Pop Inn (Closed)
Alameda, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
The narrow neon blade outside Pop Inn once offered a colorful invitation to thirsty travelers passing along Park Street. Compared with Alameda’s larger theater and restaurant marquees, the sign was easy to overlook during the day, but its red neon lettering came alive after dark.
Pop Inn opened in 1937 and developed into a longtime neighborhood tavern. During Alameda’s naval years, bars along Park Street often opened early and stayed busy with military personnel and shipyard workers coming and going at all hours.
Pop Inn (Closed)
Alameda, CA Photo courtesy Scott Strickland
The mid-1930s sign remained attached to the building long after the original bar closed in 2007. Its narrow profile and simple vertical lettering helped it survive several changes of ownership, eventually earning a place on local neon walking tours.
The space reopened as the Churchward Pub in 2009 and continued serving many former Pop Inn regulars. Churchward later gave way to MO’s Wine Bar, which opened in late 2023 but lasted less than a year before closing in September 2024.
UPDATE: The former Pop Inn storefront was vacant and being offered for lease in 2026. Fortunately, the historic neon sign still appears to survive on the building, preserving the name of a Park Street watering hole that disappeared nearly two decades ago. 09-26
Torch Club
Sacramento, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
A glowing cocktail glass and a big yellow arrow point the way to The Torch Club, one of Sacramento’s classic neon taverns. The sign promises live blues inside, and unlike many old roadside promises, this one still delivers.
Dating back to the 1930s, the Torch Club became a popular watering hole for politicians, lobbyists, reporters, and neighborhood regulars. The Texeira family took over in 1969 and gradually turned the bar into one of Sacramento’s best-known homes for blues and live music.
When the club moved from L Street to its present location in 2000, the vintage neon sign came along. It was restored and mounted on the new building, keeping a familiar piece of Sacramento nightlife glowing above the sidewalk.
UPDATE: The Torch Club remains open with live music filling the room throughout the week. The old sign still shines outside, continuing to point musicians and blues fans toward the door. 09-26
Holiday House (Demolished)
Hayward, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
Those odd-colored balls make the backlit sign outside Holiday House difficult to overlook. Stacked above the plastic sign panel like a collection of oversized ornaments, they added a little atomic-age decoration along Mission Boulevard in Hayward.
Holiday House opened in 1965 as a large banquet and event space attached to the Holiday Bowl complex. The room could accommodate more than a thousand guests and hosted everything from weddings and community dinners to political gatherings and special celebrations.
Its sign reflected the changing times. Instead of relying entirely on exposed neon, it used internally illuminated plastic panels, while the colorful spheres above provided the roadside personality. Strange perhaps, but certainly more memorable than a plain rectangle.
UPDATE: Holiday Bowl closed in 2005, leaving the sprawling complex vacant for years. A major fire badly damaged the property in 2020, and the remaining structures were later demolished. The separate Holiday House sign was lost, although the much taller Holiday Bowl sign was removed before the final demolition. 09-26
Club Raven
Sacramento, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
With its glowing bird and flashing wings, the sign outside Club
Raven is especially fun to see after dark. The East Sacramento tavern opened in 1946 and became affectionately known to locals as the “Dirty Bird.”
The original sign eventually deteriorated and was replaced by Pacific Neon with a carefully made replica. Its alternating neon still makes the raven appear to flap its wings. The sign even made an appearance in the 2017 movie Lady Bird.
UPDATE: Club Raven remains open on J Street, continuing its long run as a neighborhood dive bar. The animated raven still lights up the boulevard and keeps watch over the entrance. 09-26
Ernie's Sea Food (Gone)
San Leandro, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
Looking for seafood beneath the glow of neon? Ernie's Sea Food in San Leandro had plenty of illuminated lettering, along with a rooftop tugboat that appeared ready to sail down East 14th Street.
Ernie’s opened in 1953 and remained a familiar roadside restaurant for nearly seven decades. Its colorful boat sign helped make the seafood stop easy to recognize from the busy boulevard.
UPDATE: Ernie’s closed during the latter half of 2020, and all of its signs were removed. The building is now home to Metro Taquero, while the whereabouts of the neon tugboat remain unknown. 09-26
Glass Gecko (Gone)
San Jose, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
A bright green neon lizard made the Glass Gecko an easy bar to spot along West San Carlos Street. The little creature wrapped around the sign outside, giving the place a colorful identity and providing a welcome glow for anyone looking for a neighborhood watering trough.
Inside, the Glass Gecko offered the usual dive-bar essentials: stiff drinks, cheap beer, a jukebox filled with classic tunes, and a pool table that reportedly had some questionable geometry. It was not fancy, but that was part of the charm. The Gecko attracted a loyal group of regulars who came to drink, catch a game, and spend a few hours away from the polished side of Silicon Valley.
The building had already been part of San Jose nightlife before the green gecko arrived. It previously operated as Bella’s Club, adding another chapter to a location that has spent decades pouring drinks under different names. For the Glass Gecko, however, that glowing lizard was what made the place memorable from the street.
UPDATE: The Glass Gecko closed more than a decade ago, and the location became Bears Cocktail Lounge, which remains open. The building was remodeled and the green gecko sign was removed during the conversion. Its present whereabouts are unknown, leaving photographs as the best way to see the old lizard glowing again. 09-26
Shanghai Restaurant (Gone)
Auburn, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
Bright neon letters once welcomed diners to Shanghai Restaurant in Old Town Auburn. Spread across the brick front of the building, the glowing name added a little color to Washington Street and made the longtime restaurant especially inviting after dark.
The Yue family established Shanghai in 1896 and moved it into the historic American Block building in 1925. The restaurant remained in the family for four generations, attracting an unusual mixture of local families, travelers, bikers, and anyone looking for Chinese food or a drink at the bar.
Shanghai had plenty of personality, including the memorable motto, “Liquor in the front. Poker in the rear. And good eatin’ on the side.” The old restaurant also made it to the movies when scenes for the 1996 John Travolta film Phenomenon were shot inside.
UPDATE: Shanghai Restaurant closed in June 2005 after more than a century in business. Its furnishings and memorabilia were sold at auction, and the bright exterior neon was removed. 09-26
Pop Inn (Closed)
Holiday House (Demolished)
