The History of the Poor House Bistro
Established Since 2005!
Consulato Anthony Meduri (Tony Meduri), Giuseppe and Giuseppe’s only son, and this wife Sally, lived in the house briefly in the late 50s, before buying a home in Campbell where they raised their seven children. After inheriting the house, Tony rented it out through most of the 1960s and 1970s. When Tony passed away in 1983, Sally Meduri became the sole owner.
In 1993, Jay Meduri, the families’ youngest child, moved into the home. He lived there for seven years; his son Jackson was born in 1998 and lived there for the first two years of his life.
It was while working for the airlines, that Jay traveled many times to New Orleans. As a musician and player of the Blues music, who had been in several bands during the late 1980s and 1990s, Jay grew passionate about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Jay discovered the variety of New Orleans cuisine and began his education in food and cooking. Here he learned and developed recipes that he would eventually serve at the Poor House Bistro. After spending five years working as a food server, cook, and manager in various restaurants, Jay eventually returned to school, graduating from San Jose State University in Hospitality Management, to begin the journey of opening his own restaurant; his mother Sally gave her approval to opening it in the family home.
Remodeling construction began in May 2000 and was completed in May 2005. Jay decided to call his restaurant “The Poor House Bistro,” named after the famous Poor Boy Sandwiches served in New Orleans. Today, PHB is a place where people can come together, enjoy great food and music, in a fun and funky environment, giving everyone a little taste of New Orleans in San Jose!
Let the Good Times Roll!
Our Visitors Just Love Our Food
& much more in a warm friendly atmosphere
I’ve been in search for real Louisiana food since I first moved to California in December, and I finally found a place that reminds me of home. Everything on the menu looked delicious to me, but I’ve been craving crawfish for a very long time so I tried the crawfish. It was $12.99/lb which is pretty expensive to me since I can get cooked crawfish back home for $4.99/lb but this is the only place I’ve seen that does it as close to Louisiana style as possible. The other places claims it’s “Cajun style” or “Louisiana style” but it’s not. This is what Louisiana crawfish looks like. It wasn’t as good as back home, but it was very satisfying to find a place that did it almost right. I can’t wait to come back and try the other things on the menu!
— Sarah C.