Lou's Village, Since 1946

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Lucille Ball

View a database that includes artifacts, photographs, and documents in the History San José collection which relate to Lou’s Village Restaurant in San José, California.

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Beatrice and Friends

“In 1979, Tom Muller took a chance on a group of local comedians: Mike Booher, Rick Sanchez, Patrick Reed, Doug Ferrier, and Kevin Pollack. Comedy Night at Lou's only lasted three months, but the performances will last in our memories and anyone who shared in the laughter.”

-Patrick Reed

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Celebrities

Lucille BallLou’s Village was known as “the place to go.” The restaurant was very popular with the locals as well as celebrities and politicians.  Lou’s Village’s guest books includes signatures by Red Skelton, western movie star Wild Bill Elliott, Mr. & Mrs. Walt Disney, California Governor “Pat” Brown, and boxer Max Baer to name a few. Hilo Hattie, the famous Hawaiian performer wrote, “A keen place to eat. Aloha!”

One of Lou’s Village’s most celebrated guests was Lucille Ball, star of the television show “I Love Lucy.” From the 1930s through the 1970s (and beyond), everyone in America loved Lucy. Jerry BrownHer over thirty-year career on television resulted in thirteen Emmy awards (the most won by any one person). She was the first woman to become the head of her own television production company (Desilu), and I Love Lucy paved the way for how modern sitcoms are filmed and produced.

Politicians were also known to frequent Lou’s Village.  California Governor Edmund Gerald “Pat” Brown visited Lou’s while he was in office in 1959.  His son, Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown, Jr., also a former California Governor stopped by the restaurant on the campaign trail in the late ‘70s.