Fresno’s Tower District to get a new restaurant. It serves barbecue (vegetarian food too)
An empty restaurant in Fresno’s Tower District is about to get a new renter: a barbecue restaurant.
But don’t worry, neighborhood vegetarians, it plans to serve some meatless food too.
The owners of catering business BenSmokin BBQ have signed a lease to open inside the former Happy Star Chinese restaurant on Palm Avenue, just south of Olive Avenue.
This is the beige building with a wagon wheel out front that briefly opened as a second location of Little Fat Dumpling (though it only did delivery orders) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BenSmokin’s owners hope to open by Dec. 15.
In addition to catering large events, the business also currently sells takeout to the public via Facebook.
The food
The restaurant will carry barbecue plates, burritos and sandwiches.
The kitchen is big and has two cooking areas, so BenSmokin can do more than just barbecue, said Chef Bernard Paul Mendoza III, who owns the business with wife Rebecca.
“We’re going to be offering a lot of stir-fries and stuff because we know there’s a lot of vegetarians in the Tower District,” he said.
Mendoza specialized in Asian cuisine in culinary school.
Plus, they’ll probably be some Mexican dishes on the menu.
Before we dive into some examples of food BenSmokin BBQ is known for, let’s get into a little background that will help you understand it.
Locally owned
The Ben in BenSmokin is a reference to Mendoza’s dad, also named Bernard, but who went by Ben. (And yes, it’s a play on the words “been smoking” — as in meat.)
“About 80% of our customers call me Ben,” Mendoza said. “My name is actually Paul. I don’t ever correct them.”
He said he likes hearing his dad’s name.
See, his dad taught him to barbecue when he was 10. His father also died the year Mendoza graduated from culinary school. Mendoza thought opening a barbecue business would be the perfect way to honor his dad.
“It’s the barbecue my dad taught me,” he said. “Family style barbecue.”
Longtime Fresnans may know him as Paul Latino, his name during a career in radio that included spinning oldies at KOKO 94.3.
Mendoza, born and raised in Fresno, switched careers in 2020 and founded the catering business. It took off so much his wife quit her county job to focus on it.
He’s also a self-described “wannabe” musician.
And he loves the local band Cloudship. They performed at his dad’s funeral, and the Mendozas’ wedding.
So that’s why there’s a Cloudship burrito on the menu. It’s a jumbo-sized burrito with brisket, Spanish rice, three-meat chili beans, and cheddar cheese.
And then there’s the Violin on Fire burrito. It’s a reference to the Fresno musician who uses that tagline, Patrick Contreras. BenSmokin catered his wife’s birthday and some of Contreras’ ideas worked their way onto the permanent menu.
The burrito contains tri-tip, brisket, Spanish rice, three-meat chili beans, and two “Bernardo bombs” tucked inside. Those are jumbo jalapeños wrapped in bacon and stuffed with cream cheese, cheddar and brisket.
The burrito weighs more than two pounds (seriously, he made a Facebook video where he weighs it).
“We believe in big portions,” Mendoza said. “My family, we love to eat.”
