Little Italy San Jose

Little Italy San Jose is a nonprofit working to keep the city's original Italian settlement, dating to the 1880s, alive in the River Street Historic District. It installed a Gateway Arch and a piazza with engraved bricks, recruited authentic Italian businesses to the district, and hosts the Little Italy Street Festival each October. The organization restored a 1910 home as a cultural center and museum, and its basement houses the Italian Cellar, a Prohibition-era style bar.

The cultural center offers Italian language lessons, music and art lessons, genealogy research and children's cooking classes, and it rents its outdoor piazza for events. Visitors can see the Valley of Heart's Delight exhibit and an urban garden, and the district has bocce courts and a children's play area. Paesano Ristorante and Famiglia Meduri's Poor House Bistro are among the businesses nearby. Memberships and donations help fund the museum, which is still raising money for exhibits and programming.