Chicken Shack Fresno – Things To Know Before You Go

The Fresnan 2 Comments

Chicken-Shack-Fresno-1024x768 Chicken Shack Fresno - Things To Know Before You Go

I have not been to the new Chicken Shack in Fresno, on Fulton Street. Just letting you know right now. This is not a personal review. It’s compiled. Hell dude, I didn’t even take the above picture, the Fresno Bee’s Bryant-Jon Anteola did.

That’s fine. We can figure out if this place is worth checking out all the same.

Location

1108 Fulton Street (formally Fulton Mall). Corner of Fulton & Mariposa. Located close to the Fresno Courthouse, Chuchanski Park and Club One Casino.

So it’s a good place to eat if you have jury duty in Downtown Fresno.

Heck, it could even serve as a place to eat if you’re seeing a show at Selland Arena or Warnors Theatre.

Hours: 10 AM – 9 PM every day.

The first Chicken Shack started in Hanford. They also have a food truck too that was very popular at this year’s Grizzly Fest. But the location we are talking about is the Fresno one.

Menu

They have beer! Oh wait, we should talk about the chicken first.

Of course, there is chicken. Next level fast-food style chicken, whatever that means. Lots of burgers too. And salads. And wings. Here is their full menu.

Some things that people have Yelped:

“They have a great set up inside and a patio to eat on as well as some good chicken fingers! I ordered the #2, it’s big enough to share if you’re just wanting to watch some Tv, drink some soda, and have a bite to eat.”
-Eric Larsen

“Got the buffalo fries, they were great. Chicken tenders cut up on top of shoe string fries. Big enough to share. Husband ordered the double shack burger combo which is HUGE and delicious. The bun was fancy haha.”
-Brianna Wilson

“I have had better chicken at a Rallys…”
-Daniel Marshall

Okay, well, not everybody enjoyed it. But overall I hear many good things.

ABC 30 did a video about the place when it first opened that might be of some help:

Beer, yes, I almost forgot. They have craft beer!

There are not a ton of food places like this, that have any kind of craft beer selection. As a beer geek that gets super annoying. A Chicken Shack, there most certainly is some Tioga Sequoia on draft, so we can drink local at the very least:

img_8441 Chicken Shack Fresno - Things To Know Before You Go

Are there things for vegetarians?

Not really. I guess you should not expect much since the place is called “The CHICKEN Shack” but you might deserve to expect something, ya know. I guess you can at least get one of their salads, without meat. Veg eaters are used to improvising when eating out.

Best Time To Go To CHICKEN SHACK FRESNO

Obviously, the best times to go to restaurants, new, old or popular, are the off times. Between 2-5 or 11:00-11:30 AM. I have heard tell that they can even be busy during the week after 2.

Pro tip: You can call-ahead your order. Much less waiting that way. (559)-724-9857.

Here’s Where Things Get Weird

They painted the building blue. Which is cool because it is not ‘Fresno Beige’ and we need less beige around here. And they have a pretty good sign that fits well enough.

Then came the oddness.

img_8497 Chicken Shack Fresno - Things To Know Before You Go

(Photo by Daniel A Draper)

They painted panels of art around the building.

You see, the Chicken Shack happens to be located on “Renoir Corner”, which I didn’t know was a thing until now. It’s named that because of the Renoir sculpture located on that corner. So hence, the inspired panels.

But it just looks… off. The combination of the art panels, the blue and the sign that does not blend with this, makes it look a little hokey.  Now mind you, this is WAY better than just plain beige, so I guess I should shut up. Love the effort!

Listen to a review

Early on in this month’s Flowing With Famous podcast, Joshua Tehee gives me/us a review of the place. Definitely worth listening to if I do say so myself:

Eventually I’ll get around to eating some Chicken Shack food. If you have gone or plan NOT to go, feel free to leave me a comment on how it went or why you won’t go.

Fresno Sucks At Parks

The Fresnan 4 Comments

img_6828 Fresno Sucks At Parks

UPDATE! Before you get into the meat of this post, know that the Mayor has since pulled his initiative and we now fully support the Fresno Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Initiative.

Here is the original post:

Alright, let me sort this out.

There is an item called Fresno Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Initiative that is gathering Fresno voter signatures so that it can be put on the November ballot. It is being helped along by Fresno for Parks.

If voters pass it, it would be a local funding source for our parks through a 3/8-cent sales tax in the City of Fresno. It would raise 38 million a year for Fresno park stuff.

This is cool because Fresno is shit when it comes to greenspace. In fact, we rank 94th out of 100 cities and at one time have been ranked THE WORST CITY IN THE DAMN COUNTRY FOR PARKS!

