Nearly two years ago, The historic Cats Restaurant in Los Gatos quickly and quietly closed without much warning (see article in the Los Gatos Observer). One of the area's older buildings, it was constructed as a stage coach stop in the late 1800s, possibly around 1896.

Yesterday I was near the tavern, photographing Leo and Leona at the entrance to Poet's Canyon just steps away, and popped by old building to see what was going on with it.

To my surprise, it appeared that The Cats is being made ready to reopen. There were several trucks and workers in view and the parking lot sported new blacktop and parking stripes.

I could not find any news about a reopening, but perhaps some of the Live in Los Gatos readers might know what the story is. Your feedback is appreciated!

The Cats has served many functions over the years and is an area landmark. It would be great to see it open again.

The Cats Restaurant is located at 17533 Santa Cruz Highway, just past the downtown entrance to the freeway from South Santa Cruz Avenue.

Leo and Leona can be seen from this freeway exit too. For more on the two concrete cats, please visit this earlier post: How did Los Gatos get its cat logo?
Scroll down and enjoy slideshow too (just added).

PS November 2, 2008:  Today I received a call from Shelby, who tells me that 3 weeks ago or so she stopped by The Cats when she saw trucks there and spoke with the new owners. She says that they're targeting re-opening sometime this month. That's great news!