ABOUT US
Established in 1896, and originally a stop on the old stage line, The Cats Roadhouse served as a weigh station for horse-drawn lumber wagons on their way to San Jose, as well as a rowdy social club for local residents. At the time the road was first paved, around 1920, the Cats was one of the area’s most notorious speakeasies and bordellos. During the 40′s and 50′s The Cats building housed a realty office, gun shop and sporting goods store. The restaurant and tavern were re-established in 1967 and it is one of the last remaining Roadhouses in the United States. Today the legacy continues as a destination and place to be for generations to come.
Rumors of two ghosts, one female upstairs and one male downstairs are still talked about today,
we hear they are friendly and keep an eye on the place for us.
LEO & LEONA
“Leo” and “Leona” were created by sculptor Robert Paine and have guarded the entrance to an area known as Poet’s Canyon since 1922. Writer Col. Charles Erskine Scott Wood and poet Sara Bard Field bought 34 acres in 1919 with the intention of building a “castle in the sky” – a place where they could write without being interrupted by visitors. They had a custom house built, then planted a vineyard and installed giant wine casks at the
bottom road as a protest to prohibition. Immediately south of the Poet’s Canyon’s entrance is
the Cats Restaurant and Tavern.
