Eight new restaurants open in Fresno with Mexican-Indian food, smashburgers, more

Do trendy foods appeal to you? Say, Korean corn dogs, or tacos with Indian butter chicken filling?

Or maybe you stick to the familiar foods, such as beef kebabs and bagels?

Either way, at least eight new restaurants have opened in recent weeks serving all kinds of cuisines from around the world. The restaurants include big chains and locally owned mom-and-pop businesses.

Many of them opened while we were scarfing down tamales or exchanging gifts over the holidays. Now that life has settled down a bit, let’s take a look at some eateries whose openings may have been overshadowed by the busy season.

Einstein Bros Bagels

The national bagel chain opened its first Fresno location in December. Near Friant Road and Highway 41, it’s a few doors down from Dave & Buster’s.

Einstein Bros sells classic bagels and fancy ones, including chocolate chip and French toast bagels. There are also bagels with toppings baked in, such as cheesy hash browns, and cheddar and jalapeños.

Breakfast and lunch sandwiches are available, too.

This is one of six locations the company is planning in the Fresno area. The next will likely be at 6893 Golden State Boulevard, just off Highway 99 and Herndon Avenue.

Details: Einstein Bros Bagels is at 228 E. River Park Circle. Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily. 559-554-2013.

Hammy’s Smash Burgers

Hammy’s blazed a trail of thin and crispy smashburgers in the Fresno area after opening its first location on West Shaw Avenue in 2022.

Last week, The Bee exclusively told you about Hammy’s second location opening — its first in Clovis — near Shaw and Peach avenues.

The locally owned restaurant by Hamzah “Hammy” Ahmed has a menu similar to its original featuring the thin patties. They’re available doubled or tripled up with toppings such as cheese, grilled onions, jalapeños, bacon and onion rings.

Bacon-cheese fries and other sides are also available.

Details: 393 W. Shaw Ave., Clovis. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Kabab Time

Kabab Time is a new Mediterranean restaurant in northwest Fresno next to Starbucks — but it’s not your average Middle Eastern spot. Kabab Time sells customizable plates for $15 each, says owner Hafed Alwajih.

“It’s something new,” he said. “We do it like Chipotle or Subway.”

Customers pick their base (rice or salad), then their protein (spicy chicken, beef kebabs, shrimp, etc.) and toppings.

They originally planned to do bowls, but the food wouldn’t fit, so they switched to bigger plates.

Sandwiches, wraps, hummus and baklava are also available.

The restaurant’s owners have plenty of experience in the industry. One is also the owner of Zaytoona, a popular Mediterranean restaurant in Hanford, and another owns several Foster’s Freeze locations in Fresno.

The restaurant is near Herndon and Milburn avenues, in the spot once occupied by Yosemite Deli and Deli Delicious.

Details: Kabab Time is at 6701 N. Milburn, suite 120. Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. 559-209-7981.

Main Street Burgers

In January, an exclusive story in the Bee shared how national chain Wayback Burgers closed its only location in Fresno, and a family-run local restaurant opened in the spot selling its own spin on burgers.

Main Street Burgers opened in northwest Fresno at the Marketplace at El Paseo, the shopping center near Highway 99 and Herndon Avenue.

It has a simple menu with just four types of burgers, served open faced so they’re worthy of Instagram photos, the owners note. Fries and onion rings are also on the menu.

Details: Main Street Burger is at 6493 N. Riverside Drive. Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. 559-515-6388.

Nambo

This Vietnamese restaurant opened late last year in a strip mall near Food 4 Less at Chestnut and Shepherd avenues.

Nambo, in a newly remodeled space, features what it calls modern Vietnamese food.

That includes several rice and noodle dishes, such as vermicelli bowls (rice noodles topped with chicken, pork and veggies).

It also serves four kinds of pho, the classic Vietnamese soup.

For a lighter option, the Vietnamese sandwiches on French bread, banh mi, are available starting at $9.

Details: Nambo is at 8967 N. Chestnut Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. 559-940-7334.

Two Hands Fresh Corn Dogs

The Korean corn dog trend has hit Clovis with the opening of Two Hands Fresh Corn Dogs in one of the outdoor spaces at Sierra Vista Mall.

These aren’t your typical county-fair corn dogs. Instead, they are Korean style, often called K-dogs, dipped in rice flour batter and rolled in all sorts of toppings.

The dog inside the batter can be made of beef or a mozzarella cheese stick — or half and half. A vegan dog is available, too.

Toppings include crispy potato cubes, Nashville-style hot seasoning or bean powder with sweet sauce.

There’s other options on the menu too, including kimchi-seasoned fries and boba tea.

Details: 1220 Shaw Ave., Clovis. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. 559-767-4037.

Smash’N Burgers

Joining the smashburger trend is Smash’N Burgers at Shields Avenue and First Street, a few doors down from Foods Co.

This new, locally owned restaurant opened in mid-January doing mostly takeout.

It has a pastrami burger, burgers with triple patties, and all sorts of combos.

Pastrami cheese fries are on the menu, too. It also sells ice cream.

Details: Smash’N Burgers is at 3085 E. Shields Ave. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Taco Twist

Taco Twist opened a few months ago next to Pizza Twist at Marks and Shaw avenues.

The businesses share a dining room. Pizza Twist is a restaurant that serves American pizza and pizza with Indian toppings (it used to be named Chicago’s Pizza With A Twist). The new Taco Twist — a sister business to the franchise — blends Mexican and Indian food.

So you’ll find tacos made with Indian naan bread. Or tacos made with corn or flour tortillas holding butter chicken.

Various proteins prepared Indian style are available, including fish. But there’s no beef because many Hindus don’t eat it, Padda noted.

“Indian people, they love goat, so we have that on tacos and burritos,” said owner Tejinder “Teji” Padda.

Another popular seller is the tawa noodles burger. Tawa is a reference to an iron plate or pan used to cook the dish. The burger comes with a chicken or vegetarian patty and is piled high with noodles.

Taco Twist has several other locations across California. This one has part of a tuk tuk (essentially a motorized a rickshaw) in the dining room, with the words “Fresno to Mexico nonstop” painted on the front.

Details: Taco Twist is at 3050 W. Shaw Ave. #106. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. 559-500-5055.