From left, Mike Shirinian and Dave Fansler speak to the Fresno Rotary Club on Monday, Sept. 24, 2004. Photo by Gabriel Dillard

Pismo’s is a Fresno institution for diners with an appetite for seafood, but one thing owner Dave Fansler has lost an appetite for is expanding his restaurant’s footprint near the Villaggio Shopping Center.

During a talk with fellow Fresno restaurateur and radio host Mike Shirinian to the Fresno Rotary Club Monday, Fansler shared that a boutique hotel would be a more appropriate use for the nearly 2-acre lot he purchased from the Villaggio owners in 2015. 

“That’s my plan,” Fansler said Monday.

He added that a ground lease to a boutique operator would bring something lacking to the area near San Pablo and Nees avenue.

Fansler had originally planned to develop residential real estate there, later changing course to a new, larger location for Pismo’s. But after COVID-19 and the changes, challenges and regulation that followed, “I’m not going to do that,” he told the meeting of community leaders.

Fansler and Shirinian, owner of The Elbow Room, for the past ten years have hosted a Saturday program and podcast for KMJ 580 AM called “The Restaurateurs.” One of the most recent episodes centered on tipping and taxes, with similar proposals from presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to make the tips paid to servers tax exempt.

Fansler said the proposal sounds simple, but is not sure how it would work in the real world.

“It’s free income,” said Fansler, who also has a CPA license. “I don’t see how that works with the IRS.”

It would also incentivize managers from the tipped side of the ledger to return to serving with the promise of more money, Fansler said.

He said with tips, servers can make upwards of $45 an hour. 

“That’s a hell of a job,” he said.

The price of labor is increasingly barring young people from the workforce as more experienced workers compete for higher-paying jobs, Shirinian noted.

“Young people are missing a key life experience,” Shirinian said. 

When asked what their favorite dishes were at their own restaurant, Fansler said it was the crab cocktail. Shirinian said it was a menu item they most recently brought back called the Steak Sinatra — handmade Casarecce pasta tossed with sautéed New York steak, Portobello mushrooms and more in a bordelaise sauce. 

Fansler said, for its size, Fresno is a very good, cost conscious restaurant market. In fact, he has plans within the next year to open a takeout express area at his Westwoods BBQ & Spice Co. 

“You have to try harder here,” he said.

With pressure from the rising minimum wage and other regulations touching small businesses in California, it’s no surprise so many restaurants have gone bankrupt. More are coming, Fansler said.

“We’re all rowing in the same screwed up boat,” he added. “You want to get into the restaurant business? Good luck. It’s damn hard.”