New breakfast restaurant spot opens in downtown Fresno, replacing Joe’s Steakhouse

A new restaurant opened up in a prime spot in downtown Fresno

Breakfast restaurant Country Kitchen had its grand opening Friday at 831 Van Ness Ave., where Joe’s Steakhouse was located.

The restaurant serves traditional breakfast, including pancakes, omelets, waffles, crepes and skillet scrambles made with potatoes and eggs, but also is open in the afternoon and evening.

Its rib-eye steak with bourbon sauce is popular.

The menu includes the “Barn Buster.” It’s four eggs, four slices of bacon or sausage links, hash browns and a choice of four pancakes or four slices of toast.

Lunch and dinner options include burgers, sandwiches, and plenty of fried appetizers, including cheese curds.

The 85-year-old Wisconsin-based company had more than 300 locations in the 1970s. It now has around 30, mostly in the Midwest.

Joe’s opened in 2005, with the Anaya family running it for 15 years.

It closed on what was to be a temporary basis when the state required dining rooms to shut down in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. With mostly empty offices nearby, it didn’t make sense to do takeout, or later, invest in the extra required cleaning supplies to reopen, Jackie Anaya said in 2021.

The restaurant never reopened.