Fresno food nostalgia: Tokyo Garden saved by Libelula; Lauck's bierocks; Sweet Tomatoes

For anyone who still remembers the glow of the Tokyo Garden lantern sign on Fulton Street, or who kept a yellowed Bee recipe clipping taped inside a kitchen cupboard, this was your month in Fresno food news.

Longtime places came back. Vanishing ones got a second chance. And the Nextdoor app, of all things, turned into a reunion for people who grew up eating the same soft taco at the Big Fresno Fair.

Here’s the roundup, built for Fresnans who remember.

Libelula is keeping Tokyo Garden’s soul alive

The news that mattered most this month: Libelula is taking over Tokyo Garden, the 1956 Japanese bar and restaurant that sat empty since the pandemic.

Libelula owners Kim “Pinky” Sarabia and chef Ian Cookson were pushed to move by high-speed rail construction swallowing their current block next to the Crest Theatre. They chose Tokyo Garden on Fulton Street — booths with paper screen dividers, tatami rooms, the giant mural above the bar, that iconic neon lantern sign still out front.

“In a time when so much of the past in Fresno gets knocked down or paved over, we couldn’t stand by and let a piece of Fresno’s history disappear,” Cookson said. “We didn’t come here to erase what Tokyo Garden built. We came here to save it.”

Bee reporter Joshua Tehee, who spent countless nights at Tokyo Garden’s bar and on its stage, wrote that the news was a relief. Libelula, he wrote, has “the vibes (and obvious passion for the neighborhood) to carry the mantle.”

Known for its Singapore Slings, live music and karaoke, Tokyo Garden hit hard times in 2017 and closed during the pandemic. The High-Speed Rail Authority is helping Libelula pay for needed changes.

Lauck’s bierocks live on near the fairgrounds

If you remember Lauck’s Bakery — the Armenian bakery George and Molly Lauck ran for 70 years starting in 1938 — you know the bierocks.

Hector Garcia learned to make them as a baker’s assistant at Lauck’s. This year he planned to sell them inside the Big Fresno Fair, where he moved 1,400 a day at the spring Home Show. Then a scam email cost him his vendor spot.

So Garcia set up at Panaderia Torres, 4440 E. Kings Canyon Road, just down the road from the fair. Owner Samantha Hernandez agreed to supply the dough. He’s selling original and jalapeño-cheddar.

“You can’t get any closer to Lauck’s than we are,” Garcia said.

A 1986 Bee taco recipe goes viral on Nextdoor

Jody S. of Fresno posted a photo of her mom Betty’s faded clipping — Fresno Fair Tacos, with mashed potatoes as the secret ingredient — and watched Nextdoor light up. More than 14,000 views, 72 comments. At least 11 other people said they’d kept the exact same clipping.

The recipe first ran in 1986 in the “Katherine Kitchen’s Mailbox” column, submitted by Pat Carmen of Kingsburg after she worked out a copycat version of the fair’s rolled soft taco. Even then, Kitchen wrote, requests poured in for 20 years after each fair.

“I think sometimes people need something refreshing,” Jody S. said.

Today a soft taco at the fair costs $5.

Sweet Tomatoes nostalgia tested — and found wanting

Souplantation, Sweet Tomatoes’ sister chain, is reopening in Fountain Valley in 2027. The Bee asked readers if they’d drive 4.5 hours. Forty-nine percent said no.

One couple didn’t wait. Gwen and Mike Carrigan drove two days to the Tucson, Ariz., Sweet Tomatoes, one of only two left in the country.

Mike’s verdict: smaller soup bowls, no warm sourdough and — the heartbreaker — no little paper cups of flavored whipped butter by the bread. “A good experience,” he said, but not worth the two-day drive again.

Visalia Tahoe Joe’s goes to auction

The Visalia Tahoe Joe’s closed Sept. 21 with no warning. By Sept. 24, the online auction was live — 329 lots, including the 9.4-foot wooden bear statue, a mounted moose head, booths, speakers and that stainless steel pie display case.

Also worth knowing

• Fig Garden Village lost its Starbucks, but La Boulangerie and Uncle Harry’s keep caffeinating the shopping center.
• High-speed rail forced La Tapatia Tortilleria to move its longtime Belmont store to 403 N. H St. Customers are still having trouble finding it.
• The former Oggi Italian restaurant, closed since a 2023 fire, will become Tower Daily Grind, a coffee-and-cocktails spot from Tower Sports Club owner Pete Mejia and former Fresno County homicide chief Deborah Miller.
• Hector Garcia isn’t the only taste of old Fresno hanging on. Sal’s “fancy burrito” still anchors the Northwood Village corner at Alluvial and Fresno, now joined by Rumi Coffee and Dumpling U.

Fresno keeps changing. But this month, more of it stuck around than slipped away.

Original stories by Amber Hair, Bethany Clough and Josh Teehee.

This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media’s AI policy.