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This week, we published probably my favorite story that I’ve ever written for Fresnoland (recency bias alert, but still):
Historic Uncle Tom’s is more than just a kooky name – and more than meets the eye
It was a trip down memory lane, a glimpse into the history of Fresno, and an odd little human interest piece. So many lines in it already feel like they’re haunting me (in a good way). “Remember? You stood me up in that old bar,” Lola teased. “But I married you anyway…”
I loved researching it, I loved reporting it, I loved writing it. And it all grew out of what is fast becoming an operating principle for FAT City: ask the stupid questions.
Because I never would’ve learned what I learned, met the people that I met, or heard the stories that I heard if I hadn’t stopped to ask what felt like kind of a stupid question: Why is there a liquor store in Fresno called “Uncle Tom’s?”
It’s a name that probably wouldn’t fly in a lot of places. Or if it did, it would be some attempt at edgy marketing; perhaps destined to become, or a deliberate attempt at creating a destination for novelty Instagram photos.
In Fresno, it’s… well, to tell the truth, I didn’t know what it was when I started this journey. I hadn’t heard anyone talk about it before.
The liquor store led me to the bar, which was also named Uncle Tom’s — Uncle Tom’s Cabin, to be specific, just like the famous anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852.
As I dug into it, I found out that lots of people had been talking about Uncle Tom’s Cabin (the bar, that is). I just hadn’t heard them because most of these conversations had taken place before I was born. Because Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as it turns out, is one of the oldest bars in Fresno, with a rich and delightful history. The grown men shedding tears when the old building was demolished; the old timers who brought their favorite stools with them to the new one. So many “we used to be a proper country” stories wrapped up in one, entirely unassuming place.
When I was in Ireland a few months ago, my family and I took pictures outside the Brazen Head pub — mostly because of the signs billing it as “the oldest pub in Dublin.” (A cab driver later poo poo’d this idea, saying Brazen Head’s claim was based on a technicality, that the oldest physical pub was actually the Capstan. Look into that on your own, I’m too tired to fact-check an aside).
It was the contrast that felt important — that Fresno is the kind of place where one of the oldest bars in town could be tucked behind a Starbucks and an Autozone in shabby strip mall, with few clues as to its pedigree, let alone a sign.
Uncle Tom’s was once a happenin’ place. For all that had been written about it though, and I had no idea when I started that there would be so much, the writers always seemed to neglect what was, in my mind, a key piece of information: why is it called Uncle Tom’s?
That was what I set out to find, and ultimately, I did get what felt like a satisfying answer. And yet, everything I discovered on the way to that answer ended up feeling more important than the answer itself.
Still, I wouldn’t have gotten there if I hadn’t asked the question. Which is where I’ll leave it today: don’t be afraid to ask the stupid question. The answers you get might surprise you.
— Vince Mancini, Contributing Editor, Food
Fresno’s ‘Trompo Trail’ offers show-stopping al-pastor in gas stations and parking lots
A culinary guide to Chinatown, Fresno’s oddest, and maybe most delicious neighborhood
How Don Tacha Taqueria became the Lowell neighborhood’s family-run ‘tacoasis’
Fresno’s historic Uncle Tom’s is more than just a kooky name – and more than meets the eye
This week’s local food news
Fresno are the guinea pigs for AI-pricing. Did you Fresno has long been a test market for fast food companies? Well, now they’re experimenting on us with AI pricing. “A company-run store in Fresno sells a Big Mac for $5.69, but another company-run restaurant two miles away sells the same sandwich for $6.89, a 21% premium.” [Reuters]
Sam’s Italian Deli hires Valentino Lee as executive chef for its Villagio location. Lee, if you’ll remember, was briefly announced as the new exec chef at Bulle, but left the same day as the announcement when he read ours and the Bee’s stories about bounced paychecks there. Can’t fault him for that, good luck on the new gig. [The Business Journal]
Food trucks and pumpkin patches? Yes, it’s that time of year again, even if it’s still 100 degrees (sigh). [Fresno Street Eats]
Zamora’s Carnitas expands to Fowler. I haven’t been there yet, but I love a local Mexican place that just tells you what their specialty is. Take a note, local taquerias. You don’t have to be everything to everyone. [KMPH]
El Mariachi is back as Masa Madra. Their specialty? Home-made tortillas. Ah, what was I saying about being upfront about your specialty? Maybe the local joints have already taken that note. Well done. [Fresno Bee]
Bethany Clough tours Fresno’s “Ghost Restaurants.” Old Spaghetti Factory, Silver Dollar Hofbrau, and more. I do think there’s room to do a higher-end, updated Hofbrau-style restaurant. Not in the current site of the Hustler Store, necessarily, but somewhere. [Fresno Bee]
— Vince Mancini, Contributing Editor, Food
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