Downtown Fresno's Frida Café moving to a new location

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Albee Sanchez always dreamed of opening a business.

The pandemic caused him to close one but it was only the beginning of what is now Frida Café in downtown Fresno.

"With my first PPP loan, I bought all my equipment and opened my café and it was so surreal," he says.

The established Mexican restaurant, Los Ponchos, allowed him to use their bar for his business.

Sanchez says this space was everything he envisioned for Frida Café.

"I thought well gosh, more people need to see this space, it's way too beautiful to not be used in the morning so they allowed me to use it," he says.

From the outside to the inside, you see the art, culture, and energy this café resembles, much like Frida Khalo herself.

"I do my best to manifest her energy. You don't have to be Hispanic to know or appreciate her," she says.

After seven months, he's taking a leap of faith and saying goodbye to this location, one he says he'll eternally be grateful for.

"With love and respect to Los Panchos we are going to be leaving the location. It's very sad but very exciting," he says.

A plan he says was in place since the launch of the café.

Meanwhile, he plans to reveal the next chapter of Frida's Café next Friday but right now, he can tell us this....

"It will be more centrally located, more accessible, there will be more parking, more seating and it will be a natural historical place to be in Fresno, probably one of the most," he says.

A reality he believes wouldn't be happening had it not been for the community's support amid the pandemic.

"I will be eternally grateful for that start and in my normal fashion, when I do something else the next step is always up," he says.