![\"Work](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/F38AB859-5C45-4AF8-A8CA-8BFC4EB95D36.jpeg\" "\\"Work")
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Work was happening inside of Spokeasy on a Thursday morning in November. A fire closed the craft beer bar two years ago.<\/p>\n
Joshua Tehee<\/p>\n
The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n
In the two years since a fire closed Spokeasy Public House<\/a>, Mike Adame has fielded the same question on an almost daily basis.<\/p>\n Are they going to reopen the Van Ness Avenue beer bar?<\/p>\n It\u2019s to the point, where he almost wants to go with a bit of gaslighting, just to mess with people. \u201cLike, we\u2019ve been open the whole time. What are you talking about?\u201d says Adame, one of Spokeasy\u2019s three owners.<\/p>\n The actual answer is, yes, Spokeasy will reopen.<\/p>\n At some point.<\/p>\n There are signs of progress. Last week, Mirror Coffee teased<\/a> plans to move into the building on Van Ness Avenue, which sits in the Tower District along a strip colloquially known Van Ness Village (and includes Root Access Hackerspace, Sour Milk, Summer Fox Brewery and others).<\/p>\n The pop-up coffee shop has operated inside Moto Delicatessen & Bodega, on weekends, for the last three years. It will take over the space at the south end of the building that had been Jazzy\u2019s Jeans N Things.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the doors were open at that spot, and at Spokeasy, and work was happening inside both.<\/p>\n But even now, Adame doesn\u2019t have a definitive timeline.<\/p>\n \u201cI can tell you, a lot of stuff has been done to the space,\u201d Adame says. That included repairs to the roof, which took a year to get done.<\/p>\n The fire broke out in the back portion of the building and while none of the tenants \u2014 Spokeasy and Jazzy Jeans N Things, plus The Labyrinth Collective \u2014 were open at the time, and no one was injured, the damage displaced all three businesses.<\/p>\n None have reopened.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just been a lot of waiting,\u201d Adame says.<\/p>\n A new Spokeasy Public House<\/p>\n When Spokeasy does reopen, it will still offer the curated selection of craft beers that was part of its profile.<\/p>\n But it will look different.<\/p>\n The far wall was removed, and the bar top extended out. It can accommodate around 30 stools, Adame says. Space in the back room is being set aside to expand the bar\u2019s collection of retro-arcade machines. One of Adame\u2019s jobs at the moment is to find those games. He would love to get his hand on an old Paper Boy console. The patio will likely remain closed.<\/p>\n Spokeasy was opened in 2012, by two self-proclaimed \u201cbike geeks,\u201d and home beer makers who set out to create a laid-back little neighborhood bar. It had a whole history well before Adame came in as an owner. \u201cWhen I started going to Spokeasy, the walls were bright yellow,\u201d Adame says.<\/p>\n Over the years, it took on the aesthetic of its neighborhood and customers, many of whom gifted Spokeasy the homemade art and old bike parts that became part of its decor.<\/p>\n That process of building the space has to start again, Adame says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will start taking on personality once we\u2019re up and running.\u201d<\/p>\n But that too will take time, he says.<\/p>\n This story was originally published November 6, 2026 at 5:18 AM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n