Club Lanai, San Jose, CA (restaurant)

Name:Club Lanai
Type:restaurant
Street:2125 Almaden Rd.
City:San Jose
State:CA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:

Our friend Heather David tipped me off on this one - buy her book!

[ Edited by: Trad'r Bill 2011-05-30 21:46 ]

I live about two miles from the site of the old Club Lanai, where my parents used to go dancing in the 1950s. The club burned down in the late 1950s I believe but the foundation and sign remained for years. You could not read the sign because of rust. The site is on the southwest corner of Malone and Almaden Roads behind a chainlink fence. The parcel appears to be owned by the Santa Clara County Water District, and is between Almaden Road and the Guadalupe River. I will have to see if I can gain access and see if anything is left.

Here is what is left of Club Lanai. You can see the foundation and part of the walkway.

[ Edited by: [email protected] 2013-02-08 13:38 ]

Thanks for posting Mark... too bad that rusty sign wasn't hiding somewhere

I can only find references from the 1950s - none from the late 40s. Looks like it was in business for just under a decade or so.

Gene Frederiksen was the proprietor of Club Lanai at one point - not sure if he was the initial proprietor or a subsequent one. In the early 1950s Club Lanai was taken over by Stanley Styczynski, who ran it for a few years before going into an entirely different business.

As of January 1959 "one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL nightclubs in the Santa Clara Valley" is for sale for $27,500. Seeing marklongshore's old comment about it burning down in the late 50s makes me wonder just how "convenient" that fire may have been.

Finally, no tropical vibes to speak of in this ad from San Jose State's Spartan Daily but at least we know they were looking out for mums in 1953. :D