Museum Store & Cafe

Museum Store

Located just inside the Pacific Hotel at History Park, the Museum Store is dedicated to bringing the heritage of Santa Clara Valley into your home.

The Museum Store in the Pacific Hotel

The Store has an excellent selection of books featuring local history with discounts given to teachers. You’ll also find locally produced art and food items, as well as seasonal specialties and historically inspired merchandise for the home. And there is a great selection of toys and children’s books that are both fun and educational.

Your History San Jose Membership always gives you a 10% discount in the Museum Store, and only HSJ Members are notified of special Shopping Day Discounts! Join today!

Museum Cafe at O’Briens Candy Store & Ice Cream Parlor

Enjoy Treat Ice Cream at O'Brien's

Located in the Pacific Hotal across from the Museum Store, the Museum Cafe at O’Briens Candy Store & Ice Cream Parlor features local Treat Ice Cream, retro candy, and light meals.

The Candy Store & Ice Cream Parlor is a recreation of a San Jose icon. 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.”

It was the first place to serve ice cream and sodas west of Detroit in 1878. O’Brien’s 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.”

Another family institution in the San José area is the Treat Ice Cream Company. Locavores will savor the ice cream flavors that change seasonally, made from natural and fresh ingredients.

The re-creation of O’Brien’s Candy Store was sponsored by The Rotary Club of San José.