\\\"\\\"

FresYes!

5 questions

5 Fabulous Ways to Ring in 2022 in Fresno

by Leave a Comment

Natali Carrera
Natali Carrera is a devoted coffee addict who also loves her teenage son, her husband of 19 years and shopping small & local. She is the founder & CEO of parent support non-profit Success Together, Inc. and has been a freelance content creator for FresYes.com for 7 years. Natali is an unrelenting cheerleader for and lifelong resident of Fresno, as well as a Fresno State grad.
Latest posts by Natali Carrera (see all)

New Year’s Eve is just days away, and for those itching to celebrate the dawn of a new year, or simply the end of 2021 – we’ve got 5 fabulous events for you to check out this holiday.

Note: Masks and or proof of vaccination/negative COVID tests may be required to attend these events, please closely read information provided by the organizers before purchasing tickets. Be safe and have fun!

1. St. Joaquin Wine Bar’s New Year’s Eve Soiree

St. Joaquin will be ringing in the New Year with music, food, and a healthy dose of holiday “spirit” (their natural wines)! DJ Leonard will be the Master of Ceremony for the evening serving up “smooth jams and sweet melodies to help you move into 2022 with style!” Tickets are $20/person and include dancing and a sparkling wine toast at midnight. To get yours, click here.

2. Fresno Underground Supper’s Bootlegger’s Ball

Fresno’s Underground Supper Club holds some of the most exclusive, well-planned, and fantastically-themed events year-round. For NYE, they’ll be ringing in 2022 in “true Roaring 20’s style with a speakeasy-themed evening. Flappers and their Jellybeans are invited for a night of giggle juice, great grub, and really swell sounds.” Tickets include a three-course meal (traditional and vegetarian options available) and the event is described as “an immersive evening of Lust, Anger, Revenge and a Raucous party. Featuring music by Andrew Lippa and some of Fresno’s premier actors and singers bring a wild evening of entertainment to lead you into the New Year.” Tickets are $150 per person and available here (cocktails are available from the cash bar, but are not included in the ticket price).

3. New Year’s Eve Party at Goldstein’s featuring live music from Boha

Goldstein’s will be hosting a fun and funky reggae-themed night of celebration featuring local reggae-fusion band, Boha. Goldstein’s menu offerings include beer, ciders, hard kombucha, CBD beverages and more. The event which will feature food from Tacos Tikal, an aerialist ball drop and Miller High Life midnight toast begins at 9:30pm and tickets are not required. For additional info click here.

4. New Year’s Eve at Fulton 55 hosted by LMC

If you’re looking to dance the night away to house and techno tracks, LMC’s event is an awesome pick for your NYE. The event starts at 8pm and features the Family DJs. LMC is known for hosting great events and this is their return to hosting NYE after a 2-year hiatus due to COVID. For tickets, click here.

5. Dave & Buster’s Family Friendly Early NYE Celebration

This event takes place from 5-8 pm and the cost per person is $46.68. This price includes tax and gratuity, an appetizer buffet featuring family favorites, dessert, unlimited soft drinks, a $20 Power Card per guest (to be used on games that provide redemption tickets), unlimited video gameplay (non-redemptive games and simulators), and a video ball drop to ring in the New Year. Tickets are available here.

5 Awesome Food & Drink Spots to Visit

by Leave a Comment

Natali Carrera
Natali Carrera is a devoted coffee addict who also loves her teenage son, her husband of 19 years and shopping small & local. She is the founder & CEO of parent support non-profit Success Together, Inc. and has been a freelance content creator for FresYes.com for 7 years. Natali is an unrelenting cheerleader for and lifelong resident of Fresno, as well as a Fresno State grad.
Latest posts by Natali Carrera (see all)

That you may not know about!

1. Moto Delicatessen & Bodega

Moto is located at 1916 N. Echo near Ampersand Ice Cream across from Fresno High School. They serve premium sandwiches, salads, and drinks. Soon, they’ll add wine offerings to their menu. You can order online in advance for pick up or delivery, too! They’re known for their super soft artisan bread and excellent sides and salads with international cuisines influencing their flavors. Offerings have included a Casarecce pasta salad with pistachio pesto and almonds, a broccoli and carrot salad with Thai peanut vinaigrette, and a street corn salad with cilantro and chipotle crema. Moto is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:30-6 and Saturdays from 10:30-5pm.

Moto will soon offer wine at their delicatessen and bodega (image credit: Moto)

2. Industry Tap Union

Industry Tap Union is located a few doors down from the Me-n-Ed’s on the northeast corner of Herndon and Cedar. They opened somewhat quietly but have quickly gained a loyal customer base. Described as the perfect neighborhood tap house and hang out. They offer a variety of local brews (a multitude of blondes and IPAs) as well as ciders and even kombucha. There have 14 screens offering sports fans all the live viewing they could ask for, and each table has its own tv screen with Nintendo games. They are dog and kid-friendly, and you can order food to be delivered there or enjoy food from local food trucks on days they are there. Follow Industry Tap Union on Instagram to keep up to date with events.

Industry Tap & Union’s Table Gaming Setup (Mario at my table? Let’s go!) Image credit: Industry Tap & Union

3. St. Joaquin Wine Bar

St. Joaquin is located at 1755 Broadway Street, #106 in the popular, red-brick, Peerless building Downtown. Inside, you’ll find walls adorned with the work of local artists, fantastic vintage leather couches, a row of small tables along one side of the room, and rows of natural wines to peruse, learn about, and enjoy. A small tasting menu of wine pairings such as charcuterie, local fruit, and salads are also available. St. Joaquin is the first natural wine bar in the Valley. You can view their currently featured wines on their website. St. Joaquin is open Wednesday through Saturday from 5-11 pm and Sundays from 1-7 pm.

