1997 - Emilio Canales - Casa Canales
A search on the internet revealed very little about Emilio Canales or the well-known restaurant, Casa Canales. What we did learn was that Joe Canales started the family business on F Street in 1928. That was 87 years ago and at that time it was the first tortilla factory and one of the few Mexican restaurants in Fresno.Joe's son, Emilio, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 opened Casa Canales on Olive in 1953. In 1962 he relocated it to 3110 N. Maroa.
In 1978, Emilio sold Casa Canales. There's been some talk that many wanted to know what the family's recipes were. Apparently their salad dressing was quite the rage; even a 1970 Fresno Bee story spoke of some clues as to the ingredients of the dressing.
Peter Canales, Emilio's brother, had been the chef for the restaurant. He explained that it took him three years to perfect the dressing. Peter is quoted as saying, "It has condiments that go into both Caesar and Roquefort dressings. The secret was in making a tart mayonnaise and balancing the dressing with the correct amounts of anchovies and garlic. The effect was to bring out the features of both Caesar and Roquefort in one blend."
Should any of our readers have any further information or memories regarding Casa Canales, please feel free to share in the comments below.
1998 - The DiCicco Family - DiCicco's Family Restaurants
The original DiCicco's Italian Restaurant was opened on April 12, 1956 by Mamma and Papa DiCicco and their four sons. Every morning, Papa would go in early as he baked bread, made spaghetti sauce and minestrone soup - all from scratch.
Some of the Fresno locals have heard of the "Four Sons of Italy". Those four sons were the four young brothers, Nicola, Alberto, Frank and Roberto. Between the four of them, they would open the doors to the restaurant seven days a week. Dicico's rapidly became know as the place to go for great Italian food, fun and atmosphere. The four sons helped to develop this reputation by working together, singing songs and tossing pizzas in the air.
They owned a 1956 Ford Panel Truck which they drove to and from work, they also used this truck as their first pizza delivery vehicle. Still to this day, Dicicco's delivers a full menu of their fabulous Italian food - 7 days a week - to homes and offices. Today there are 19 DiCicco's locations in California with 12 of them in Fresno.
1999 - Charlie Chitchjian - Mars Drive-In, Charlie's
While researching Charlie Chitchjian and his restaurants, Mars Drive-In and Charlie's, one word continued to stand out. That word was "cruising". Those from the 50's, 60's and 70's all have fond memories of cruising Belmont. They talk of Mars Drive-In along with others: Port George, Royale, Bob's Drive-In, Moon Glo and some mention of the car-wash across from Mars. Upon further investigation, we learned that those going to the car-wash to hang out went there because they weren't buying food, but could still see the cruisers on Belmont.
Such were the days. We also learned that in 2007, at the age of 85, Charlie Chitchjian was the membership director of the Fresno Convention & Visitors Bureau. He was once quoted as saying, "You retire, you expire."
2000 - Chic Brooks - Dynaco, Perko's Cafe & Grill, Country Waffles
We all have our passions and our hobbies. While researching Chic Brooks and information on Dynaco and their various restaurants, more information was learned on Chic Brooks' hobby. From the clues found, we are fairly certain that Chic Brooks has had quite an impact on the Racing Pigeon sport. He is noted for the Poly Breeding Program and all fingers point to his large involvement in Hapyco Lofts.
As to the history of Dynaco and the various restaurants, we found it difficult to uncover much other than a few paragraphs on Country Waffles. Most native Fresnans are familiar with all of the Brooks restaurants. Many also recently with the new chain, Huckleberry's. All of these restaurants bring good ol' home cooking, plenty of it and great service to go with it.
2001 - Sal Salazar - Sal's Mexican Restaurant
Sal was born on September 16, (Mexican Independence Day), 1935. By the summer of 1942, seventeen years later, Sal found himself picking peaches for 35 cents an hour. Sal loved good food and had many loyal friends. One hot day, Sal had had enough, climbed down from his ladder, threw his basket on the ground and vowed, "I have picked my last Elberta." (Note the peach in the above Sal's ad).
Sal's desire was to sell tacos and other Mexican food to the local farm workers. Sal was quite the entrepreneur, finding an old man who had wood that he had planned on using to build a chicken coop. The man had grown too old, so Sal offered the then large sum of $25.00 for that wood. From that, he built his very first "Sal's". His mom and dad, Jose Maria and Antonia gave him a helping hand.
It wasn't long before their hard work, great food and superb service grew that small taco shed into the very popular family restaurant, Sal's Place. Their reputation drew people from miles around. To this day their reputation lives on in three locations, one in Selma, one in Fresno and one in Madera.
Sal left this world on yet another Mexican Holiday, Cinco de Mayo, 1980. His legend still lives on while his daughter, Lorraine and son, Karl carry on the tradition in the aforementioned local restaurants.
2002 - Barbara Lew - Loy Loy Chinese
Our research on this Fresno icon was next to futile. The only history that we could find was that Barbara Lew passed away on March 1, 2004 at the age of 74.
Personal memories, though, are still alive. Memories of the evening meals and the fabulous Chinese Smorgy. The food was great and plentiful. A favorite of mine was the breaded, deep fried oysters. Oh, for a visit to Loy Loy's today - good times with friends who have passed on. Such great memories.
Stay tuned, tomorrow brings yet another six years of the Fresno Great Lifetime Achievement Awards of the Best of the Valley Restaurants.
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