Chef Paul's: A Chinatown Hot Spot Serves Up Creole Sauce, Shrimp And Grits

KVPR | By Monica Velez,

Alice Daniel

Published April 17, 2019 at 10:36 AM PDT

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A Mural of Jazz Musicians Gives the Cafe A New Orleans Kind of Vibe

Alice Daniel

Today on Valley Edition, we're taking you to Fresno's Chinatown. And we're starting at Chef Paul's Cafe.

Customers can sit at the tile counter and watch as their meals are prepared right in front of them.

Credit Alice Daniel /

People come from all over the state to try Chef Paul Pearson's recipes but the cafe is only open because someone bet him $1,000 that he couldn't keep a restaurant afloat in Chinatown.

Chef Paul Pearson (left) gets visitors from all over the state. Eddie Wu Tangzy (middle) not only cooks, he also sings songs about the cafe.

Credit Alice Daniel /

Chef Paul's is brimming with the lunch crowd. There’s a funky mural on the wall of jazz musicians playing at a bar. And the clientele is really diverse. There are suits and hipsters, and everyone in between. When you walk out it feels like you’re leaving an urban hot spot. But shut the door behind you and you’re back to a part of downtown that sometimes feels abandoned.