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    Shepherd's Inn

    3.8 (179 reviews)
    ModerateBasque, American

    Shepherd's Inn Photos

    SHEPHERD'S INN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Outdoor seating
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Shepherd's Inn

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    Going in
    Lorraine C.

    Before my recent visit, it had been a few years since I've eaten here last. It was good last time and it was good this time too. Both times were for dinner and with both times I chose the basque option which gives you a 7 course meal. My steak was ordered medium but received it medium rare, but I didn't mind because it was delicious. It was seasoned just right and was my main course of the night. Service was pretty good and each course was brought out with enough time in between to properly enjoy each food item. I really want to try the Sunday breakfast. I hear it's great but it gets busy. The place itself is a little old, it could use some updating, however the vintage look gives it character.

    Closed Coffee Shop :/
    Dave W.

    Saw this place features on Undercover Billionaire. Sad to say but this business is CLOSED. Not sure what happened to this little place but the surrounding area is dead and not the best part of town. I feel bad for the owner who let this lady run this place into the ground.

    Not many places have a bar like this!
    Elk Grove News N.

    As someone who has long appreciated Basque restaurants, especially those in Nevada, it was pleasing to find a good one right here in the Central Valley. For those not familiar with food at a Basque restaurant, let me start by saying if you are foodie looking for some extravagant dining experience, they will not probably fit your bill. If on the other hand, if you enjoy a hearty meal, with generous portions, you'll like these establishments. We came in on a Friday afternoon just as happy hour started and began with two appetizers - warmed pickled beef tongue and fried chicken livers in green bell pepper and onion. The dining room was not yet open, but the ladies behind the bar were more than happy to serve us at the bar. I ask you, where can you find this as an appetizer? Not many places I can think off. They were great. Oh, we enjoyed our appetizers with a few picon punch cocktails - a drink you will not likely find in anyplace other than a Basque restaurant and bar. It is a staple, and the bartenders mixed them perfectly. As for dinner - which after the hearty appetizers meant a lot more food coming was served Basque style, which is family style. We had their garlic fried chicken and Friday fish special which was Cod topped with clams and mussels, and both were fine. Like other Basque restaurants, they offered several types of lamb. We are big lamb fans and often make it at home, so we decided to do something a little different and were pleased with our choices. Along with the clam chowder, salad, bread, beans, and potato salad, we ended up taking home most of our entrees which was fine by us. The staff was really nice. Shepherd's Inn is the type of place where there are a lot of regulars, but the staff and the patrons gave off a good vibe. If we lived nearby, we too would probably become regulars. The location in downtown Fresno was easy to find, and we were lucky to find a meter spot by the restaurant. The restaurant is across from the bus and Amtrak station has some sketchy characters milling around, but we didn't feel unsafe. The building is non-descript, but once inside the bar is unique. If nothing else stop for a drink and look at the bar - they are not made this way anymore. If you have the opportunity to stop for lunch, dinner or even happy hour while going through or visiting Fresno stop by - you will not be disappointed.

    Pickled Tongue appetizer for $6.50. Lightly warmed and absolutely delicious
    Wendy B.

