A beloved South Bay seafood restaurant is shutting down after nearly a half century of business.
Steamer’s Grillhouse at 31 University Ave. in Los Gatos will close after Dec. 24, Christmas Eve.
“This decision was not made lightly, and while it marks the end of an era, we want to take this moment to celebrate everything Steamer’s has meant to our family and to this wonderful community,” the owners wrote in a message posted to social media.
Paul Matulich, who opened Steamer’s in 1979 with his brother Mark and sister Linda, said they were unable to afford a significant remodel proposed by the property’s landlord, Federal Realty, so they decided to close. The national real estate investment group operates Bay Area properties including Old Town Los Gatos (the shopping area where Steamer’s is located), upscale San Jose mall Santana Row and Fourth Street in Berkeley. Federal Realty did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Steamer’s, a local staple for cocktails and seafood such as crab-artichoke dip and linguine with prawns and Dungeness crab, was struggling with post-pandemic headwinds, including inflation and the increasing costs of operating a 6,000-square-foot restaurant.
“You’re trying to keep the prices in line but you’ve got costs that are just spiraling,” Matulich said. He said he raised prices only recently, in the last several months.
Steamer’s moved to its current location, just across the street from its original home, in 1999. There it steadily became “the ne plus ultra nightspot in town,” reads a 2000 Chronicle review. “Thursday nights, it’s 10 and 12 deep at the bar, with a few intrepid souls trying to balance a dozen oysters on one knee and a Cosmopolitan on the other.”
Matulich has been flooded with messages from loyal customers, many of whom celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, engagements and other special occasions at Steamer’s. At 75 years old and with physical health issues, he’s unsure whether he’d be able to give his all to a new restaurant. Yet, Matulich isn’t ruling out a revival of Steamer’s. He’s even scoped out a smaller space in Los Gatos that he thinks would be more feasible to operate.
“Maybe we’ll rise again,” he said.
Reach Elena Kadvany: Elena.Kadvany@sfchronicle.com; Bluesky: @elenakadvany.bsky.social
