My earliest memories begin when I was two and three year’s old living on Singletary Avenue between The Alameda and Park Avenue. I was two years and four months old in January 1962, when my mother woke me up one morning to watch the snowfall in our backyard. My mom usually made sandwiches for lunch, but every so often we’d head down to a nearby taqueria. It was called Las Palmas Taco Bar, and it stood on the corner of The Alameda and Magnolia Street. We placed our order through a window in the front, and I remember how they would wrap a half dozen taquitos smothered in guacamole in a sheet of butcher paper. The burritos and taquitos were my favorite. Perhaps this early exposure to Mexican food explains my love for it today, it certainly didn’t hurt!
I’ve revisited Las Palmas many times over the years, though was sorry to see that it close in 2015. I was curious to see how long the taqueria had been in business, so I began searching the city directories by the address, 1495 The Alameda. The earliest listing I found was for 1956, suggesting that it may well have opened some time in 1955. Prior to that, the building housed various realty companies, and appears to have been built between late 1948 and early 1949. The reason we know that the building wasn’t built before late 1948, is because we have an aerial photo from September of 1948 which shows the property when it was listed as HBH’s Miniature Golf (1947-48).
Further Reading in the California Room
- The Alameda: The Beautiful Way by Shannon Clark
- California Room Index
- Sanborn Maps
- San Jose City Directories
- San Jose Telephone Books
- Aerial Photos
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