Starving Artists Bistro

I love this place! It’s a nice hangout place to take family or friends. I’ve been here for brunch and their omelettes are super delish! Their meal options for lunch and dinner are also simple and delicious. I like how they have a small menu with a variety of options. The side options they have with their entrees is cool because you can always switch up your meal options. I mean who doesn’t want a side of tator-​tots with their meal? The drink options are also very yummy. And you can’t beat the cool ambiance and laid back feel of the place!

The people running this restaurant are douchebags. I over heard them bad mouthing an employee who apparently wasn’t there at the moment. It had something to do with cucumbers not being cut the right way and the things that were being said were very unprofessional. I won’t go back to a place that is so unkind.

I loved this place. My fiancé and I walked in on a Thursday night around 6:30 or so. It was busy, but not crazy. I loved all the cool artwork for sale on the walls and the band was great. The girl that led us to our table was really friendly, as was our server, Meagan. At the end of our meal, I even got to speak with the owner – a very friendly man, who seems like he loves his guests and his job.
We started off with a beer (1554) and a cucumber mule (which I really enjoyed, very crisp, but definitely strong cucumber flavor. I’m into that. Fiancé’s not.) along with some short rib tacos. These tacos were the business. So good. And the avocado corn salsa was DELICIOUS.
For dinner we shared the Mediterranean pasta since we knew we’d be ordering dessert. We ordered the cheesy garlic bread as our side. The garlic bread was wonderful, just crisp enough, and I thought the pasta was great, also. My fiancé thought it could do with just a touch more feta, but he loved it as well.
Finished off with the caramel apple martini (I actually don’t know if that’s what it was called. Something like that), the bread pudding, and the chocolate cake. I thought the chocolate cake was delicious, but rich. The bread pudding was phenomenal. And this is coming from someone who SWEARS by Cracked Pepper’s bread pudding. I usually won’t even try it anywhere else, but I heard Vatche, himself, thinks that the bread pudding here rivals his, so I gave it a shot. Delicious. Personally, I’m still missing the cream cheese danishes that make Vatche’s dish, but this is a CLOSE second.
Overall, we will definitely be back. With great food and good prices, this will probably become a regular date spot :)

Great place, wide and creative menu. Live band, with indoor and outdoor seating.
Full bar, and very helpful staff. The owner regularly comes by to check on you.

This place Rocks!!! Literally! Great food and staff a must try!!!

Wow!!! Such a cool place. This place was comfortable, food was yummy, music was great, service was, right on time. Can’t wait to go back and try more on the menu and hear more music.

incredible short rib tacos, wonderful salads, top-​notch burgers. oh yeah and bread pudding was awesome!
my only complaint is that the menu is a little small. for dinner you can pretty much have a sandwich or a big steak. but that’s where you just order a few different appetizers.
drink selection was good too. the live music wasn’t overly loud or terribly bad, either.

First timer to starving artist and I was very impressed. Food was absolutely delicious! I had the shrimp fettuccine, definitely recommend. A great place to hang out and listen to great music.

I have been to Starving Artists both for lunch, dinner and brunch on Sundays. Their menu has a very great selection it’s usually hard to pick just ONE thing!
Lunch– I got their bacon cheeseburger & I ate the whole plate. It was one of the best burgers I’ve tasted, truly.
Dinner– I ordered the shrimp pasta & it was super tasty. I remember it being a bigger portion so I didn’t finish the whole plate.
Brunch– This was probably my favorite meal I’ve had here. I was disappointed to have came here on a saturday morning to hear they only have brunch on sundays because I was really looking forward to it. However, my friend & I got their bloody mary with eggs benedict. Eggs benedict in itself is usually pretty heavy paired with their potatoes was a lot. I’m pretty sure I wanted to sleep for 6 hours after finishing the whole thing.
I love the concept of this place. Anyone, meaning «starving artists» are able to entertain live in the restaurant– ranging from music to comedy. I think that’s really awesome & creative.
Based off my review, I will obviously be back LOL :)

This is a darling place! Great atmosphere, the service is top notch and food is amazing! Can’t wait to come back with my people!

This is a great little gastropub with an eclectic, extensive menu of mostly American comfort foods.
I really loved the idea of hot dog sliders: three small hotdogs with interesting toppings. The sweet shrimp salad was also an interesting combination of greens, shrimp, candied nuts, cheese and a sweet balsamic dressing.
We loved the vibrant décor, with guitars everywhere! Service was extremely friendly, and the kitchen is lightning fast.

We were looking up places to eat at the Apple Store while waiting to talk to a Genius Bar techie about my girlfriend’s broken phone. This café popped up and the reviews look great. The techie also recommended it saying its 1 of his favorite places for lunch.
I had the Arrogant bastard beer which I didn’t like, too bitter. My girlfriend had the White orchid cocktail and she liked it. it was a strong drink. I should’ve gotten that too.
I had the Prime rib dip sandwich & the Gouda soup. I redeemed myself on that one because the meat wasn’t too fatty and the dip was just right. I woofed it down like I had just gotten out of a 2 week retreat for vegetarians — yuck
This café is nice. It has live music. We were there on a mid Saturday afternoon & this musician was playing acoustic guitar. The ambiance is chill and service was great. I’ve bookmarked it

One warm late morning… a buddy of mine said we should grab a beer on the patio. Glad we did. I’ve been back several times. Going tomorrow too with the family.
Food is spot on. Interesting selection and prepared with care. The onion rings ROCK! Portions are just right. Not Mounds of food where you feel sick later. Prices are great. Beer and wine selection is solid and priced right. Bloody Marys look terrific! Service is is really good.
The patio and fountain are perfect on a warm fall afternoon. Sunday brunch with mimosas and eggs benedict.
Then there is the music and art. Open mic so you just never know.

