A Fresno barbecue restaurant that usually counts on Thanksgiving to boost sales is taking a different approach this year.

Bernard Mendoza, co-owner and pitmaster at BenSmokin BBQ in Fresno’s Tower District, said he felt a calling to feed people.

Mendoza said his father, the “Ben” in BenSmokin BBQ, inspired him to pursue cooking. His father had suffered a major stroke, leaving him mostly incapacitated, but still able to write. Mendoza recalled:

“One day we were having a conversation and he was writing … he basically wrote, ‘You? A chef?’ And his face lit up. Within a couple weeks, I enrolled in culinary school.”

Mendoza started selling barbecue plates locally, eventually moving into catering during COVID and later opening the brick-and-mortar restaurant on Palm and Olive avenues. He and

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