A big plate of Chinese food with side of sass. Mark’s Kitchen is a Fresno gem

Uniquely is a Fresno Bee series that covers the moments, landmarks and personalities that define what makes living in the Fresno area so special.

If Mark’s Kitchen on Belmont Avenue was your favorite hidden gem in Fresno, we have some news for you:

The secret is out.

This humble-looking restaurant at 4828 E. Belmont Ave., just east of Chestnut Avenue, has exploded in popularity thanks to the cheeky-yet-charming Heak “Helen” Po, whose family has run the Chinese food and hamburger joint for nearly three decades.

For years, the restaurant has been kept afloat by its loyal southeast Fresno clientele who don’t mind paying a little extra for a combination plate of garlic chicken, shrimp and beef over chow mein, or a triple-patty cheeseburger with bacon.

That all changed about a year and a half ago when one of Po’s customers encouraged her to try something new: Why not create a TikTok account and post videos of Po and her customers? It worked like magic.

People can’t seem to get enough of Po’s sassy, profane and, most of all, entertaining personality.

Her TikTok page, @heakpo, has more than 277,000 followers and her countless videos have racked up nearly 6 million views.

One of her customers, @mama_leelee46, posted a video of Po helping her and a friend order dinner, and it has more than 13 million views.

Po’s new-found fame has also attracted customers from outside of Fresno, including Modesto, Bakersfield and Coalinga. She was recently featured in SF Gate but has turned down requests from two local television stations.

She jokes that she can’t handle any more business.

“I say I don’t want to do it and I try to hide my a--, but the more I hide the more I blow up,” she says with a laugh.

These days, a line out the door is not uncommon during the lunch and dinner rush.

Once inside, you hear the clattering of pots and pans coming from the tiny kitchen. A cook tosses chunks of chicken, shrimp or beef into a sizzling stir fry pan. And standing behind the long counter is Po, wearing a canary yellow, custom-made T-shirt with her favorite slogan, “Bomb A-- S---.”

Po isn’t sure when the phrase became her motto, but it works, especially on TikTok where she records her customer’s reaction to the small mountain of food in front of them.

“That is some bomb a-- s---,” she says, handing her customer a plastic fork so they can take a bite.

Customers instinctively agree.

First-time customers, Steven Castillo of Bakersfield and his two teenagers, Aaron and Natalie, sought out Mark’s Kitchen after Steven Castillo saw Po on social media.

The family was flying to Seattle recently and stopped at the restaurant before their flight. They devoured their dishes and vowed to return when they flew back to Fresno a few days later.

“It was so good, we had to stop here again before heading back home,” said Steven Castillo. “It’s all we were thinking about when we landed.”

When their food was ready, Po called out their order in her own unique way.

“Hey number 3, get your a-- back here. Your order is ready,” she said.

You get the same sort of treatment when you order.

“What the hell you want,” is usually the first thing she tells you when you are ready to order.

And don’t worry if you can’t figure out what you want. Po will help. She swipes through dozens of photos of the menu items she has loaded on her iPad.

She’ll ask if you want your food spicy, do you like beef or chicken, fried rice or noodles? What about shrimp?

She teases one customer, calling her “boring” for not liking her food hot and spicy. And don’t be shocked by the price of your meal. It adds up quickly.

Po admits that some people complain about the cost of her meals that can be higher than other Chinese restaurants in the Fresno area.

“But what I tell people is that if you want some bomb a-- s---, you have to pay for it,” she says. “And if you don’t like it, you get your money back and you can get the f--- out.”

Robert Watson, has been a regular customer for nearly 30 years, even before Helen and her family took over the restaurant. The way she talks on TikTok is the way she has always talked. There is nothing phony about her.

“She has fun with her customers; that is who she is,” Watson says. “And the truth is, she is a very sweet lady.”

Social media professional Jenna Liston, who is TikTok Manager at IKA Social in Fresno, says Po is special — potty mouth and all.

“Everyone is trying to copy what other people are already doing,” Liston says. “When you have a gem like that of a person who isn’t afraid to be themselves, it’s a shoe-in for vitality on social media.”

Sign Up for Local Breaking News