A crowd celebrates the ribbon cutting of Toledo's newest Fresno location in July 2025. Photo via Toledo's Facebook page

The Fresno Chapter of the California Restaurant Association will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Sam Toledo at the 2026 Best of the Valley Restaurant Awards in March.

The event will also honor Hall of Fame inductees Bob Farrar, Frank Paolilli and Virginia Paolilli.

Toledo opened his namesake restaurant in Fresno in 1991, and currently operates three Toledo’s Mexican Restaurant locations in Fresno. He began working professionally in restaurants not long after traveling alone from Mexico to the United States at age 14, reported The Fresno Bee.

Three generations of Toledos now work in the family restaurant business.

Hall of Fame inductee Farrar works as a Realtor, according to his LinkedIn page, and is also a former multi-unit restaurant operator of more than 28 branded restaurant concepts. He also designed more than 300 commercial kitchens and is a former director of food services at Fresno State.

Frank and Virginia Paolilli opened Ovidio’s Ristorante Italiano in Fresno in 1979. Virginia comes from the restaurant family behind DiCicco’s, where Frank worked at the First Street and Shaw Avenue location after immigrating from Italy. 

Their son Rocco Paolilli owns and operates Ovidio’s, which recently celebrated its 45th anniversary.

For more than 30 years, the Best of the Valley Restaurant Awards has showcased the region’s dining scene by recognizing outstanding restaurants in various categories, according to a news release. Nominations for the 2026 awards, selected by fellow restaurateurs and the dining community, opened on Jan. 1.

The 2026 Best of the Valley Restaurant Awards are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, at Table Mountain Casino Resort. Tickets are available to the public.