    My heart skipped a beat when I saw Shepherd's Inn for the first time. You will find it in a run down brick building, downtown. The restaurant has probably been its same location for 70 + years. Half bar, half restaurant. No pretense, long family style tables, wait staff and owner all friendly. They make you feel like you have been coming here your whole life. This is REAL Basque hospitality, real Basque food, and a really legitimate Basque hang out. This is Basque land. Our meal entrees for the night (Saturday), a huge rib eye steak (beautifully med rare and tender) and 4 pcs of the best garlic fried chicken you can imagine. But hold on to your seat. And start thinking....to-go boxes.... immediately. Mr. B opted for the Basque style meal. That includes AYCE soup and salad, potato salad, beans, stew, bread and butter, fries, and the entree. Oh yes, and a small cup of ice cream. Wisely, I chose the American style. That means I could choose between soup and salad. I got bread and butter, and a choice of starch (rice or potato). They always excel with french fries, so that was my choice. I knew I could nibble off Mr. B's sides and not even make a dent. We also ordered an appetizer, the pickled beef tongue, and with absolutely no regrets. The tongue came out first. Warm, thinly sliced, drizzled with good olive oil, garlic and herbs, a pile of meat that actually could have been the whole meal for the two of us. That and the AYCE salad and we could have left. But here comes the sides for the day....chicken noodle soup (good not great), the potato salad with small bits of tender shrimp (yummy), the homemade beef stew (loved it), the ranch style beans with chunks of hock. We sampled each, but knew there was much more coming. (P.S., yet another visit yielded a clam chowder that was surprisingly good. But that of course is on Fridays.) The meal, superb. The service, wonderful. The price, well, it doesn't get any better. We lugged home 6 small containers, enough food to feed us for three more days. And we have enjoyed every minute of it. And the bill? $53. This is such a bargain, and such a winner of a meal. You will not regret the experience.

    I cut into the edge of my "well-done" steak -- and this is AFTER I sent it back for more cooking.
    Barbara P.

    Okay, it's a fun and different place to take out of town guests, and sometimes in the past the food has been good. Even tonight, for example, the potato soup, the potato salad, the green salad and the pork stew were all tasty. And the Picon punch was extremely small, but also tasty. But when you order a steak well done (yeah, I know it's not a foodie thing to do, but that is how I like my steak), and it comes back completely raw and red, and then you cheerfully and politely send it back, asking again that it be well done, and then (1) it comes back completely red, still, and (2) you can't bring yourself to eat a bite of it, and (3) you never see the waitress again until she asks you "Would you like a box for that?" ****that's a one-star experience.**** Yes, I'd love to bring this cold, raw steak home, the steak that I ordered well done...TWICE. I leave my $20 steaks uneaten ALL THE TIME. That's how I roll. Really bad experience. The waitress disappearing also meant that we never got to order more drinks either or ask for ketchup for the kids' fries (well, we grabbed some from another table) -- or get any kind of service. My husband, who never complains about food at all, didn't like his leg of lamb, either. The man loves lamb. He got little slices of lamb, not on the bone. He said it tasted like it had been "sitting around" and it wasn't fully warmed up. He said the gravy tasted like canned gravy (and not even canned "lamb" gravy, if there is such a thing) and the dish wasn't heated up enough so that the gravy was fully liquid. It was just glop. In other words, it was a very disappointing meal. There's no excuse for a person receiving a red steak when she ordered it well done -- TWICE -- and then never checking back, or acknowledging "Hey, she never touched this -- maybe it really sucked -- I wonder if I can help make this situation right." Nope. I guess it's much easier to ignore it. I will be adding a picture of my steak -- AFTER it came back from being sent back for additional cooking. And mind you, this is the edge piece I cut into. The center is probably fully raw. Yuck!

    Lamb Steak
    Kevin D.

    I like the no-frills feel of this place, at least the restaurant part (didn't go in the bar). It does look like I imagine a budget Mom and Pop would have in the 50s or before. Some may object, because it's not a low+budget place today. Basque dinners are mostly in the low 20s, and specials in the 30s. I thought the lamb dishes were average, especially the non-special ones: the quality of the meat was not great - this is typical of the shoulder cuts, but perhaps sous vide would have improved it. Chicken dishes, pastas, the lamb stew side dish, all were good, and the European style potato salad was particularly tasty (a lot like Argentinean maionesa). We had a hankering for Basque that night despite not being in Bakersfield, and this place satisfied. Oh, a one word comment: garlic! They did ask if we wanted it.

    Top sirloin
    Michael L.