This city needs help

So great. A little bit of sales tax provides a better city to live in. Trees rule. We pay a little bit more for a night out at Pismo’s and one day we’ll have some more parks to go to and the existing parks will be cleaner and safer.

Easy peasy. See you on the coming bike trails along the canal banks.

Wait. Enter, Mayor Lee Brand.

Mr. Brand has announced a SEPARATE major tax initiative. One that would fund more police and fireman, PLUS park facilities and programs.

Please read Fresno Bee writer, Brianna Calix’s, article about it and the details.

The mayor’s initiative needs five of the seven Fresno council members to vote yes to get the measure on the ballot. It appears nobody on the council is supporting it.

You’d expect the conservatives and tea-bagger loons to vote no to anything taxes. But it is surprising the conservatives are voting “no” to helping police and fire. And the city of Fresno definitely needs help there.

Fresno’s Fire Department is working with the same amount of staff as it did in 1985. In case you have not looked around, there is a grip more people here than in 1985 and that is scary when you think about it.

What is going on here?

Even democratic members of the council are saying they will vote no for this. You would think it is because they are supporting the Fresno Clean and Safe Neighborhoods thing, but it’s not. At least they have not said that. It seems they just don’t want new taxes. They think they can find funding somewhere else.

Where the hell is “somewhere else”? You really think there is some department in the city of Fresno that is over budgeted and that will give you some money for parks? Jesus. Even Fresno’s “liberals” are Republicans.

So I don’t know what to do here. In a perfect world, I would vote for a parks initiative AND an initiative to fund more fireman and police programs that help neighborhoods.

The reality is if both measures are on the ballot in November, they will likely cancel each other out.

The Fresno For Parks people are willing to work with the Mayor so that we don’t have competing measures in November. Let’s hope he does or the Parks measure passes on its own.

Either way, we have to pass one of these. Fresno has waited to damn long for park support and letting another year pass with nothing will dig a deeper hole for Fresno to climb out of.

Did I mention we are among THE WORST CITIES IN THE DAMN COUNTRY FOR PARKS!?!!

Updated: Fresno Summer Checklist

The Fresnan 5 Comments

img_8053 Updated: Fresno Summer Checklist

This year’s Summer has started out pretty mild, you have to admit. But there are a few months of heat and whatnot inevitably ahead.

So here are things to look out for or remember to do, so that you can enjoy Fresno’s Summer:

  • Water.
  • Beer.
  • Mountain hikes.
  • Patios at night.
  • Beach days.
  • Standing in front of open freezer doors.
  • Paletas.
  • Seeing a Rodger Rocka’s show.
  • Beer.
  • Spray containing deet.
  • Shaded breezeways.
  • Pool.
  • Slip N Slide.
  • Grizzlies game.
  • Sunblock.
  • More water.
  • Snow cone related food trucks.
  • Afternoon movies.
  • Barbecue.
  • Things in and around lakes.
  • Cold showers.
  • Beer Gardens (Gazebo, Tioga, etc).
  • Fashion Fair (inside).
  • Industrial grade fans.
  • Sprinklers.
  • Beer.

More water is no joke, ya gots to stay hydrated with all that beer drinking.

And here is something to think about as you go: Has complaining about the heat ever made it cooler?…

img_8138 Updated: Fresno Summer Checklist

The Condiment Of Fresno: Salsa or Ranch?

The Fresnan 4 Comments

img_7663 The Condiment Of Fresno: Salsa or Ranch?

I was going to write a post simply about ranch dressing. Fresno loves it. I get that most of the country does, but Fresno seems to love it more.

We also love salsa too. But salsa is limited. You are probably not going to get salsa with your meal unless you’re eating Mexican food.

Ranch goes with pizza, salad, fries, sandwiches, with another ranch, the list goes on. But is it loved over salsa?

I DON’T MIND PAYING FOR RANCH

We all got pissed when Me & Ed’s starting charging for ranch. At this point though, I gotta say, I support paying for ranch. As long as a place gladly forks over the ranch and it’s in a decent sized container, I will happily pay.

Not every place hands over the ranch easy. They act like you’re trying to get one over on them. I can see in their eyes what they’re thinking “What’s this guy trying to pull, with these two ranches? Is he trying to make a meal out of it?”

I’m not trying to pull anything, dude! Stop acting like this is the first time anyone has ordered ranch!

If you are a business in Fresno, you should always have ranch at the ready and be happy to part with a reasonable amount.

Hell, even places that don’t serve food should at least keep a bottle around or be ready to whip up a fresh batch, you know, just in case.

BUT SALSA, BRO, WHAT ABOUT SALSA?

So, easy choice; ranch is the Condiment of Fresno.

Hold on, chief. Salsa is pretty damn big here, too. We love them damn tacos. Tacos tacos tacos.

img_8024 The Condiment Of Fresno: Salsa or Ranch?

