken Pie Shop Grandmarie\u2019s Chicken Pie Shop on Olive Avenue closed in 2019 and has been empty ever since.<\/p>\n Known for its chicken pot pies and green vinyl seating, it was a Tower District classic.<\/p>\n It closed when the then 72-year-old owner wanted to retire and spend more time with his grandchildren.<\/p>\n Plans called for it to become a music venue and a cannabis shop, but neither have come to fruition.<\/p>\n The Daily Planet After 25 years of serving pot roast and Stockholm Royale cocktails next door to Tower Theatre, the Daily Planet closed in 2005.<\/p>\n Owner Hannah Benson was a pioneer who jumpstarted the Tower District into what it is today with her restaurant.<\/p>\n The Daily Planet\u2019s art deco look, velvety seating, and the mural of the naked ladies above the bar were the backdrop for so many memories.<\/p>\n The Ripe Tomato The Ripe Tomato \u2014 with its intimate setting, tabletop lamps and upholstered banquet seating \u2014 was the opposite of the loud restaurants that are trendy today.<\/p>\n Rudy Liebl studied in Paris before opening his restaurant in Fig Garden Village in 1977.<\/p>\n Often voted most romantic restaurant, it closed in 2014.<\/p>\n The restaurant specialized in French cuisine. Customers still talk about his Chantilly pie, made with black walnuts, a graham cracker crust and whipped egg whites.<\/p>\n Liebl died a few years go.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a fabulous wonderful person, human being, amazing chef and a good friend of mine,\u201d said Pat LaRocca, owner of Five Restaurant.<\/p>\n Sweet Tomatoes Fresno loved Sweet Tomatoes like only this buffet-loving city could. It once had two locations: one on West Shaw Avenue, where Texas Roadhouse is now, and another on Fresno Street near Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. The second location has been turned into offices<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fans were devastated when the last location closed in 2020 when the parent company filed for bankruptcy and closed all 97 locations of its restaurants nationwide.<\/p>\n Some Sweet Tomatoes diehards bought the rights to the brand and have since reopened two locations \u2014 in Tucson, Arizona, and Fort Myers, Florida.<\/p>\n The company says is open to new locations, but after a hubbub about it possibly returning to Fresno earlier this summer, shared only its typical boilerplate statement with The Bee about how it has not publicly committed to any new markets<\/a>.<\/p>\n This story was originally published August 29, 2026 at 8:07 AM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n Nicola\u2019s was a restaurant at Shields and Maroa avenues known for its stuffed steak. BRIAN VAWTER The Fresno Bee <\/p>\n
The Old Fresno Hofbrau restaurant is still fondly remembered by Fresnans. It closed and was torn down in 2007. A Grocery Outlet now stands on the site on Tulare Street in downtown Fresno. MARK CROSSE The Fresno Bee <\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Refectorysign.jpg\" "\\"Refectorysign.jpg\\"")
The Refectory was a popular historical fine-dining restaurant in Fresno at the corner of Shaw and Blackstone avenues. BOB FARRAR Special to The Bee <\/p>\n![\"hofbrau\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/6uoAq.So.8.jpeg\" "\\"6uoAq.So.8.jpeg\\"")
Customers dine during lunch at the Silver Dollar Hofbrau in January 2014. THE FRESNO BEE <\/p>\n![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/JRWCHICKENPIESHOP1.jpeg\" "\\"JRWCHICKENPIESHOP1\\"")
Fans of The Chicken Pie Shop, visit the Tower District iconic restaurant a few days before it closed in 2019. It was open in the same location since 1956, and next door for 10 years prior to that. JOHN WALKER The Fresno Bee <\/p>\n The Daily Planet restaurant near the historic Tower Theater, left a hole in the restaurant scene when it closed in 2005. SCOTT ANGER The Fresno Bee <\/p>\n
Rudy Liebl, owner of The Ripe Tomato in Fig Garden Village, is pictured in 2002. CHRISTIAN PARLEY The Fresno Bee <\/p>\n
![\"Sweet](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FRS_EPZ_WISHLIST_ST.jpeg\" "\\"FRS_EPZ_WISHLIST_ST\\"")
Sweet Tomatoes is one of several businesses Fresnans would like to see return to Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n
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