At Cafe Stritch, beat won’t go on anymore
First Street jazz club is another business lost to pandemic closures
Cafe Stritch is closing down for good.
It’s a big loss for South Bay jazz lovers, who have flocked to the downtown San Jose club — located on First Street in the SoFA District — for years to hear live music played in an intimate setting.
The club was shuttered for nearly two years, as COVID-19 ravaged much of the local live music scene, but fans were looking forward to a day when the club would reopen its doors. Instead, the club owners — who also once ran the popular Eulipia venue — have decided to say goodbye to the venture.
“We’d like to thank you for your patience since our closure almost two years ago, and let you know that Cafe Stritch will not be reopening,” the Borkenhagen family said in a prepared statement. “Thank you very much for sharing with us in all the live music, shared meals and enduring memories that were the essence of Cafe Stritch and Eulipia before it. We could never have done it if not together: musicians and audience, bartenders and barbacks, servers and bussers, cooks and dishwashers.”
The Borkenhagen family ended their statement about the closing of Cafe Stritch on a hopeful note, imploring people to keep supporting live music, and noting that Mama Kin will take over the space.
“Without your regular support (through the good times and especially the bad) spaces like Stritch simply cannot survive,” the family said. “We have great confidence in the resilience of our beloved downtown San Jose music and arts community, and look forward to seeing what new spaces and experiences it will offer in the future, especially the new venture at our old location, Mama Kin.
“Once again, we thank you for sharing in these bright moments in this valley of heart’s delight.”