Two new mom-and-pop restaurants open in downtown Fresno with flavors from around the world

Sure, the big chain restaurants get plenty of attention.

But there’s a fair number of readers who love discovering little mom-and-pops in Fresno. The tiny places where the food is good, where you’re far more likely to have a conversation with the owner than spot a white tablecloth or candles.

Two such locally owned places have opened recently in downtown Fresno, one in Chinatown and another at Van Ness and Merced avenues.

Both restaurants are by chefs who decided they want to work for themselves. Both are only open for breakfast and lunch, though one is open weekends.

But they go big on flavors: American, Greek, Mexican, and a bit of Creole and Southern.

Grandma Jane’s Kitchen

The most recent opened a few weeks ago on E Street, just south of Tulare Street, in the former Little Hong Kong restaurant spot.

Grandma Jane’s Kitchen is named after the grandmother of chef Marcial Gonzalez, who owns the restaurant with wife Michelle. (Everybody calls him “Marshall,” though technically it’s pronounced Mar-see-all, but that’s what his dad goes by.)

His grandma was half African-American, half Mexican, and grew up making Creole and Southern recipes.

“She spoke Spanish, but with a Southern accent,” Gonzalez said.

The menu reflects all that heritage.

A top seller is jalapeno cheddar grits with hot links and eggs. There are also chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, waffles, pancakes and breakfast burritos.

Lunch is a limited but rotating menu. You can usually find two favorites on the menu: chicken and waffles and a “very hearty” specialty hamburger.

The chicken and waffles comes in both sweet and savory — one version with maple bourbon syrup, the other features a cheddar waffle with country gravy.

And the west side burger is always available. It’s a towering burger with banana peppers, pepper jack cheese, grilled hot link cut down the middle, and jalapeno aioli.

Chef Gonzalez most recently was at the nearby Tulare Street Bistro (a downtown restaurant that opened during the darkest days of COVID-19 and still gets rave reviews online). He’s also worked at high-end restaurants like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and 12 Prime Steak.

After 27 years in the business, he wanted to work for himself.

“I wanted to do my family’s food and what we eat,” he said. “The food’s a little bit more comfort-y.”

And Chinatown, where his family used to take him as a kid seemed like the right place.

He remembers grandpa getting a haircut while grandma went shopping. His dad used to take him there too.

“Him and my uncles used to hang out in Chinatown and do the same thing, hang out and chase the girls and whatnot,” he said.

Now he patronizes many of the Chinatown businesses as a buyer for the restaurant, like Chris Meat Market and Panaderia Vista Hermosa.

He’s watched the neighborhood change over the years and wanted to be part of it inching toward a renewed vitality.

“That’s my hope, that we can bring Chinatown back to where it was previously,” he said.

Details: Grandma Jane’s Kitchen is at 943 E St. and open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends.

Z’ss Place

The other newbie restaurant downtown is in the former Packing Shed spot on Merced Street, next to the bail bonds place. It’s called Z’ss Place — yes, the letter S is there twice because the name is an abbreviation of the chef’s last name, Zissou.

That’s Angelo Zissou, who you’ll likely see in the kitchen (his real name is Evangelos, but everybody calls him Angelo, he says).

“I’m 100% Greek,” he said.

That’s why you’ll see a Greek influence on the menu, along with American and Mexican food.

The menu is packed. Open for breakfast and lunch, it’s got the standard fare — burgers, sandwiches, salads, and big breakfasts like bacon and eggs, omelets and hash browns that aren’t soggy.

But there’s also falafel and Greek gyros, the thick wrap-like bread holding chicken, fresh tomatoes and a Greek sauce, or a mix of beef and lamb.

As for the Mexican side, the carne asada burrito is a popular favorite, Zissou said.

“That’s doing really well,” he said. “I’m surprised. I’m selling so much carne asada.”

There’s a few vegetarian options on the menu too, including falafel and an avocado sandwich.

Zissou came to Los Angeles and the United States when he was a “little boy” of 19.

“A couple of years after that I owned my first restaurant in L.A., and then boom, boom boom, one after the other,” he said.

This is his ninth restaurant.

“That was the original menu everywhere down there — breakfast, burgers, gyro sandwiches, salads — and now we add in the Mexican food that is very popular in Fresno,” he said.

Zissou moved to the Fresno area after visiting a friend in Oakhurst about seven years ago. He met his future wife on that trip and moved north.

After years of working for other restaurants, sometimes 12 hours a day, he wanted a place where he could have evenings and weekends off.

“I’m used to having my own business pretty much all my life,” he said. “I was looking for something just like this. ... I find the right place that I can be a human being.”

Details: Z’ss Place is at 2119 Merced St. Hours: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.