Peking Restaurant (Closed)
Red Bluff, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
Good food was only part of the experience at Peking Restaurant in Red Bluff. The memorable moment came during the sudden changeover of food servers. One minute a familiar crew was moving around the dining room, then instant change-O, an entirely different group appeared. Enjoy the time warp.
The location’s Chinese restaurant history began in 1949 when the Chew family opened Ming Terrace. It later became Peking Restaurant, with a tall neon sign advertising Chinese food along Main Street.
UPDATE: Peking Restaurant has closed, and its vintage sign was removed. The building is now home to Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant, where a photograph in the lobby remembers the earlier Ming Terrace. 09-26
Kwik Way (Demolished)
Oakland, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Evening crowds from the nearby Grand Lake Theatre helped keep Kwik
Way Drive-in busy after dark. The Oakland burger stand opened in 1956 as the Grand Lake Drive In and later became part of the local Kwik Way tradition, once known for 19-cent hamburgers.
Its retro building and green neon lightning bolt became familiar Lake Park Avenue landmarks. Kwik Way closed in 2014, although several temporary food businesses later used the property. The Grand
Lake Theatre was just about next door.
UPDATE: The drive-in and its neon sign are now gone. The site is being redeveloped with 53 affordable apartments and ground-floor retail space. 09-26
Carlos Club (Closed)
San Carlos, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
Colorful neon makes Carlos Club one of the great nighttime sights along El Camino Real. The towering vertical sign spells out the name in stacked letters, topped by a glowing martini glass that lets passing motorists know exactly what kind of establishment waits inside. It is quite a display for a neighborhood watering hole.
There was even more neon around the back. A smaller sign marked the rear entrance, with a bright red arrow pointing down toward the door. No need to wander around the parking lot wondering how to get inside. Just follow the glowing instructions and let the arrow handle the navigation.
Carlos Club
San Carlos, CA Photo courtesy Michael Campbell
The building dates to the early 1920s, when it housed Tate’s Restaurant. In 1947, owner Sydney Levin hired architect Irving Caster to give the property a dramatic Streamline Moderne makeover. Glass blocks, green Carrara glass, horizontal speed lines, and large porthole-style windows transformed the building into a sleek postwar roadside landmark.
For part of its history, the property also shared space with the local Greyhound bus station. Travelers could arrive in San Carlos, step off the bus, and find the cocktail lounge nearby. The building and neon sign were recognized for their architectural value in 1991, when the property received a preservation award and became one of the city’s designated historic resources.
Carlos Club continued serving drinks into the 21st century before closing in 2014. When a new operator began removing neon and covering the sign, local residents quickly objected. A preservation campaign gathered more than a thousand signatures, and the new owner agreed to leave the landmark marquee in place.
Carlos Club
San Carlos, CA Photo courtesy Matt Walsh
UPDATE: Here's another shot of the Carlos Club neon sign as it stands illuminating the roadside in San Carlos, CA. The letters appear to be in great shape in 2009. Many thanks to Michael Campbell for updated photo. 02-09
UPDATE: The former Carlos Club now operates as The Rail Sports Bar & Lounge. The main vertical Carlos Club sign survives and continues to glow above El Camino Real, even though the business below has a different name. The present condition of the smaller rear entrance arrow is uncertain, but photographs preserve the days when both signs lit the way toward the door. 09-26
T's Club Four
San Jose, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Glowing along Bascom Avenue, the marquee for T's Club Four added some late-night color to San Jose’s Burbank District. Its geometric lettering and bold number 4 made the club easy to spot from the boulevard, especially after the surrounding storefronts had gone dark.
Before the T’s name appeared, Club Four operated as a neighborhood nightclub with dancing, pool tables, pinball, and a jukebox filled with blues. Weekend crowds came for salsa, merengue, cumbias, and Top 40 music, with signs at the door reminding everyone to dress for the occasion.
Around the mid-2000s, the club became associated with the operators of T’s Cabaret and was renamed T’s Club Four. The format changed, but the distinctive roadside marquee continued lighting the way for a while longer.
UPDATE: T’s Club Four eventually closed, and the neon sign was removed. The former club and several neighboring storefronts along this stretch of Bascom Avenue have remained vacant and heavily weathered while redevelopment plans slowly work their way forward. Only photographs now bring the Club Four marquee back to life. 09-26
Golden Hours (Gone)
Oakland, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
Glowing along East 14th Street, now International Boulevard, Golden
Hours added another splash of neon to Oakland’s nighttime scenery. The lounge’s bright lettering made it easy to spot along the busy Fruitvale corridor.
Golden Hours operated as a neighborhood bar and late-night gathering place. Its sign joined the many tavern, restaurant, motel, and theater marquees that once filled this stretch of Oakland with neon.
UPDATE: Golden Hours Lounge has closed, and its neon sign was removed. The neighboring Golden Hours Liquor Store is a separate business and should not be confused with the former lounge. 09-26
Pine Cove Tavern
Sacramento, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
Colorful light spills onto 29th Street from the marquee at Pine
Cove Tavern. Dave Mahan opened the Sacramento watering hole in 1953, naming it after its rustic, mountain-cabin interior.
The tavern moved to its current location in 1963. Customers still climb a narrow flight of wooden stairs to reach the second-floor bar, known for affordable drinks, free popcorn, darts, and karaoke.
UPDATE: Pine Cove remains open. Around 2021, the vintage marquee was repainted and its remaining neon was replaced with LED lighting. The glow looks a little different now, but the sign still points the way upstairs. 09-26
