You know how it is in the restaurant business—things change. One restaurant closes, and another opens in the same place. Somebody takes over a place, and it changes. The Great Food Search visited a couple of places that once were, and are now different.
Fresno Street Eats is an organized group of food trucks that gather at different locations in the Fresno County area (or thereabouts) in various numbers (1-6 or more) at various times (lunch, dinner, etc.). The Great Food Search sampled several trucks and locations in September, but there are many more trucks and gathering points out there, from north of Herndon to south of Jensen, so Here We Go Again with Round Two.
2022—The Great Food Search family (“Dad,” “Mom,” forty-two-year-old “Child”) went through urgent care visits (D, M), dentists (D, M, C), ankle replacement surgery (M), physical therapy (M), five 5K (3.1 mile) walk/run races (D—I walked), and year-ending Covid (D, M, C). Somehow, the three of us are still alive and talking to each other. Still, 2022 was a pretty good year for food in The Great Food Search—twenty-seven different restaurants and eateries.
A striking logo welcomes you to Brickhouse Bar and Grill in Sanger. It's Hot Hot Hot![/caption]In the two-block stretch of 7th Street west of Academy Avenue, it could be a bar, a jewelry store, quinceañera dresses, a martial arts studio, a barber shop...or food. The Great Food Search told you about Mi Linda Tierra, but there’s a new kid on the block—Brickhouse Bar and Grill.
Earlier this year, Lorie Lewis Ham, our editor, wrote about Mike Osegueda, creator of the Taco Truck Throwdown for the Fresno Grizzlies baseball games, and his brainchild, Fresno Street Eats, which brings groups of food trucks and food wagons to Valley malls, breweries, sporting events, churches, festivals, and any place where hungry people gather.
Put a pin in a map of Sanger on the intersection of Bethel and Jensen Avenues. Make it the center of a circle with a 1/4 mile radius. Inside that circle, you will find at least fourteen restaurants and places to eat. I have reviewed many of them in other Great Food Search articles. A few places are new, or ones I’ve missed in the past. Therefore, let me introduce…
The typical Great Food Search of the month features a theme (Salads, Hot Dogs, The Tower District, et cetera) or a single restaurant (Mi Linda Tierra, Sunnyside Delicatessen). This month, it’s a little different: places I went to about the time I was reviewing something else, or it didn’t fit the theme for the month, or—"Hey! I haven’t been there in a Covid’s age!” Some of the pictures have been sitting in my photo file for a long time, so...it’s about time!
In April, the Great Food Search took a look at restaurants in Fresno’s Tower District while I rehearsed for a production of I Remember Mama at the Good Company Players’ 2nd Space Theatre. The run of the play has ended, but those weeks of performances gave me time to continue my quest of eating my way through the Tower District.
The Great Food Search seeks out good food wherever it may be found, and sometimes it’s closer than we expect. Less than one mile from my home in Sanger, I found Mi Linda Tierra. It started out in the southeast of the town, but it recently moved to 1330 7th Street in the heart of the little city’s downtown blocks.
The Great Food Search has trekked up and down the San Joaquin Valley, ventured to Morro Bay and Mariposa, and sampled the foods of the Fresno Rogue Performance Festival. Currently, I have been busy in Fresno, rehearsing for the Good Company Players production of I Remember Mama at GCP’s 2nd Space Theatre (which opened this weekend). Being a semi-human individual, I need sustenance to sustain me through these play practices, so I eat. Where do I eat? In the Tower District, which the City of Fresno defines as the area bounded by Blackstone, Belmont, West, and Shields. Let me tell you about my edible explorations.
