San Jose: Hobee’s opening a beer garden at historic Germania Hall

Historic building, meet legacy business.

Breakfast notable Hobee’s, one of Silicon Valley’s oldest locally owned restaurant groups, has announced that it will open an eatery and beer garden in downtown San Jose’s Germania Hall, a North Second Street landmark since the late 1800s.

A blue Victorian and a restaurant famous for blueberry coffee cake? Sounds like this match was meant to be.

“We have been looking for a replacement for our San Jose location that lost its lease last year. This one was a long shot,” co-owner Camille Chijate told the Mercury News. “But we went to see it and just fell in love. The patio is going to be so amazing on summer nights, and we love all of the plans for St. James Park.”

For this storied property, Hobee’s will veer out of its traditional lane and go with a beer garden concept, as had been featured by the previous occupant, Ludwig’s.

“We have strong name recognition for breakfast and lunch, but I expect the beer garden will draw lots of new faces,” she and her husband, Daniel, said in announcing the news. “We look forward to creating a fresh, fun spin on the Hobee’s experience and a neighborhood gathering spot for our customers.”

They plan to offer a large selection of local craft beers to pair with burgers, salads and shareables and extend the hours for evening customers.

The building, originally constructed in the 1890s as a symphony hall, in 1923 became Germania Hall, home to members of Germania Verein, a German-American social club. That group still owns the property and holds club events there.

Founded in 1974, the Hobee’s California Restaurants company currently operates four restaurants — in Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood Shores and Sunnyvale. The group is known for its hearty breakfast entrees that come with that freshly baked, streusel-topped coffee cake.

The first “significant” award, the company notes on its website, came in 1977 when the monthly magazine New West honored Hobee’s for serving “the best breakfast in the Bay Area.” Other awards rolled in from the Mercury News (Best of Silicon Valley Hall of Fame for multiple breakfast/brunch wins), the Metro Weekly and Palo Alto Weekly.

In 2004, the New York Times highlighted a “Healthy Highways” guide book that credited Hobee’s for serving “whole-wheat pancakes, homemade and mostly vegetarian soups, veggie and turkey burgers and even soy milk” — offerings that are mainstream today but not so much two decades ago.

The Chijates were longtime Hobee’s employees who bought the company in 2017 when the founders, the Taber family, decided to sell after 43 years. The couple met at the old San Jose Town & Country Village location, where she was a waitress and he was a cook.

Look for a late summer opening downtown after six to eight weeks of renovation, the couple said.

Details: 261 N. Second St., San Jose; www.hobees.com