The former Joe's Steakhouse location at 831 Van Ness Ave. Photo via Stumpf and Co. website.

The owners of Joe’s Steakhouse are listing their business for sale, offering a “turnkey” restaurant in Downtown Fresno.

While the Anaya family — who opened the restaurant in 2005 — will retain ownership of building at 831 Van Ness Ave., the restaurant comes with all the equipment necessary to run a sit-down restaurant, says Ron Stumpf, president of Stumpf and Co., who is listing the business for sale.

The $95,000 price tag comes with a dining room that can seat 70 people and a banquet room that can seat 73. It also includes a beer and wine license as well as a catering license. It also has outdoor seating in the back. Total square footage equals 4,511 square feet. Monthly rent would be $5,000.

Stumpf said a restaurant could spend upwards of $800,000 and eight to nine months purchasing and installing the kitchen equipment at the restaurant.

“You’re not just buying a turn-key restaurant, you’re also taking advantage of a highly-visible location,” said Veronica Stumpf, real estate broker.

Purchasers of the building have to option to continue the Joe’s Steakhouse name, but the kitchen is also outfitted to handle any kind of cuisine, Veronica said. The restaurant’s location next to the Spiral Parking Garage is one block away from the Brewery District on Fulton Street and a couple blocks away from the Fresno Convention Center.

“Because of the size of this restaurant, it’s going to take a buyer who is heavily invested in Downtown and can see the potential in this restaurant,” Veronica said. “It’s not just a business than can be open for two or three hours during lunch time. It really needs to take advantage of the growing late-night entertainment that’s nearby.”

Joe and Maribel Anaya opened Joe’s Steakhouse in 2005. The building originally opened as Sambo’s in the 1960s. The Sambo’s name was associated with a racially-insensitive literary character. The chain then filed for bankruptcy in 1982 after a number of lawsuits.

While the Anayas operated it, it was popular for the dinner crowd following shows at the Saroyan Theater and Fresno Convention Center.
Ron said he enjoyed the wine-pairings offered at the restaurant.

The owners of Joe’s decided not to reopen after the pandemic shut restaurants down. They announced on Facebook they would continue to offer catering.

Veronica said the family started the business with the intent to sell after a couple years once the business was established. Fifteen years later, the pandemic hit.

“They decided like everyone else maybe now was a good time to reevaluate and pass on that baton to someone else,” Veronica said.