St. Joaquin Natural Wine Bar is located in the Peerless Building in Downtown Fresno (Image credit: St. Joaquin)

4. DAB Tacos

DAB recently opened their own brick-and-mortar location in Downtown Fresno at 721 Fulton between the 411 Rec Room and Modernist and across from Full Circle Brewery. They started as a food truck that often parked in the area in the evenings so those enjoying a drink could enjoy a meal as well. Since their start, their menu has expanded and they now offer specialty items like quesabirria tacos, pork belly tacos, loaded fries, and deep-fried elote. My personal favorite menu item is their Asada Mulas (think two open-faced tacos, grilled together with melty and crispy cheese like a quesadilla and then add an amazing sauce). Dab Tacos is open daily from 11:30 am to 11 pm. Their food truck is also still rolling out deliciousness across town, too. You can keep track of their whereabouts by following Dab on their social accounts.

Famous quesatacos from DAB Tacos in Downtown Fresno (image credit: DAB Tacos)

5. Banzai Japanese Bar & Kitchen

Banzai Japanese Bar & Kitchen is a table service restaurant that offers a wide variety of sushi rolls and other Japanese specialties like a fresh seafood salad, spicy garlic edamame, teriyaki beef, katsu pork, and crispy tofu bento box meals for those who aren’t big sushi fans. Their menu also includes fusion dishes like their new Sumo Fries (which are fries topped with steak, spicy masago, and avocado), their crispy, giant breaded, and stuffed Mushroom Bombs, and fan-favorite Poke Nachos. The atmosphere is relaxed, the service is great and attentive and you can enjoy watching your favorite sports events while you share sushi with friends and family when you go. Banzai is located at 609 E. Olive in the Tower District and is open 4:30-10 pm on weekdays, 4:30-11 pm on Fridays, 12-11 pm Saturdays, and 12-8 on Sundays. They are closed on Tuesdays.

Banzai is located in the Tower District just two doors down from The Lincoln $5 Bar, which is owned by the same people – both spots are winners!

Fall Family Fun: Simonian Farms Pumpkin Patch

by Leave a Comment

Natali Carrera
Natali Carrera is a devoted coffee addict who also loves her teenage son, her husband of 19 years and shopping small & local. She is the founder & CEO of parent support non-profit Success Together, Inc. and has been a freelance content creator for FresYes.com for 7 years. Natali is an unrelenting cheerleader for and lifelong resident of Fresno, as well as a Fresno State grad.
Latest posts by Natali Carrera (see all)

This weekend, my family, our bonus kiddo (one of our kiddo’s best friends) and my parents decided to pay a visit to Simonian Farms in Sunnyside to check out their Pumpkin Patch. This was the first time we’d all been, and we had a really fun time exploring all there was to see and do there.

Our family at Simonian Farms Pumpkin Patch

 

When you first arrive at Simonian Farms (located on Clovis Avenue on the SE corner of Clovis and Jensen) you’re drawn into their giant red barn. Inside, everything is decorated like the old west, complete with saloon (wine tasting area), shooting gallery (with great animitronic targets) soda shop and ice cream bar and even a barber shop (non-functioning). There’s a lot to see, and this area is kept cool and comfortable thanks to the biggest fan I’ve ever seen (signage indicated it was provided by “Big A** Fans” which is appropriate! ha!).  In the barn you can wine taste, enjoy Fresno State Ice Cream, challenge your friends and family to a shoot out, shop for gift items and try on cowboy hats. We also enjoyed a sample of some of the best barbecue sauce I’ve tasted, Pa Paw’s Killer Barbecue Sauce (do yourself a favor – click their name to see where to buy this stuff and go out and get some this week. You’ll be really glad you did. I liked the spicy one myself, but the other one has a great honey flavor to it, and would be fantastic for everyone including kids.)

Wine tasting area located inside the barn at Simonian Farms Pumpkin Patch

Wine tasting area located inside the barn

The shooting gallery ($2 for 18 shots of 1 minute of unlimited shots)

The shooting gallery ($2 for 18 shots of 1 minute of unlimited shots)

The awesome animitronic shooting gallery targets

The awesome animitronic shooting gallery targets

Hundreds of old-fashioned sodas to choose from

Hundreds of old-fashioned sodas to choose from

Beyond the barn is the Market, boasted an amazing selection of local fruits and vegetables, homemade jellies and spreads, wine, candies and snacks (we left with dried honey-coated pineapple, sour cherry balls, bridge mix, giant gum drops and chocolate covered cinnamon bears). The entire market is adorned with vintage bicycles and pedal cars, and you can even buy old fruit crate labels to decorate your home with, if you like the vintage look. (I want to go back for these soon!)

More jams, jellies, sauces and spreads than you could eat in several years

More jams, jellies, sauces and spreads than you could eat in several years

Delicious, local fruit and veggies

Delicious, local fruit and veggies

Back outside, if you proceed past the market, you’ll see the gold panning area (sand filled with fun stones and gold flakes can be purchased in the Barn) and then the Pumpkin Patch.

Gold panning

Gold panning

The patch is free to enter and all attractions are free, you just pay for your pumpkins. In the patch you’ll find tons of pumpkins varying in size from mini to gigantic, an awesome old train car that’s been turned into a haunted train car (fun!) and a mini-hay maze. There are several great hay stack areas set up as photo-op spots and painted cut outs, too.

The caboose at Simonian Farms

The caboose at Simonian Farms

 

My mom survived the Haunted Caboose! (Just barely.)

My mom survived the Haunted Caboose! (Just barely.)

 

Just hanging around the saloon

Just hanging ’round the saloon

Simonian Farms is a great place to spend a fall day with your family, while supporting local farmers. Check it out any day of the week between 9am and 6pm. Have fun!