The original location of the business was in the Santa Fe Hotel in Downtown Fresno. The hotel was built in 1927 and served as a boarding house for newly arrived immigrants, specifically those from the Basque Country. These types of hotels and boarding houses were commonplace in Downtown Fresno during that time. Through the years, the hotel evolved into a full-service restaurant.

There have been many owners of the business and building through the years. In 1990, first-generation Basque-Americans Jean Pierre and Manuela Etchechury purchased the business from Jean Baptiste and Yvette Bidegaray, who had purchased the business from Prosper and Geromie Garateix in the 1980s.

In 2001, Jean Pierre and Manuela Etchechury, along with their young children Dominique and Pampi, moved the business from the Santa Fe Hotel to its current location on Maroa Ave. and Shields, between the Tower District and Fig Garden. This building has been home to "The Players" restaurant in the 80s and 90s and "Casa Canales" in the 70s. It was the Canales' residence during the 50s and 60s before it was transformed into a restaurant.

While the Santa Fe Basque Restaurant and Bar is no longer affiliated with the Santa Fe Hotel and its rich history, we still work hard to provide our customers with traditional and contemporary Basque-American food, to perpetuate the Basque culture, to educate others about the Basques, and to offer an enjoyable home-away-from-home atmosphere for our wonderful customers.