Frezno Bar and Grill

Just had the short rib tacos for lunch. My friend had the roasted beet salad and asked them to add chicken. Both were good. Known more as a bar/​casual evening venue — good for lunch, too.

I’m always excited to try a new restaurant option close to our apartment downtown and/​or close to a CoGo station. This place is better than most and has a really nice patio space. Seemed like mostly lighter fare, so it we got a bottle of white off the wine list than is more interesting than most. Dinner was overall very good. We’d definitely think about coming back. It will be interesting to see how this place is when the weather gets cooler and the focus needs to be on the inside space.

Take this for what it’s worth because they are just opening and I’ve only visited once. So while I’ll cut them some slack, the experience was so bad I felt the need to review.
First, it’s a cool spot and cool building. I really like this complex in the brewery district and wish it would fill up, but it doesn’t get a ton of foot traffic and lacks signage and parking from the street — that seemed to doom the businesses the first time around and I’m afraid I can see it happening again. Knowing this you would think people would want to come out gangbusters and really get some word on the street going. Frezno seems to have taken a different approach.
Great patio and friendly service, but from there it’s pretty much bad news. Beer selection was odd and seemingly out of season. No I don’t want to drink a stout on a 90 degree day. Even if I did they were out of several drafts.
Then you have the rest of the menu, which is a little confused and probably trying too hard. Remove all fish items because they are having a problem with their supplier right now and it was up to freshness standards. I appreciate the honesty, but weird to sit down and hear we don’t have this, this or this.
I ordered the parma prosciutto pizza, which is one of the more popular items. It is… odd. The crust is pretty much identical to the bread they bring you when you sit down. The toppings? There was just too much going on. It nice to be creative and hip, but they actually have to have a taste that fits together.
I hope this place works. I really do. I’m just not going to be the one to promote it or visit it again until they get to the kinks worked out.

I had my second visit to Frezno’s last night. Since it is brand spankin’ new, I only thought it fair to reserve my judgment until I had another go around.
First, finding the place. It is located on an alley that is off of Front street, very close to Livingston avenue in the Brewery District– basically right across the street from Shadowbox (and thank goodness for that, now you don’t have to eat there when you see a show). It also shares the alley with Double Happiness. You should be able to see the valet from the street, but there is a lot of metered parking around (though you have to pay until 10).
The good includes fantastic patios (yes, plural), above average service (even though it is a bit chaotic in that everything-​is-​still-​new kind of way), decent beer menu (and they actually know how to pour draft beer), and ridiculously good desserts… ridiculously good.
The food so far is a bit hit or miss, ranging from fantastic to simply adequate (I have had nothing bad thus far). The menu includes favorites from several restaurants that owners’ have previously owned. Though I appreciate that (though it really isn’t explained on the menu, which I think would be helpful)… it leads the menu to be a bit disjointed. You have food from all over the map (Asian influences next to fried chicken next to Mediterranean), which leads to a kind of confusing dining experience– even knowing the why of it, nothing else really holds the menu together.
My understanding is the short rib tacos are fantastic. Calamari very good. The pierogies are merely… meh. There is a heavy emphasis on pork product. My first visit had me ordering the Thai Noodle salad, which though good was a bit lackluster and seriously, thai noodle salad cannot have spaghetti noodles in it… soba, udon, rice noodles, pick one… just not spaghetti. Yesterday, I had the Mediterranean salad with an added salmon and it was fantastic. Salmon was cooked perfectly and a huge portion for only $ 5.00 (that was the up charge, the whole salad was $ 15.00).
I split a piece of chocolate cake with my dining companion. A mistake for my diet to be sure… but otherwise, lovely.
I am very excited to have a new place within biking distance. Please give it a go.

I was a big fan of the old Frezno in the Short North, so when the new Frezno opened up, I was excited to check it out. Good thing I did.
The food was great. I had the Short Rib Tacos, which were outstanding, and the pierogis, which I thought we very good. My wife had salmon, which she liked. They have a very good beer selection, and I thought the service was good.
My only hitch is the space itself, which is a little dark and bland, especially compared to the electric environment their old space in the Short North had. On a good note, they have plenty of patio space, and if you have trouble finding parking, they have a reasonably priced valet.
Definitely worth checking out!