San Jose is not particularly known for its rooftop dining scene but nearly a year after the highly anticipated opening of Copita, downtown Willow Glen is poised to add another new concept.
The city has granted special use permits to Luke’s Rooftop Beer Garden and Restaurant that will allow the project to demolish an existing convenience store and build a two-story, 4,765-square-foot eatery at 1093 Minnesota Ave.
“I feel like that’s a huge void in California,” said Russ Fukushima, one of the partners behind the concept along with Matt Sridhar and Joe Nigos. “All these other cities do a really good job understanding the second-level aspect of how you build something and create different vibes and environments. Up in Northern California, this is a big chance for us to introduce the rooftops.”
Copita, the rooftop restaurant and tequila bar by celebrated chef Joanne Weir, beat Fukushima to the punch last year, but he envisions both businesses serving as bookends to energizing Willow Glen’s Lincoln Avenue corridor and making it an even more vibrant location.
Fukushima described the atmosphere he wanted to create as a place where “kids can have fun downstairs while parents can have a date night upstairs,” though he wants the restaurant to be family-friendly and doesn’t plan to impose age restrictions.
The rooftop beer garden will have 18-20 rotating beers while the restaurant will serve California cuisine with an emphasis on local ingredients, he said.
Although he was reluctant to provide a timeline given that the project needs a few more approvals from the city, Fukushima said he hoped to be up and running in a year.
Fukushima, a veteran restaurateur who also owns Water Tower Kitchen in Campbell and previously owned Blush Raw Bar in Downtown San Jose, said the new restaurant is named after his son and had ideas of creating concepts nearly a decade ago.
“My goal in mind when I started restaurants was that I wanted to get to the point where we had an umbrella of different concepts,” Fukushima said. “My goal ten years back was to open a restaurant for my kids, a legacy spot and concept that works and we can pass along.”
Luke’s owners submitted the preliminary plans two years ago but encountered challenges navigating parking and sound concerns because of traffic and a residentially zoned property only sitting 44 feet away.
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While the city was satisfied with the sound system being altered and the owners’ position that ambient music would be played, some of the neighboring business owners continued to be skeptical of the potential impact.
“I don’t see how six spaces are adequate for a restaurant,” said Laura Gahrahmat, owner of children’s bookstore Hicklebee’s. “The prior use for that building was a convenience store with people coming in and out. As a business owner with a building two doors down, there isn’t even adequate parking for full use of all the shops on Lincoln Avenue.”
Although Fukushima acknowledged parking challenges would remain, he said those issues were not isolated to this project and could be somewhat alleviated by increasing appeal to customers interested in walking, biking or using rideshare services.
He also added that he’s met with neighboring businesses to hear their concerns and was adamant that like his other restaurants, they were committed to being good members of the community.
“I’m aware of what neighbors go through and the challenges they have,” Fukushima said. “I’m going to do everything in our power to make sure that’s settled. We’re not here to be a one-off place. We’re going to need support and we’re going to support others as well.”