Dine and Dish: Cosmopolitan Tavern and Italian Grill in downtown Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Cosmopolitan Tavern and Italian Grill at Ventura and O Street has been a downtown Fresno staple for well over a century.

For ABC30 sports anchor Stephen Hicks, coming here is often the "highlight" of his day.

"Well you know how busy sports is, Dale. I'm like living in the edit bay so any time I can just get a quick bite downtown, the lunch here is incredible. The sandwiches here are massive," explained Hicks.

"This is the same way we've been doing it since the '70s. We were one of the first places in town to do tri-tip," said Joe Lanfranco, owner and executive chef.

"We've got some mozzarella cheese, some cheddar cheese."

You can dip it in bbq sauce or au jus.

"This BBQ's homemade? Everything's homemade. All the sauces, salad dressings," said Hicks.

Hicks poured it on, like a football team crushing an opponent.

"The tri-tip's not dry. It's got a richness to it. It's real thick. Incredible."

The Cosmo is the kind of place where the owner knows everyone's name.

"A lot of them have become like family," Lanfranco said. "We've been downtown literally since 1904."

The original bar was rolled down the street from Cosmo's former location in 2016.

"We still have the first dollar hanging over the bar," Lanfranco pointed out.

That's not the only thing that remained the same in the restaurant.

"We brought the same ovens, we brought the same saute pans over, we brought everything from the old place," said Lanfranco.

"You are a tradition guy, historian kind of guy," added Hicks. "This place actually fits your personality. It fits the brand. Yeah, there are pictures too on the wall, like old baseball teams from the 1900s."

The Bee Sting Bruschetta is an instant classic.

"It's a Calabrian chili honey. Calabrian chili paste mixed with some honey that we get from a farmer in Tranquillity," said Lanfranco.

The dish is amazing because it's a little spicy, spicy, and sweet.

Every part of it compliments itself, the honey, the bread is perfect.

Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama is a regular at the Cosmo.

"It really is Cosmopolitan. There's really a lot of groups coming together," Lanfranco said.

Pizza, pasta, and steaks are served for dinner.

"We wanted to take it to the next level at dinner time," said Lanfranco.

"Almost always, this is how I refuel from those golf and hiking trips, yeah," explained Hicks.