West Modesto farm-to-fork meat-potatoes restaurant opens after year delay by COVID
Depending on how you look at things, Burly’s California Bistro either had terrible or terrific timing. Probably both.
The new full-service restaurant on Carpenter Road from longtime Modesto caterer Kimberly Gaynor and chef Mike Ortiz had originally been set to open in early 2020. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit last March, work on their new space ground to a halt.
So the team sat out all of last year as the pandemic savaged the restaurant landscape with what seemed like a never-ending roller coaster of openings and closings due to spikes in COVID-19 outbreaks.
But Wednesday, the first official day Stanislaus County restaurants were allowed to reopen inside dining since the November shutdown, was also the restaurant’s first day open to the public. The result is a sit-down restaurant with what Gaynor calls “upscale meat-and-potatoes.”
Burly’s, which is Gaynor’s nickname for Kimberly, has a long history working in the region’s food industry, starting with her old boss Dan Costa from Mallard’s. Costa’s advice that if you give people meat-and-potatoes they always come back inspired the restaurant’s menu.
Local producers on menu at new Modesto bistro
Gaynor and Ortiz have taken a farm-to-fork approach to the old standard. The hamburger comes from nearby Dave’s Meats. The produce from Ratto Farms. The cheese from Fiscalini. A large mural on one wall points out some of the area’s agricultural landmarks and restaurant partners.
Burly’s offers full lunch and dinner menus. Lunch includes more than half a dozen sandwiches (prices range from $12 to $16), a large selection of salads and a few main entrees ($18 to $24). Dinner includes whiskey peppercorn sirloin ($25), lamb chops ($40), seared scallops ($22) and herb chicken breast ($18). Expect the menu to change seasonally with the harvest.
Burly’s also has a full bar with 10 beers and four wines on tap, as well as a selection of 50 varietals. While the restaurant stops serving at 9 p.m., most nights the full bar will remain open until midnight. You can nosh on bar menu items as well to help wash down those cocktails.
The restaurant’s west side location is special to Gaynor, who grew up in west Modesto neighborhoods, attending Mark Twain Junior High and Modesto High. It’s also one of the few full-service restaurants to open in that part of town, and Gaynor said she hopes it becomes a welcome spot for all in the neighborhood.
“The west side means a lot to me. I went to Modesto High, my kids went to Modesto High and I hope my grandkids go there,” Gaynor said.
Burly’s opens with around 15 staff. The 4,400 square-foot space has two private banquet areas that can be rented. One intimate space, the Blue Room, can fit about 10. The larger space, The Barn with its sliding barn doors, can fit about two dozen. Overall the space has a capacity for about 60 once capacity limits are dropped for the pandemic.
Gaynor also plans to continue her catering business, which will now run out of the restaurant’s spacious kitchen with an oven large enough to cook 200 pieces of chicken at once. She plans to continue working with her corporate clients like Save Mart and Costco, as well as expanding for weddings, office parties and other special events.
After most of 2020 spent not cooking, Ortiz said it was great to be able to serve people again — even if it took a year longer than expected.
“It’s been nice spending time with the family but it’s been weird not cooking or being in a kitchen,” he said. “We’re excited to be open and to have people try our food.”
Burly’s California Bistro, at 1219 Carpenter Road Suite 5 in Modesto, is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and closed Sunday. The bar is open until midnight most nights. For more information call 209-312-9400 or visit www.facebook.com/Burlyscaliforniabistro.
Elsewhere around the Business Beat:
I told you the new Crossroads West housing development was moving right along, and it certainly is this week.
The City of Riverbank and project developers will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Friday, March 26 at the corner of Oakdale and Crawford roads. The event will commemorate the start of the new Crossroads West community which will have some 1,200 single-family homes among other amenities.
Work began earlier this month on the ambitious project across from the existing Crossroads shopping center. The 380-acre development will eventually have single and multi-family homes, a sports complex, school, parks and retail shopping center.
For more on the Crossroads West development from FCB Homes call 209-957-8112 or visit www.fcbhomes.com.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
