{"id":453299,"date":"2026-09-04T12:20:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453299\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T12:20:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T12:20:24","slug":"yard-burger-settles-into-new-and-only-blackstone-avenue-location-in-fresno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453299\/","title":{"rendered":"Yard Burger settles into new, and only, Blackstone Avenue location in Fresno"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arut Mkhitaryan is not one to waste time when something doesn’t work.<\/p>\n

One of his restaurants, Yard Burger<\/a>, opened its first Fresno location in May, at 4434 W. Shaw Ave.<\/p>\n

In June, it opened a second location at 6031 N. Blackstone Ave., also in Fresno. This location was sandwiched between car dealerships and hobbyist spaces, thrift shops and medical supply stores, and has outdoor seating in addition to a small indoor space.<\/p>\n

By the beginning of August, the first Yard Burger location had already closed.<\/p>\n

“All of the customers from that location came here,” Mkhitaryan said, in an interview at the Blackstone location.<\/p>\n

Mkhitaryan, who has been in the restaurant industry for more than 40 years, has forgotten how many businesses he’s owned through the decades, but he’s opened and sold several places that long-time Fresno residents might be familiar with, including Baklava House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the West Shaw location alone, he’s had multiple restaurants: Before it was Yard Burger, it was a Cheesy Bread House<\/a> and a Harry’s Hen House.<\/p>\n

\"Arut<\/p>\n

Arut Mkhitaryan, center left, stands next to branch manager Karine Sahakyan, center right, surrounded by staff at Cheesy Bread House, located in the Costco shopping area on West Shaw Avenue. Photographed Friday, June 23, 2023.<\/p>\n

Yard Burger serves burgers with unusual sides: While people can order French fries, macaroni and cheese and rice are also sides. The menu includes burgers with brisket, chicken burgers and a burger bowl, which has French fries, macaroni and cheese and a cut-up hamburger patty on top, and even an Oklahoma Onion Smash Burger, even though Mkhitaryan prefers traditionally-cooked burgers.<\/p>\n

“When you’re biting (a smash burger), you’re feeling nothing,” Mkhitaryan said. “You’re not feeling the meat. You’re feeling the sauce and the bun.”<\/p>\n

Despite closing the first Yard Burger, Mkhitaryan wants additional restaurants, and he’s looking for the best places to build them.<\/p>\n

“In Fresno, I have a plan to open a minimum of three, and in Clovis I want to open one,” Mkhitaryan said.<\/p>\n

Those plans stand in spite of the fact that Mkhitaryan doesn’t see himself in Fresno for very much longer. He came to Fresno from Los Angeles to raise his five kids, four daughters and a son, and still lives here with his wife.<\/p>\n

He now has grandkids, but seeing them and his children on a regular basis isn’t as easy as it could be.<\/p>\n

“Everybody got married and went back to Los Angeles,” Mkhitaryan said. “Every day they’re calling me.”<\/p>\n

Mkhitaryan is sub-leasing out the West Shaw location where the first Yard Burger was. In its place, a new London Fish & Chips opened Sept. 1, and Mkhitaryan is not connected with the new business.<\/p>\n

Instead, that’s the second location of the Modesto-based restaurant. The owners did not respond to requests for comment from The Fresno Bee.<\/p>\n

\"London<\/p>\n

London Fish & Chips, which opened on Sept. 1, 2026, is the latest in a string of restaurants at 4434 W. Shaw Ave. in Fresno.<\/p>\n