I had never heard of the Starving Artist before this visit, but while in Northern Fresno, I randomly chose a spot to eat, and this establishment looked pretty cool from the outside. Walking in, the first thing that I noticed was the stage in the corner with instruments and mics… so already I was totally stoked. I sat at the bar and waited for the entertainment to start.
Natalie was my server, and was pretty helpful in pointing out some of the house favorites. For my meal, I decided on the pastrami sandwich, fries, and a Dr Pepper. While waiting, I looked around to see that the place is decked out in wine themed décor with a mix of musical items… very nice touch. The other customers there seemed to enjoy themselves, which is a positive sign for me. My food came rather promptly, and at just about the same time as a gentleman started to sing (I am told that open mic is every night). I loved the fries, which had, what tasted like pepper, sprinkled on top. My sandwich was very delicious; the bread was very soft, and easy to fit into my mouth, and the meat was generously topped with melted cheese.
I was very satisfied with my dinner visit, and I was given a tip to come back on Wednesday nights, because apparently there are many musicians who sing that night, which I will gladly do.

Atmosphere is awesome, Service is decent, and the live music is usually good (i can hear from my house a lot of the time). The décor is very inviting and makes sense in this type of establishment
My issue with this place is the food, it just isn’t that good. It tastes like prepackaged food that is heated up in a microwave. My wife’s chicken actually had hot and cold spots as if it were cooked in the microwave. Since I have only eaten here once, I do plan on trying the food once more to see if it was a one time thing.
This establishments strength is really the atmosphere and music. If you are coming here for drinks and music, I give it 5 stars… just make sure you eat dinner before coming.
Huge fan of local business and hope to return here one day to update my review.

Service & food both good!
We had lunch here today at about 2:00pm
Had margaritas, and a cucumber mule. The mule is actually really good, even for those that don’t really like cucumbers. Presentation is good to!
We ordered the cobb, loved the presentation! I had the leave off the cheese and egg for allergy purposes.
We also had two pastrami sandwiches and they were liked as well.
It is a little crowded and very open, but thats good for when they have bands playing.
I remember wanting to try this place because they had a really good band playing when I was eating next door one weekend. Seems like a very fun and chill environment.
Love that the servers are chill as well, atleast the one we had. Not pushy or stuck up what so ever.
Will be coming here again.

This place is great, I had meant to go here shortly after it opened but it took us quite a while before we finally made it over here.
The place has art on the wall from local artists, as well as assorted rock and roll items like guitars and whatnot. There is a small stage setup in one corner where a variety of bands and singers will play at dinner time.
All of the food that I have had here has been outstanding, my personal favorite is the BBQ chicken sandwich. I think that it may be, no joke, one of the best chicken sandwiches I have ever had. The chicken was cooked perfectly, it had nice thick pieces of bacon on top, served with a tasty BBQ sauce.
The waitresses are all very friendly, and the owner who has been there every time I have gone there the owner has been there as well, going from table to table talking with customers, he also is a real friendly guy.
I really like this place, the food is excellent and the singers/​bands they have are fun as well, definitely a fan of this place.

I was excited to try the short rib tacos here at the Starving Artists Bistro; I got my chance this past weekend. The tacos were excellent and pretty damn filling for an appetizer (see my pic). They were moist, tasty, and flavorful, although they could have used a little more spice. I also tried the bacon mac & cheese which was average; it was somewhat sweet and a little watery. The service here was decent (seated right away around 5pm and order taken quickly), prices pretty fair for the area (though a tad on the pricey side), and ambiance was like a pub/​bar/​tavern (e.g. a bar, some tables, booths, and mini-​stage). They had outdoor seating in a strip mall setting. I’d say the Starving Artists Bistro is a solid 3.5 overall; I’d give 4 stars for service and 3 for food. I’ve higher hopes for the burger which I hope to try next time.

Amazing burgers… worth a visit! We stopped by based upon the outstanding Unilocal reviews (family of five) and ordered a variety of hamburgers, fries and onion rings. Everything we had was excellent… our favorites included the bacon burger, chili burger and the onion rings. Service was great, food was delivered fast, and everything tasted great.
We will be back!

I’m so disappointed. I was really looking forward to eating here after reading about the ambiance and the menu.
We get there and were seated immediately by the hostess, who was great.
Then we wait 20 minutes to get someone to even take our water order. We see 4 different servers walk by then we ask the hostess if we can order. She let’s someone know but they seemed to have brushed her off.
Then I try to wave someone down. She comes up to our table and tells us she’s looking for our server but she came off as rude.
Our server finally comes and no apology for the wait or anything.
The portions were small and the food was nothing special. Not returning.