Vibez Lounge occupies the former Tower Sushi location. Photo by Edward Smith.

Restaurants across the Valley are opening, each one serving something unique to make them stand out. The following is but a few of those restaurants.

 

Marie Callender’s

After a year of being shut down, the Marie Callender’s on Shaw and Cedar avenues, across the street from Fresno state, is opening on Friday to kick off the holidays.

The restaurant will be opening, selling bakery items and pies. Following that, Marie Callender’s will reopen for full in-dine service after the new year.

The two Marie Callender’s in Fresno — the Shaw and Cedar avenues location and the Blackstone and Nees avenues locations both closed in August 2019.

Brian Gooch, regional director of operations for Marie Callendar’s said that he is part of a franchise group that decided last month that it would take over the Shaw and Cedar avenues location and open up the bakery and pie sales for the holidays.

Gooch said that the group is planning to reopen multiple locations.

According to Gooch, the community missed Marie Callender’s pies.

“I can’t walk outdoors without somebody asking me about it,” Gooch said. “When I put up the ‘coming soon’ sign people were yelling from their cars ‘how soon?’”

The nearest Marie Callender’s outside of Fresno are in Visalia and Modesto.

Around 18 employees were hired to run operations for the holiday bakery and pie sales.

Customers will be able order on DoorDash on Friday, and also be able to order online, call ahead, or walk in and order a pie.

The restaurant has made some updates and has a new look with more open space and a higher ceiling. They brightened up the floors and repainted, adding a new pastry case and all-marble countertops.

 

Vibez Restaurant & Lounge

A restaurant and bar will be filling the former Tower Sushi space in Fresno’s Tower District.

A beer, wine and liquor license was issued to Vibez Restaurant & Lounge. Final inspections with city and county departments are underway. Architect Ian Robertson with IT Architecture said that provided trends stay the same, the restaurant and bar could be open within a couple weeks.

 

Infini Tea

Business owner Minh Dinh will be bringing Taiwanese-style ice cream to the River View Shopping Center at 9423 N. Fort Washington Road, Ste. 103 in Fresno. Infini Tea specializes in Taiyaki-style ice cream, Taiwanese dessert bowls as well as boba tea, according to Alex Stumpf, broker with Stumpf & Co. Real Estate. Alex Stumpf and Ron Stumpf brokered the deal. Dinh also opened Lime ‘N Basil in the Pavilion West Shopping Center at Bullard and West avenues. Lime ‘N Basil serves pho soup along with tea, coffee and banh mi sandwiches.

 

Dutch Bros.

The popular coffee chain has expanded into Lemoore, Visalia and Sanger. A new location opened in Lemoore Nov. 6, according to Judy Holwell, community development director with the City of Lemoore. The 17,000-square-foot location at the northeast corner of Hanford Armona Road and Lemoore Avenue is in the Gateway Shopping Center. It will have a walk-up window and a drive-thru.

Another Dutch Bros. is being built in Sanger, slated to open in 2021, according to ABC 30.

Visalia will also get a Dutch Bros. on South Mooney Boulevard, according to a lease report from Retail California, a division of Newmark Pearson Commercial. Dutch Bros. declined to comment on the development.

 

Crave Cookie

The creators of the monster cookies you would find on store shelves will be opening up their own drive-thru location at the Marketplace at El Paseo, according to Alex Stumpf, who brokered the deal. They are in the middle of tenant improvements in the former Java Detour location at 6525 N. Riverside Dr., Ste. 101.