Poor House Bistro

They were testing the crossing arms at the intersection of San Salvador and Delmas yesterday. It's all part of the Vasona Light Rail project, which is scheduled to open in August. Unfortunately, whoever turned on the bells and flashing lights forgot to turn them off. All of the arms were lowered and the stoplights at the intersection were red. Traffic was at a standstill. Impatient drivers started making illegal U-turns over median islands and driving on the sidewalk to get by the gridlock. As a pedestrian, I fared better and was able to walk through without trouble. Of course, to make sure a rogue train didn't mow me over at five miles per hour, I looked both ways before crossing.

I had just gotten past the jam when I came across the Poor House Bistro, a New Orleans style restaurant that opened last week. Residing in a converted historical house at the corner of Autumn and San Salvador, its patio dining is literally on what was once the patio. There is also outdoor seating on the front lawn. With the newly painted exterior, it looked inviting and I was curious to check out the menu.

Since I had a few minutes to spare before the train arrived, I peeked inside. Like Lowry's Irish Coffee House, it was small and cozy. It still felt like a home, which was pretty cool. I especially liked that they kept the original fireplace.

It wasn't very busy, which I expected since it was in between lunch and dinnertime. Some of the employees were catching a quick bite before the crowd arrived. As I walked up to the counter in search of a menu, a man, who was sitting at one of the tables, introduced himself. His name was Jay and he was the proprietor of the bistro. We chatted for a bit.

He had originally moved into the house seven years ago and had lived there only a year or two when he had the idea to make it into a restaurant. He thought its location had potential considering how close it was to the Diridon Station, Adobe and the HP Pavillion. For the last five years, he's been working to realize his dream.

I asked him if he was from New Orleans. It turns out he's a Bay Area native who happens to love the town. Since 1989, he and his wife have made annual trips to Louisiana. He wanted to bring the feeling and the food to his small establishment.

"I wanted to stay away from the whole Mardi Gras/party image though. The city is so much more than that."

He plans to fill the barren walls with old photographs of New Orleans. He also pointed out the music filling the air and said it was a web broadcast of a New Orleans radio station.

"If you hear the deejay give the time, just remember to subtract two hours. And we're going to have live music on Friday nights. There'll be blues and jazz bands playing out on the patio."

That's when I checked my watch and saw that I had only a couple minutes to make my train. He handed me a take out menu and said to come by soon for lunch. I said I would and raced out the door. I am curious to try the food. I've never had a po boy before. If nothing else, I ought to try their chicory coffee.