Restaurants in Fresno

India's Oven chefs knows their aesthetic well—they specialize in North Indian cuisine inspired by the state of Punjab, and forge a menu's worth of thick, flavorful curries, vegan options, and dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese. Punjab is also home to the tandoor style, and India's Oven pays homage to this with its crispy roti and oven-baked naan, ideal for sopping up morsels of lamb or seafood or for wearing to work. This distinctive cuisine is showcased in the restaurant's lunch buffet and in its lavish banquet hall, filled with crisp white drapes that tie close to chairs, sheer ribbons, and satin tablecloths. A selection of beer imported from India and traditional Indian cocktails complement the spicy food.

An indoor courtyard festooned with skylights, lush greenery, and a burbling stone fountain greets diners as they stream into Fresno Breakfast House. Once they cross the threshold of the central dining room, yellow and blue walls flow almost seamlessly into large landscape murals and a ceiling painted to look like a summer sky. Guests can also rent out the eatery's jungle room, which is decorated with wildlife statues, murals of gorillas and elephants, and a thatched hut. To pair with these decorative flourishes, the restaurant whips up an impressive American menu that earned a nod from Fresno Magazine as the city’s Best Breakfast in 2008.

Under the shadow of billowing palm branches and the world's tallest waiter, tables populate with three-egg omelets, traditional eggs benedict, and plates of french toast and belgian waffles. During lunch, fresh bread cushions certified Angus beef burgers and deli classics of pastrami, turkey, and smoked ham.

Feeding Fresnans since 1926, Santa Fe Basque's menu brings together soups, salads, meaty main plates, and dessert items in a culinary harmony unseen since the California Raisins dominated the airwaves. Served up family style, start with main plates such as fried chicken ($13.95), lamb steak ($15.95), and calamari almandine ($17.95). Unlike a semicircle, each entree comes with multiple sides; bread and butter, a side of the chef's choosing, a daily special side, soup, tossed salad, a veggie of the day, possibly a kitchen sink, potato salad, and a meal-capping bowl of ice cream all come standard.

Samba's full churrasco dinner ($27) gives you VIP access to a bountiful all-you-can-eat experience in a festive (and occasionally dancing and drumming) atmosphere. The south-of-the-equator steakhouse's salad bar overflows with delectable Brazilian side dishes of paellela and feijoada, crab legs, shrimp cocktail, caprese, french fries, and an assortment of cheese and olives. Since Brazilians view vegetarianism as a fanciful if unproven concept much like string theory or the existence of chupacabras, this might just be the only place herbivores will find anything they can eat at Samba. From there on out, a carnivorous carnival parade of servers in gaucho pants will arrive tableside bearing marvelous char-grilled meats skewered on swords, which they will then carve before your very eyes. You'll have your choice of filet mignon, linguica, bacon-swaddled turkey, parmesan-dipped chicken wings, rock-salt-marinated top sirloin, pork short ribs, and more. See if you can hit them all—a culinary challenge when one factors in your table's endless sides of fried bananas, baked cheese bread, polenta, and special seasoned fries. Wash everything down with a classic Brazilian caipirinha($7) in three flavors or one of Samba’s Brazilian wines by the glass (starting at $6) or the bottle (starting at $22).

Every night at 12:30 a.m., when antelopes are sleeping, the baking team at Great Harvest is milling wheat to a floury finish to craft the gourmet bread and baked goods on its menu. Take home a loaf of honey whole wheat ($5.00) or nine grain ($5.95), and cut fresh slices that hold together sandwich innards more tastily than a pair of thesauruses. Or choose a ready-made hand-held lunch from Great Harvest’s sandwich selections. Choose a type of bread, and then load it with premium meat slicelings and veggies ($4.95 for a half sandwich, $6.95 for whole). Pair it with an herbivorous tossing of salad greens ($3.55) or a protein-rich meat salad of chicken, tuna, or turkey ($5.95).

Owner Rosalinda Tovar delights Fresno-area eaters with a menu of authentic, award-winning Mexican cuisine. On weekends, patrons can partake of the accolade-earning menudo, a hominy-and-tripe soup ($6.25 for a small bowl). Many a blushing taste bud has fallen prey to the tamales, a seductive selection of pork, chicken, or beef wrapped within a tailored waistcoat of fresh corn masa and an elegant corn-husk dinner jacket ($10.95 for a plate of two). The fajitas deluxe showcases a sizzling triumvirate of beef, chicken, and shrimp with mixed veggies, guacamole, and sour cream ($14.95). For chronic coin-flippers, the list of combination plates stumps the stodgiest statisticians with its overwhelming set of flavor coefficients (up to $10.95). All entrees come with rice and beans.