Westside Billiards and its café have been part of San Jose on San Carlos Street since the 1940s, and its iconic sign is part of that history.
So, the city is trying hard to preserve some of its history before it vanishes and it includes a unique program focused on rescuing and restoring some of the old iconic business signs that once defined the area.
Yvette Tsaboukos, the co-owner of Westside Billiards, said the sign is how they let people know they were there.
“Back in the day, that's how you let yourself be known, right? A bright sign like that. Oh my gosh, yeah, and on San Carlos. The ‘Y Not’, the ‘Oh McDonald’, they were everywhere. But there’s very few now,” she said.
Westside Billiards shut down during the pandemic, and recently reopened.
The group Preservation Action Council of San Jose, which usually focuses on buildings, helped Westside Billiards start restoring its sign with a fundraiser, which was a model with how the committee plans to help other businesses restore their landmark signs, and help them stay in business.
“We’re starting to lose a lot of mom and pop shops. What we call legacy businesses that have been around forever that people associate with San Jose. Sometimes they have a really cool sign attached. This sign restoration fund that we’re launching is an attempt to help these property owners keep the signs in place, keep their business viable so we don’t lose them,” said Ben Leech, executive director of the Preservation Action Council of San Jose.
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The city has also started a sign restoration program as part of its storefront activation program to help with the iconic, but sometimes expensive, high maintenance signs.
“Wow. This sign really means a lot to people,” said Tsaboukos.
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The Preservation Action Council is already getting calls from other businesses hoping to restore and keep their trademark signs, and the committee says it plans to have a full fledged program up and running by May on National Preservation Month.