    I am quite happy with myself for following my gut feeling in picking this restaurant. It is across the street from the greyhound station and it gets dodgy at night but what I like about this joint is that it is unpretentious, from the way it looks to the matter-of-fact attitude of the bartender and servers. This is my kind of place! I got the Boneless pork chop $16.95 and the girlfriend had the Top sirloin $21.95. We went with the basque style, which is a 7 course meal consisting of bread/butter, soup, salad, potato salad, side dish of the day, which happened to be beef stew and ice cream for dessert. For folks who don't want to stuff themselves silly, they offer the Shepherd's meal at $13.95, which gives you all of the basque style items listed above without the main entree. Not bad at all..... I like that they have a Decent Liquor list at very good prices too. For Example, old fashioned cocktail for $9 And a flight of Jim Beam consisting of 4 shots is just $12. Yeah, my kind of place.

    Side salad with vinaigrette blu cheese dressing
    Vanida B.

    What a hidden gem! So I've heard about this place over the years and it never dawned on me to try it just because it definitely has mixed reviews in my circle of friends. I happened to go with a regular and there are special signature cocktails. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to reveal the one I had, so I won't. It was so delicious and part of that is because the bartender squeezed an entire fresh orange into the drink. It's by far THE best cocktail I've had in Fresno, hands down. I've been to lots of places and it seems like most drinks taste watered down or not potent. The cocktails here are delicious and have the perfect blend. You have to try the lamb lollipops! It comes with choice of soup or salad and rice pilaf. The rice pilaf is standard, but the lamb lollipops are incredible!! They are wayyyy better than the lamb I had at The Elderberry House in Oakhurst (which is at least 3 times more expensive). They don't taste gamey at all. Melts in your mouth and has great seasoning. Let's talk about the environment for a little bit. It's right next to the train station so depending on when you go, it might be very tough to find parking. Downtown is a bit sketchy. Just like Forrest Gump says "You never know what you're going to get." I would definitely NOT go alone at night. When you walk in, it is a bar atmosphere and dimly lit. In the 2 times I've been there (once for lunch and once for happy hour) it doesn't appear to be kid friendly, which is fine - it's a bar! An eclectic mix of people for sure come here. I can definitely see this as my go to place when I'm downtown. I'm so happy I was introduced to it!

    Pasta!
    Ritu K.

    Wowwww! The ambiance and food is great here! I felt comfortable here. Everyone looked so happy. The food was so goooooood! The Italian dressing on the salad was amazing! My fettuccini alfredo pasta was great. No complaints! I will definitely come back for more for sure. A nice little plus is the area around the restaurant might look shady but keep walking and you will find that it's actually a verrrrry nice area. It won't feel like Fresno. If you are facing the restaurant, walk west and you will run into the nice area.

    Outside sign

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    10 months ago

    Awesome place, clean, fast service, friendly people working there. I highly recommend visiting atleast once if you are visiting this area.

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    Old coffee inn has some inside seating. Got the honey cinnamon latte which had great taste. Amazing customer service

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    Page 1 of 5

    Shepherd's Inn Reviews in Other Languages

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    Cosmopolitan Tavern

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    Where do I begin? I hate using the words hidden gem because every social foodie's review is over…read moresaturated with this term. But Cosmopolitan BLEW ME AWAY! I don't go to Fresno ever and I was blessed to be invited to dine with a group of ladies at this OUTSTANDING gem of a restaurant. From the street view the building is very non-descript except for the name across the awning. But once you park in the lot and walk through the doors you discover a beautiful dimly lit restaurant with a fully stocked bar. We sat in the private room since we were a rather large party, so a lot of us really took our time to browse the menu. Our server Felix was extremely courteous and patient not to mention professional. He took our drink orders first, let us gab and then came back for our food orders. He gave us the specials before we decided. When the food came out, our orders were perfect. I was beyond satisfied with my choice. The texture on the salmon was crispy but not dry and the pasta flavor was subtly spicy. Truly sublime! I was sad I was too full to finish my meal. Judy came by our table to refill our water carafe and none of us knew who she was. Quietly returning and very unassuming, we asked her name and began to learn she as the matriarch of the family behind the establishment. What a joy to have met her and she raved about her son Joe, the chef and shared the history about the restaurant. At the end of the meal we all indulged in some tiramisu. When Judy learned that we were there for a PTA convention, she shared she used to teach as well. What a treasure! I was beyond impressed with this restaurant. Everyone was courteous and attentive, cocktails and food were superb! If I ever return to Fresno, this is a MUST! Cannot recommend enough. For now I get to live vicariously through the reviews of all the other recommendations of meals to try. thank you cosmopolitan!

