A Little History

The original location of the business was in the Santa Fe Hotel in Downtown Fresno. The hotel was built in 1927 and served as a boarding house for newly arrived immigrants, specifically those from the Basque Country. These types of hotels/boarding houses were commonplace in Downtown Fresno during that time.

Through the years, the hotel evolved into a full service restaurant. There have been many owners of the business and building through the years. In 1990, first-generation Basque-Americans, Jean Pierre and Manuela Etchechury purchased the business from Jean Baptiste and Yvette Bidegaray, whom had purchased the business from Prosper and Geromie Garateix in the 80's.

In 2001, the owners of the business, Jean Pierre and Manuela Etchechury, along with their young children, Dominique and Pampi, moved the business from the Santa Fe Hotel to its current location.

The restaurant is now located on Maroa Ave. and Shields, between the Tower District and Fig Garden. This building has been home to "The Players" restaurant in the 80's and 90's and "Casa Canales" in the 70's. It was the Canales' residence during the 50's and 60's before it was transformed into a restaurant.

While the Santa Fe Basque Restaurant and Bar is no longer affiliated with the Santa Fe Hotel and it's rich history, we still work hard to provide our customers with traditional and contemporary Basque-American food, to perpetuate the Basque culture, to educate others about the Basques, and to offer an enjoyable home-away-from-home atmosphere for our wonderful customers.