A LONG-STANDING MEXICAN RESTAURANT is relocating after San Jose converted the motel next door into a homeless shelter.
Los Garcias Restaurant will move into the former Fairway Zone Sports and Bar Lounge at 1150 Murphy Ave. in North San Jose following months of declining income, due in large part to customers not being able to find parking. The eatery’s current location will close May 31, with its new spot tentatively opening June 2.
“At this time, it’s just time to go,” Bernadette Garcia, who manages the restaurant, told San José Spotlight. “We can’t serve our customers (here). We want to go back to the way we used to serve our customers.”
When San Jose began converting the Alura Inn into a shelter last summer, Garcia said her sales immediately dropped 50%. Los Garcias and Alura Inn share a parking lot. Even though the inn has 42 rooms, Garcia said parking was never an issue until the city converted the motel and installed a fence to block off motel parking. The fencing left Garcia with 18 spaces. Garcia said she was never informed about the city’s plan to turn Alura into a shelter until the conversion was well underway.
Alura Inn was one of five motels the city converted into shelters last year to move hundreds of people living in Columbus Park into housing as it decommissioned its then-largest homeless encampment.
San Jose Housing Department spokesperson Sarah Fields said the city has been in regular communication with Garcia. She said city staff discussed with Garcia a city program that provides up to $10,000 to support outdoor improvements like signs and worked with her to reconfigure the parking.
“Our goal is to ensure that both the motel-based shelter program and the neighboring business can successfully operate at this site,” Fields told San José Spotlight. “We remain committed to supporting local businesses while also reducing unsheltered homelessness across the city.”
Garcia said the housing department promised her an additional eight to 10 spaces, but never followed through.
Representatives for Mayor Matt Mahan and Councilmember Anthony Tordillos, whose district includes the restaurant, did not respond to requests for comment.
‘We tried everything’
With the restaurant’s profits rapidly sinking, Garcia was forced to borrow money to make ends meet. Garcia worried she would have to close the restaurant. A family friend helped her secure another location and negotiated a deal on the rent. The move was something Garcia never anticipated in her 22 years of running the business, but she wasn’t ready to shut it down.
“It was our last resort. We tried everything,” Garcia said. “It’s a big move. It’s been a hardship for almost a year.”
Los Garcias has been at 1390 Oakland Road in North San Jose for the last two decades and has accumulated a regular customer base that feels like one big family.
Lorenzo Castaneda, 40, has been coming to the restaurant for the past decade. Castaneda, who works near Los Garcias, was at the restaurant on his lunch break with two friends on Tuesday. Parking had filled up and people coming into the restaurant parked in the fire lane.
“… We remain committed to supporting local businesses while also reducing unsheltered homelessness across the city.”
Sarah Fields, San Jose Housing Department spokesperson
Castaneda comes to Los Garcias for the authentic, homemade Mexican food and the breakfast burrito — one of his favorite items on the menu. He stopped coming as frequently because he couldn’t find parking, but said he’s looking forward to returning to Los Garcias at least once a week or more once they move into the new location.
“We wanted to come here because the food’s amazing, (but) we would skip it because the parking is so bad,” Castaneda told San José Spotlight.
Jeff Chernoff, 62, a family friend who helped Garcia secure the new location, said Los Garcias is irreplaceable to the community.
“It’s going to be a good opportunity,” Chernoff told San José Spotlight. “Their food is going to take them a long way. Everything is fresh, you can’t beat that.”
Contact Joyce Chu at joyce@sanjosespotlight.com or @joyce_speaks on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.