    Rechelle was absolutely hard carrying the floor on her back while providing EXCEPTIONAL service and…read morewas so sweet. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was really nice as well if id ever come down to fresno again id love to come back!

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    Chef Paul's Cafe - Fried chicken

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    I have been wanting to eat here for a while, but I am just never in the area. My mom and I were…read moredowntown checking out some thrift stores and when it came time for lunch, she said lets give Chef Paul's a try. All I can say is I'm glad we finally did. When you walk in you are greeted with a cozy area with a few tables and an open kitchen to the left side, all of the tables were occupied when we got there but luckily one opened up right after we got there. One thing I will mention upfront, and this is NOT a complaint; if you are in an impatient person who wants to be served immediately, don't come here. There isn't a lot of staff and ordering and food takes a bit of time, I think thats just fine, plus the food is worth the wait! I got the shrimp po boy with yams and mac and cheese, my mom got the fried chicken with pilaf and potato salad. The po boy was delicious, the mac and cheese was good, and the yams were absolutely fantastic. The fried chicken was even better, and I'm sad I didn't get it if I'm being honest! It was some of the best fried chicken I have ever had, second only to my Grandma's fried chicken. I can see why this place was rated as one of the 30 best black owned restaurants in the country. IN THE COUNTRY. I also got a slice of their peach cobbler to take home and share with my wife, and once again, it was one of the best pieces of peach cobbler I've ever had, and once again, second only to my Grandma's. The top crust was especially delicious, I am not sure what they did but it was fantastic! I am sad that I hadn't made it before today, but I am definitely gonna be back and will be bringing as many people as I can to Chef Paul's.

    Hours are hard to work with but do able It's a hole in the…read morewall that may make you reevaluate if finding parking is worth your life to a get plate.. it is, eat the biscuits and fried chicken, bombskies Try as many times but at least once in your central Valley life time

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    Chef Paul's Cafe - Fried fish snapper, with potato salad and Mac and cheese with side of cornbread

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    Mark's Kitchen

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    What an experience!!! And a very great first time. I came in being cursed at for waiting in the…read moreparking lot for so long but when it was time to order she wasted no time getting straight to business and ensuring I got what the F*** I wanted. The meal she said I'd like was the " Bomb Ass Shit" and let me tell ya it was packed with some great flavor!!' The fried rice was so good I never been much of a chow mein person, but this fried rice was really savory. I also enjoyed the spicy beef it has some great season and the beef was cooked so well you could till this place took pride in the meats it's served and the fresh produce as well, I killed all my broccoli hahah. I had enough on my plate for two people but I ate as much as I could and brought the rest back home. Pro tip: cook and over medium egg the next morning, warm the rice on a frying pan or Nuke it, place the over medium egg on top of this amazing fried rice and you got yourself a bomb breakfast. The ambiance is spacey, relaxing and clean, before I walked in they were mopping the floors and cleaning all tables so I know how clean it is and how thorough they were to make sure it was prepared for the rush on a Friday evening. Overall I really enjoyed me Experience, people complain about the price but for me that was more than enough food for two people and the quality of meat, produce, chicken and authenticity of style of cooking, and that personality when you first come in is something you can't pay for, and an experience worth trying. I'll be back again and thank you for the amazing food.

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    Ho Ho Kafe - Vegetable chow mein

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    Stopped by here for breakfast on our way up north. It's the Asian American combo of dreams…read more Pancakes, omelette with chow mein and rice. We got the omelette, side of pancakes and combination chow mein all for $31. That is insane in this economy. Might I add the portions were HUGE and made another complete meal for us at home. They were so sweet and nice in there and food tasted great. Highly recommend!

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    Shepherd's Inn - basque - Updated May 2026

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