Top stories: Tahoe Joe’s shrinks. Downtown Fresno selloff? Tacos El Cabezon in trouble

Restaurant closures and downtown Fresno’s struggles dominated The Fresno Bee’s coverage Wednesday, with two shuttered eateries and a hard look at what’s ailing the city’s core. Here’s a rundown of the top stories of the day, from a longtime Central Valley steakhouse chain shrinking further to a popular taqueria pivoting back to his food truck.

Here are Wednesday’s top stories to catch you up

• “Steakhouse chain born in Fresno closes another location. What happened to Tahoe Joe’s?” Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse quietly shuttered its Visalia restaurant on Sept. 21, leaving the 31-year-old Central Valley franchise with just two locations, in Fresno and Bakersfield. Founded in 1995 by restaurateur David Fansler, the chain has changed hands multiple times and is now owned by multinational MTY Food Group. The original Fresno restaurant on West Shaw Avenue closed in 2016.
• “What’s wrong with downtown Fresno? Longtime businessman has some answers” Key downtown properties are hitting the market at multi-million-dollar prices, but longtime businessman John Ostlund says sellers are asking “tomorrow’s price today” while parking shortages and vacancies persist. Mayor Jerry Dyer counters that the asking prices reflect $250 million in state-funded infrastructure work and other investments in recent years. Four buildings are currently listed along Fulton Street, mostly near the Mariposa Street intersection.
• “Taqueria in downtown Fresno that made headlines closes; owner says the tacos will be back” Tacos El Cabezon announced on Instagram Tuesday it has permanently closed its brick-and-mortar shop at 1234 Fulton St., which opened in March. The business bought a new food trailer and plans to get “back to our roots” selling tacos by truck, though no timeline was given. The landlord said the restaurant was “behind almost two months in rent.”

Original stories by Amber Hair, Erik Galicia and Bethany Clough

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