Open Tuesday through Sunday 11 to 4

Acclaimed as "the prettiest and most attractive candy store on the Pacific Coast," O’Brien’s Candy Store was more than a business to San Joséans, it was an institution — the natural spot to stroll to after a show or the ideal place to meet a friend on a lazy afternoon.

The first place to serve ice cream and sodas west of Detroit in 1878, O’Brien’s Candy Store was founded in 1868 by Maurice O’Brien, an Irish immigrant. With $500 in his pocket, he began his San José candy business by selling baskets of candy in the doorway of the Pacific Hotel. Soon outgrowing his doorway location as his business rapidly prospered, O’Brien moved to a corner stand at First and San Fernando, and in 1874 to 30 South First Street, the home of O’Brien’s Candy Store for the next fifty-three years.

A family business until the mid-1900’s, O’Brien’s symbolized "nothing but the very best" to all those interested in the newest and fanciest fountain drinks and concerned with the "special attention given to the making and serving of novel ices and ice creams."