Hawaiian-style dancers celebrate the opening of the new Ono Hawaiian BBQ in Fresno Friday. Photo by Ben Hensley

Ono Hawaiian BBQ opened its third Fresno location Friday at the corner of Shaw and Brawley avenues, offering free food, shirts, tote bags and pins at a ribbon cutting.

The restaurant took over the space formerly occupied by Del Taco in similar fashion to their second location, which also now occupies a former Del Taco location on Kings Canyon Road.

Ono Hawaiian BBQ opened its first location 20 years ago, offering guests its version of Hawaiian and island specialties.

Since its debut in Santa Monica, the latest Fresno restaurant is the 101st location between California and Arizona. The company owns 11 stores in Arizona with the remainder of their locations in California.

All Ono locations are corporate owned, said store manager Nathan Qu.

The new Ono location also joins their restaurant on Kings Canyon with a drive-thru.

 

13 Prime

Improvements, renovation and expansion will be coming to 13 Prime in Clovis, confirmed Chief Financial Officer Falina Marihart.

According to Marihart, the restaurant will occupy the space formerly home to House of Pendragon, which closed in the summer.

The restaurant hopes to unveil its new dining room, an additional 872 square feet of space, in December.

Marihart added this is the initial phase of a two-phase project that aims to be fully completed by Valentine’s Day 2023.

The additional dining room will replace the existing private dining room, which will be transitioned into kitchen space in phase two.

Named the “Chandelier Room,” the new dining space aims to attract private parties, business events and additional seating space on weekends.

“The Chandelier Room is a different dining experience with white linen tables, higher end seating, crystal light fixtures and modern all textures and colors,” Marihart said. “The room will have its own vibe with softer music and lower volume compared to the main dining room.”

Denny’s Reedley

Reedley will welcome its first Denny’s location soon, with permits being filed with the city planning department last month.

The building permit for improvements for the new location was issued Oct. 17.

The restaurant’s future home was previously occupied by Manning Chinese Buffet. The 5,100 square-foot building is located at 955 E. Manning Ave. in the same shopping center as Ace Hardware and Auto Zone.

Currently, the closest Denny’s is in Selma.

An official opening date has yet to be announced.

Houston’s Hot Chicken

The Park Crossing Shopping Center at Fresno Street and Friant Road will be home to a new chicken restaurant in early December.

The Houston’s Hot Chicken chain, according to the website, will see its number of locations double by spring 2023, with six additional openings in Fresno, Las Vegas and San Diego in the coming months.

“Our mission is to serve the freshest and healthiest Texas Hot Chicken sandwiches in the world,” the website states, along with a link for job opportunities.

Menu items range from hot chicken sandwiches to salads and loaded french fries. They also offer milkshakes, sides and party packages.

Despite having “hot” in their name, sauce options can be customized, from no spice and honey butter, all the way to “liftoff” and “Houston we have a problem,” which requires a signed waiver to order.

Attempts to contact Houston’s Hot Chicken were not successful.

The up-and-coming chain was ranked a Top Place to Eat in Vegas in 2021 by Yelp.