It’s been a while since I have written a blog post. Actually life got busy and my normal job got life consuming. Yet this past week at the tail end of the school year I managed to enjoy a FresYes moment that has reintroduced me to this blog.
As an employee of the largest school district in Fresno, I have gone to the Cosmopolitan Tavern located in downtown Fresno many times during lunch breaks from meetings. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of visiting this downtown establishment, I guess the best way to describe it is like a Central Valley Regal Beagle (Oh my!) with an Italian twist.
It has two main rooms filled with booths and tables with chairs. One side has the counter where you can peruse the array of sandwiches, salads, pizza and soups that you should totally put down your computer right now and run and go try. The other room, also has chairs and tables, has the bar located along one side of the room. A large wooden structure with stools and a large assortment of bottles and glassware, it stands weathered and worn in all the right ways. A bar that is filled with the stories of those varied individuals that sit at the booths every single day.
As I would sit with my coworkers eating at one of the tables I always knew one day I wanted to sit at the bar. I would see people from all ages sitting on the stools having conversations in the middle of the afternoon. The old and young would gather for a moment to share their lives over a great sandwich and a beverage. I would envy their experience and always told myself one work free day I would join them.
When I heard that the Cosmopolitan would soon move due to the building of the high speed railroad this coming November, I knew that I had to sit at the bar and have that experience I always wanted sooner than later. So this past week I recruited my friend and decided to catch up at the Cosmopolitan Tavern.
We arrived a little after the lunch rush and sat at the end of the bar. We were promptly greeted by Nirva Cecilia our bartender for the day. She was great!! By the end of our meal she was part of the girl gossip war my friend and me had going on. It was amazing!! We decided to grab a beverage and ordered our sandwiches. I opted for a Turkey Pesto Panini. Oh boy!! That treadmill is going to hate me tomorrow morning but it was so worth it.
You could overhear the different groups talking and laughing. People came and went and Nirva knew them by name and by story. A group at the end of the bar took pictures and acknowledged that they would arrive at the same place and same time in about a month. There were business people sipping on lemonades and having salads, groups of farmers talking about the lack of rain and how they were glad that baseball was back, and people just chatting it up with Nirva as if they were old friends.
Since 1933 the Cosmopolitan Tavern has held this spot. As Nirva let us know they would be moving at the end of the year to a new spot which will be located in the Sellend Arena parking lot. Although I could tell they are sad to go she did say that they are excited about the new things that will come there way. But one thing will certainly be the same in the new location, that weathered, story filled bar will be moving with them. Amazing!
Soon the hours whizzed by and the sandwich magically disappeared in front of me and it was time to go. We bid our goodbyes and thanked them for the wonderful afternoon. It was a great way to end my spring break, catching up with an old friend, meeting new ones and checking off one more thing on my FresYes bucket list.
So if you have a moment in time before the end of the year, sit at the bar at the Cosmopolitan Tavern. You don’t even have to order a drink, many of those I saw that day did not. Just enjoy the FresYes moment that occurs everyday in this little corner place in Fresno, not to mention a pretty darn good sandwich.
Thanks Nirva!
The Cosmopolitan Tavern is located on 1546 Fresno Street. (Fresno and “G” Street)
This past Wednesday, Fresno Unified conducted its second annual Convocation at the Save Mart Center. This event brings together the estimated 10 thousand FUSD employees in one place to rally for the upcoming year. The first thing I always notice upon entering the Save Mart Center is how many people are present. It is quite impressive to see the quantity of people dedicated to the education of our community. The different colors, representing the different high school regions all coming together.
The Fresno Art Hop via Bicycle?
The group meets at Fresno High on the day of Art Hop at 6:30 pm with a departure time of around 7 pm. As we raced to get there on time, we pulled up to a group of people waiting for the days adventure to begin. Music was blaring, people were greeting each other, talking about the days events and what was new in all their different circles. I meet my friend John, who promised to not let me fall and protect me from slamming into parked cars. Thank God.
Little after 7 pm, we were off. Now, let me start by saying that many people had their bikes totally decked out with lights, bells, and whistles. One person had a sweet, loud stereo attached to his bike on a rolling cart, providing a bit of tempo to my lack of pedaling skills. When we were rolling down the street, there was no mistaking we made our presence known; even the kids were waving at us. As we passed intersections, different people in the group made sure that they stopped traffic in order for the group to safely cross. Our first stop was Gazebo Gardens.
My grandmother sold workclothes to the farm laborers, long sleeve shirts and denim pants that would protect them from the hot sun and the cold winters. She would sell the items for very little, knowing that they could not afford much. More incredibly, my grandmother did something else pretty amazing on those weekend days. She became for many of her customers, a counselor and source of support. My grandmother would spend part of her week at the Mosqueda center acquiring pamphlets and handouts regarding the many programs available to families. When her clients would come and talk to her, she would sell, and many times give away clothes, along with a dose of advice. She talked to them about their successes, troubles, divorces, fights, children’s accomplishments and most of all she just listened. She did this for many years, and became a staple at the Sunnyside Swap Meet, until she no longer could manage the harsh weather conditions and physical demands of manning her post.
The swap meet is filled with a variety of different food vendors selling everything from Chinese food to tacos. We got a couple of carne asada tacos. Now this was totally transporting me to 1988. We sat and people watched and washed our tacos down with some horchata. Six dollars well spent.
The Cherry Auction is located at 
1-Aug Sugar
