Once-bustling downtown Los Altos restaurants Bumble and House on First (145 First St.) have closed, but while the area has been quiet since House on First closed in 2021, it likely won't remain vacant for long.
Joe Lerma Lopez, the natural chef and restaurateur behind Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning Luna Mexican Kitchen, plans to open a third Luna location in early 2025.
Lerma Lopez opened the first Luna location near the Alameda in San Jose in 2017. One of Lerma Lopez's passions, the restaurant's philosophy was to serve nutritious food that was as close as possible to the roots of Mexican cuisine.
“I'm a born chef and I have a deep love for every ingredient that goes into my kitchen, and, you know, the foundation of our restaurant is corn, which is the ancient method of nixtamalization,” she told me over the phone, “and that's what sustained our ancestors, so we make our masa from scratch using that nixtamalization method.”
Two years later, the same philosophy was applied when Lerma Lopez opened a second Luna restaurant at Campbell's Pruneyard, about four months before the COVID-19 pandemic forced most restaurants to close.
Lerma Lopez said the Prune Yard restaurant opened in the former location of El Burro, a 47-year-old restaurant that held a special place in the hearts of many in the community, when the family who owned it decided to close the restaurant.
Creating a family-friendly environment and giving the 7,000-square-foot location a homey feel has been a “labor of love.”
The sheer size of the stores was an obstacle for Lerma Lopez, but getting her first store up and running was even more difficult: It took Lerma Lopez about two years to open the San Jose store because of permitting and other issues, but she said they've learned since then.
“I feel like when you do something a few times, you sort of learn the process,” she noted.
145 First Street in downtown Los Altos is fenced off and will eventually be home to a third Luna Mexican Kitchen location.
Makayla Kao/Special to the Town Crier
Lerma Lopez's choice of location for the restaurant was intentional, and she said she looked at other locations before settling on the Los Altos location, but none of them matched the Luna Mexican Kitchen experience she wanted to give the community.
“The place is so special and has such a good energy,” she says. “The most important thing is that I want to keep the feel of the place. It feels like you're walking into someone's home, and that's how it used to be.”
While he expects the menu will remain the same as what's offered at his other locations, Lerma Lopez was “really excited” to talk about the menu, given his deep love for the local ingredients that go into the meals served at his establishment. Lerma Lopez said he loves to cook seasonal dishes and wants to create something special for the Los Altos community.
“It could be fun to add something special to the Los Altos community,” she said. “We're going to have a variety of specials and offer a little something a little different, but the fundamentals of the menu will remain the same.”
Lerma Lopez said she has applied for a permit with the city of Los Altos but hasn't received approval from city officials yet, but if approved, she looks forward to creating a welcoming atmosphere. She said she hopes to expand the patio and add an outdoor bar like her San Jose location, allowing visitors to escape their everyday lives.
“We have a great architect and we've already done a lot of the back-end work,” Lerma Lopez said. “We're working with great contractors and architects. Once the permitting process is done, it will take about 10 months for everything to be completed, but we're close.”
Both the Alameda and Pruneyard locations are open Sunday through Thursday from 9am to 9pm and Friday and Saturday from 9am to 10pm.
