An abandoned historic building in downtown San Jose burned down Thursday morning. The building was built during the futuristic architecture boom of the 1960s.
The two-alarm fire at the former Bo Town restaurant, once a popular Chinese and Vietnamese seafood restaurant, was reported at 5:11 a.m., the San Jose Fire Department said. The restaurant at 409 South 2nd St. closed in 2019 and was most recently used as the site of San Jose’s LVL UP arcade until January 2022.
No one was injured in the fire and there is no information yet about the cause.
San Jose Fire Department
The building was constructed during the heyday of so-called “Googie” architectural design, which combined modern, dramatic angles, neon accents and the Jetsons-esque designs seen in countless coffee houses, restaurants and shopping strips.
The building, with its zigzag roof and retro-futuristic facade, is expected to be replaced by a 30-story mixed-use development. The project was approved in December 2022, and at the time the City of San Jose indicated that the building was eligible to be listed as a San Jose City Landmark.
The Silicon Valley Business Journal reported that developers have included plans for a new restaurant space on the site that would incorporate some of the building’s original design. The freestanding Bo Town sign would be placed outside the development, according to San Jose Spotlight.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the restaurant Bo Town was located at this location from the early 1990s until 2019. Previously, it was the location of the restaurant chain Sambo’s, which was criticized for its racist name and imagery and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1981 after a series of lawsuits.
