Downtown SJ restaurant celebrates reopening after fire destroyed business 2 years ago

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A restaurant in downtown San Jose is celebrating their grand reopening this weekend after a fire shuttered their business for 20 months.

Tostadas at the corner of Santa Clara and Seventh Street will have live music, drinks and great food starting at noon.

The final touches were underway for Tostadas in downtown San Jose. The staff was making sure everything is just in the right place for their grand reopening.

"After the time off that you all have had, when you look at the restaurant and have people here, smiling faces, enjoying your food, how do you feel?" ABC7 News South Bay Reporter Dustin Dorsey asked.

"It feels amazing," Co-Owner Victor Garcia said. "It makes me so happy to see graduations and families getting together again. This is what makes Tostadas, right? So, it means a lot for us to finally be reopened."

It's a feeling owners and brothers Victor and Alex Garcia weren't sure they would have here again.

Tostadas has been closed since September 2023, when an overnight electrical fire completely destroyed the business.

"It was the hardest moment," Garcia said. "First time going through this, for your first restaurant who made you who you are right now - a restaurant owner. So, those 20 months were super hard, I'm going to be honest."

But tough times are not new to the Garcia's. 20 years ago, their family immigrated here from a small town in Mexico - with what Victor says was a backpack full of dreams.

The brothers wanted to open a restaurant like their mother had, with uniquely Mexican flavors, to keep the family tradition alive.

"When you come from parents who teach you to do the hard work, that everything can be easy if you really work for it, that's when everything changed," Garcia said.

Leaning on those values, Tostadas was rebuilt.

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This weekend they will welcome back customers like Danitza Rodelo, who couldn't wait to enjoy all her favorites once again.

"I'm really looking forward to it because of the food, the drinks and the environment," Rodelo said. "The environment is just so welcoming."

The Garcia's want everyone here to feel like they are part of the family, because those same bonds were what drove them to reopen once again.

"So, we can't leave it behind," Garcia said. "We have to come back and we have to come back stronger. This is the main heart of San Jose, California and when you come, this is a staple. So, we want to keep this staple to go on for decades."

It starts again with a reopening celebration Saturday at noon.