It’s amazing if a restaurant can survive five years in San Jose’s tricky market. But one that makes it to 20 years can be considered an institution around here.
That’s certainly true of Poor House Bistro, the New Orleans-style restaurant and live music venue that will mark that milestone Friday. And owner Jay Meduri has plans to really do it up with a Big Easy-style music-filled second line parade starting at 4 p.m. at SAP Center and traveling the third-of-a-mile to Poor House’s courtyard in the Little Italy district.
The Poor House Bistro Band will lead the second line and then keep the party going with music at its outdoor stage until 9 p.m.
“It seems like it went by quick, but we hit a lot of bumps in the road,” Meduri said. “To me, the proudest thing, is that we stayed open. They never knocked us down.”
Meduri opened Poor House Bistro on July 4, 2005, in his grandparents’ house on Autumn Street, where he had also once lived. A big fan of New Orleans cuisine and blues music, he aimed for authenticity in his menu. The beignets and barbecue shrimp plate are popular, as is the muffaletta sandwich (the bread is flown in from Gambino’s in New Orleans). The sausage bread appetizer is Meduri’s great-great-aunt’s recipe.
The business was hit with a double-whammy that started in 2018 when Google purchased the Autumn Street lot it stood on. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing Meduri and his employees to make a huge pivot by serving family-style meals. Suddenly, fried chicken and mashed potatoes, barbecued ribs, chicken piccata and cheeseburgers were the mainstays. And then came the move.
In January 2022, while Poor House was operating out of a cloud kitchen, Google paid to have the whole house lifted up onto a trailer and moved about a half-mile to its new home at 317 W. St. John St. next to Henry’s Hi-Life. To fit in with its new Little Italy home, Meduri changed the name to Famiglia Meduri’s Poor House Bistro. It took about 18 months to get Poor House Bistro up and running again.
“During all that time, we never closed. Even when the house was on wheels we didn’t close,” Meduri said.
Music has been an integral part of the Poor House experience, with a blues-heavy calendar, live acts are scheduled every night it’s open. Meduri and the Poor House Bistro have been longtime supporters and participants in the Fountain Blues and Brews Festival and San Jose Jazz Summer Fest. And it remains the place to go in San Jose for Mardi Gras, with hurricanes flowing and king cake being served.
“The old vibe is coming back,” Meduri said. “It’s great memories and now we make new memories. We’re in an exciting area. There’s a lot more upside here in Little Italy. We did 17 years over there, and I think the next 17 over here are going to be exciting.”
DESI BLUES: Aki Kumar, a San Jose bluesman who adds a dash of Indian sound and rhythm to his music, played to a good crowd at the Poor House’s covered, outdoor stage on Wednesday evening. A frequent presence on the Poor House Bistro stage, Kumar has a new album out, “God Bless the USA,” with a mix of originals and his unique takes on songs like The Clash’s “Should I Stay” and the bluegrass standard “Man of Constant Sorrow.” Kumar’s “Desi Strut” is a sharp re-invention of the 1969 instrumental “Cissy Strut” by funk band the Meters.
You can head over to Kumar’s website, www.akikumar.com, to purchase the album directly and get a listing of upcoming album release parties in Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
TEAM PLAYER: Comedian Shane Gillis was a huge hit when he played SAP Center in downtown San Jose last Saturday, and I’ve heard through the tealvine that it was the biggest show at the arena since Metallica played there in 2012. Whether or not that’s true, it was a huge crowd, providing SAP Center with a great weekend following the Sharks NHL Draft Party.
Sharks winger Tyler Toffoli presented Gillis, who is currently starring in the Netflix comedy series “Tires,” with a Sharks jersey with “Gillis” and “25” on the back. That qualifies him for the developmental roster, right?
CELEBRATING THE FOURTH: If you’re looking for an earlier, less-fireworky way to celebrate Independence Day, don’t forget about the Rose, White and Blue parade in San Jose, which leaves Lincoln High School at 10 a.m. and travels through the Shasta-Hanchett neighborhood and eventually onto The Alameda. Feel free to give me a wave if you’re in the crowd, as I’ll be riding as one of the Community Catalyst honorees along with Santa Clara County Poet Laureate Yosimar Reyes, Kathakali artists Roshni and Janhavi Pillai and Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone. Get more details about the route and road closures at www.rwbsj.org.
The San Jose Wind Symphony also will be getting patriotic in Los Gatos at the town’s Symphony in the Park event at Oak Meadow Park from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The symphony performs at 11 a.m., but there’ll be food trucks, a carousel and Billy Jones’ Wildcat Railroad to enjoy as well. Get more information at www.losgatosca.gov/4thofjuly.