Chips & salsa. All day. I cannot ever remember a session when I thought ”Ok, that is enough chips & salsa for me.” I am always having to use restraint when stopping.

Salsa on every bite of my breakfast burrito. Every bite.

So, Which is it? Salsa or Ranch?

Maybe we can think outside the box here. Start putting ranch on things we put salsa on and salsa on pizza things.

Ranch on tacos? Ok, we can try that. But…

Taco Bell did it? Nevermind.

So now what do we do? I’m torn.

Fuck it, it’s ranch. Ranch is the Official Condiment Of Fresno… NO, no, no wait, it’s not. It’s salsa. We are the taco capital of the world, salsa is it.

I expect it to be given a day by the City Of Fresno soon. Fight me in the comments.

*If you’d like to hear me debate this, listen for it late in this month’s episode of Flowing With Famous:

Do Not Camp At Busy Fresno Restaurants

The Fresnan 5 Comments

img_7592 Do Not Camp At Busy Fresno Restaurants

The other morning I went to cozy Fresno breakfast spot, Benaddiction. Really great food, good service. The most interesting breakfast menu in Fresno for sure and arguably the best breakfast. You will order too much food, I’m telling you right now.

The problem with Benaddiction is: too damn small.

It’s tiny. Mini pancake tiny. Like, if you opened up a restaurant in your first apartment and there is no bedroom, tiny.

This is not what the post is about.

I’m not here to complain about Benaddiction. They are taking steps to find a bigger space and they are working well with what they have. I’m here to tell “campers” to go the hell home when they are done eating.

Campers are the people that hangout at their table and chitchat even though they are done eating and paying.

I suppose this is fine when the place is not busy and nobody is waiting for a table. But Benaddiction is ALWAYS busy and there is usually a 20 to 40 minute wait for a table.

I Witnessed Camping Myself

When last I was there, we waited 30 minutes for a table. When we sat down there was a table of two women finishing their meal.

By the time we were done with our breakfast and leaving, those same two women were still there talking. Dicks.

Look up and read the room, people. You can talk about what you bought at Target yesterday when you are in the parking lot.

That said, Pro Tip: You can do call-ahead seating at Benadictions using your Yelp app via their Yelp page.

Just don’t abuse your table time, k!?

The 7 Worst Traffic Problems In Fresno

The Fresnan 3 Comments

img_7439 The 7 Worst Traffic Problems In Fresno

Like you and most Fresnans, I do a lot of driving. I even do it for work so I get around Fresno a lot. I see things. Things I can’t unsee. But that is not what this is about.

This is about Fresno traffic. We are not even close to the kind of stuff the Bay, Southern California or Sacramento sees, but we most certainly have problem areas.

These are the ones that stand out to me while puttering around town.

BULLARD & 41. This is especially true heading West on Bullard but it sucks overall. If you have no interest getting onto 41, it’s best to use Barstow or Sierra instead.

SHAW & 99. Mostly it’s the traffic heading East as it gets backed up to Polk. It’s a one-lane bridge, for freak sake even though it’s a major entry point into Fresno. And don’t get me started on how Caltrans has never landscaped this portion of 99 and the highway has been around 60 years or something. Although they did just do some half-assed planting of trees around the Southbound offramp, so that’s something I guess.

THE MCKINLEY CURVE. Maybe Fresno’s most famous traffic area. Heading North, 41 dangerously curves just as 180 dumps cars onto it. It’s never not sketchy.

BLACKSTONE & NEES. Ya got River Park. People getting onto 41. People getting off 41. Occasional protesting. Begging. In & Out. It has all the things!

FRIANT, FRESNO STREET & 41, FRIANT EXIT OFF 41. This is going to get worse. And worse. And worse. More retail building. More building around Copper River. One day there will be, like, a seven-story office building right there. Not fun.

180 WEST AT 99 NORTH EXCHANGE. From about 3 PM to 6PM, if you are on 180 and you want to get to 99 North, ya need to be gettin’ over to the right lane once 41 South has completed dumping its traffic onto 180 and yes now I am thinking of The Californians sketch from Saturday Night Live.

giphy The 7 Worst Traffic Problems In Fresno

HERNDON & GOLDEN STATE. This actually flows pretty well when there is no train. But when there is, look out man, it backs up super fast.

HONORABLE MENTION
  • Shaw, Barstow, Chestnut and 168 anytime there is something happening at Save Mart Center.
  • Exiting 41 North onto Shaw.
  • Shaw & Golden State Blvd when there is a train.

Please feel free to leave your picks for worst traffic areas in Fresno, in the comments.

Alright, that is settled, time to watch some Californians.