Downtown Fresno will get a new craft cocktail lounge Friday with a focus on espresso-flavored drinks. The name? Neat & Noir.

It only took owner Eric Santos 45 days to buy the former Saint Joaquin and get the space ready for its grand opening this weekend.

Santos said the Neat & Noir name represents everything the bar can be. Being open earlier than most bars, it has the light, airy views during the day, while at night, it turns into the darker lounge. The name also represents the range of drinks served.

“That’s what ‘Neat’ represents — the traditional drinks, and then the ‘Noir’ in the name — French for black or dark — represents the coffee,” Santos said.

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Neat & Noir to Start With 15 Unique Drinks, Expand Soon

This weekend, Neat & Noir will open at 5 p.m., going to midnight at the Peerless Building on 1755 Broadway St. On Saturday, Santos will open the doors at 2 p.m. and noon for Sunday. By next week, they’ll be open Thursday through Sunday.

They’ll start with an initial menu of between 15 to 20 drinks, not including the standards. About a third of those will have coffee worked into them. Santos’ favorite is the Alpine Brew. They take a whiskey or bourbon and mix it with a cold brew.

“I’m a big fan of coffee and whiskey as well, and I kind of got a little bit of inspiration for the bar when I was visiting my brother in Mexico City,” Santos said.

Santos Plans to Open The Basement By the End of the Year

Buying a business and opening it within 45 days can be a Herculean task. Almost as notable, too, is the social media following he’s garnered since debuting the project on Instagram. In 48 hours, he gained several hundred followers. They just started promoting the venture on Monday. It now stands at over 5,000 followers.

Helping Santos was the pop-up project called The Upstairs at Sun Stereo Warehouse, across the street from Tioga Sequoia Brewing Co. He hosted the events at the basement of the building prior to opening Neat & Noir.

“A lot of the feedback has been about the space. And for me, the drinks are important — we’re going to have great drinks, but I wanted to create a space and ambiance that I’ve experienced in other places,” Santos said. “The product is super important.”