TasteFresno

Taqueria Don Pepe

Despite a recent taco "enlightening" (thanks to my friend Mike), I'm still a bit leery of Mexican food. I've had too many plates of bland tomato-flavored rice, refried beans, and greasy enchiladas. It's just not worth the heartburn.

Wassabi

James and I ventured out to the north side of town last night for our weekly date night. Yes, we have date nights. It was between going to a Thai restaurant we love or trying out a new place for sushi. Wassabi won. I will say it was not what I expected. Walking in you are greeted with a long shout - however it is not until others enter the restaurant that you actually find out what they are saying "Waaaasssaaaabbb." A play on "wus up" is my guess. The decor was bright and cheerful and one of the sushi chefs had on these funky glasses.

Sakura Chaya

I took my daughter to our favorite sushi restaurant last night. Although all food is always of top quality, we usually limit our visits to special occsasions due to budget constraints. On this Thursday night, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the very tasteful bar area offers several wonderful and generous appetizers and glasses of wine (recommend the cabernet) each for $3.50 on Monday through Thursday between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.. The atmosphere and service were so good that we ended up remaining there for our all-time fave, the Ashley Roll.

Echo Street Cafe

I was and still am I suppose, a Java Wava fanatic. Not everything got high marks from me, but the atmosphere, quality vegetarian sandwiches, and friendly staff always kept me coming back.

This Monday I decided to try their successor, Echo Street Cafe. I'm not sure if I will be as loyal to Echo Street as I was to Java Wava.

Here are my reasons:

- The interior has been reworked. Yes, it's nice, but it feels a little too sterile and corporate to me. I choose to frequent independent shops most of the time because they offer a little more charm than your average Starbucks.

CupCakes Bakery

We were having dinner at Casa Corona, one of my friends noticed Cupcakes Bakery, we all decided thats what we would have for dessert.

YUM!!! Excellent cupcakes!! Red Velvet and the Oreo were my personal favs! If you want just a little something to get you through the day, or if you need a quick and kinda different gift, Cupcakes Bakery is the place to go.

Our Family Barbecue

Here I thought I had discovered a brand new option in downtown, but it turns out they are celebrating their one-year anniversary right now. It's a small counter and table establishment that is really built for take out, but - regardless - the food is fantastic, the prices reasonable, and the people were incredibly friendly. I'm a huge Smokehouse fan, but this place has food good enough to give it a run for its money. You should definitely check it out - on the corner across from Haron Jaguar.

Aqua Shi

This a very tasty Asian fusion restaurant. My husband and I were just there last Saturday and we had a great experience. Let me start off by saying that Aqua Shi has a cool atmosphere. It has a contemporary look with a bar and lounge area that is sophisticated. You can sit at the bar that has a long, glass counter top with an aquarium inside it. There is plenty of seating inside and out, with a large patio. Typically when my husband and I sit at the bar when we have sushi so that we can interact with the sushi chefs, but the booth table looked so comfortable and inviting.

Mariscos Colima

As someone who spent his early years almost entirely north of Shaw, I am well aware of the south of Shaw and taco truck biases. So when I told some friends and family that I had a great vegetarian burrito from a taco truck I was not surprised to hear a chorus of "Eww" and "I can't believe you ate at a roach coach!"

La Elegante

Okay, I have to say it: the name of the restaurant is more than a bit misleading. La Elegante is a textbook example (should such textbooks exist…they would be delicious) of a hole-in-the-wall. But, in a good way.

Karsh's

We had the pork and caramelized pineapple with garlic mashed potatoes and, according to Geoff, "the best broccoli I've ever tasted in my life." It was absolutely delicious! We loved it!