For now, the easiest way into Fountain Alley is from Second Street. Scaffolding covers the Bank of Italy tower at the First Street end while Westbank turns it into apartments. On Sept. 4, 2026, a new bar called BitterBuck opened in the alley with a menu split across the whole day. The local post announcing it told readers the working entrance was on the Second Street side. That makes this short brick block one of the few spots downtown that serves pour-over coffee in the morning and natural wine until midnight. For the next stretch of construction, it all starts from the end most people used to walk past.
A Lane That Got Its Name From First Street's Water
Fountain Alley has always been shaped by what happens at its First Street corner. According to the National Park Service nomination for a building on the alley, the lane was first called Archer Street, after attorney Lawrence Archer, who lived at the Second Street end. In 1854, William Campbell drilled an artesian well at First and Santa Clara streets. It flooded the area as far west as Market Street, so a ditch was dug down the alley to drain the water.
Here's how the name followed, according to that nomination:
- May 14, 1855: Frank Lightston deeded the alley to the City.
- One year later: City Alderman Moody proposed renaming it "Fountain" because of its tie to the well.
- 1861: Fountain Alley became one of the first streets in San Jose with gas street lamps.
- 1870s onward: Commercial buildings have lined the alley ever since.
The official name was "Fountain Street," but San Joseans called it an alley, and maps and signposts eventually did too. Its name has always come from the corner at First and Santa Clara. Now that corner is a construction site.
Why the First Street End Feels Closed
That corner is home to the Bank of Italy building. A.P. Giannini, who grew up in San Jose, founded the Bank of Italy in 1904, and the San Jose branch was its first outside San Francisco. The tower went up in 1926 and opened in January 1927. The Mercury News reported in 2025 that it stood 300 feet tall and remained the tallest building between San Francisco and Los Angeles until 1970. The City made it a landmark in 1984, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Westbank is now turning the office tower into 109 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, plus retail space, across about 126,000 square feet. In May 2026, the Mercury News reported that a city filing listed 2027 as the completion year, with no month given. So the scaffolding is likely to stay up for a while.
The City's Downtown Management Team covered what that means for the alley in a July 18, 2026 update. Construction would require "intermittent weekday closures of Fountain Alley over the coming months." The update didn't list specific dates. If you're heading over on a weekday, plan on the Second Street entrance.
The City has also put work into that end. The same update describes new wayfinding signs and a window display that turn a vacant storefront at the Second Street entrance into what it calls "an inviting gateway." The signs point people to Scratch and Goodtime Bar, and the display was meant to build excitement for BitterBuck before it opened. The update thanks Brian Kurtz and Lou Jimenez of the San Jose Downtown Association, along with the teams at BitterBuck, Goodtime Bar and Scratch, for helping keep the alley welcoming during construction.
The Alley Now Covers the Whole Day
When BitterBuck opened, the San Jose Blog noted that Fountain Alley already held Goodtime, Scratch Cookery and Fox Tale. It also said "another 7 a.m. room on that brick strip is useful if the day starts before the rest of Downtown San Jose wakes up." Each business has a different main stretch of the day:
| Spot | What it's known for | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| BitterBuck | Pour-over coffee and cold brew, then amaro, spritzes, cocktails and small plates | Coffee until 4 p.m., bar menu until 10 p.m. |
| Scratch Cookery | Nashville-style hot chicken sandwiches and tenders, plus burgers and sides | Lunch and dinner |
| Fox Tale Fermentation Project | Brewery and fermentation project | Check current hours before you go |
| Goodtime Bar | Natural wine with food | From 4 p.m. weekdays and 2 p.m. weekends, open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays |
Goodtime's website lists hours of Monday through Thursday 4 to 11 p.m., Friday 4 p.m. to midnight, Saturday 2 p.m. to midnight and Sunday 2 to 10 p.m. San José Spotlight profiled Scratch Cookery in 2025 for its spicy chicken. Its storefront had a grand opening in 2022. Fox Tale opened in 2021, according to a 2023 Spotlight story on downtown businesses. Hours change, so check each business directly before a weeknight visit.
BitterBuck covers the hours the others don't. It's the only spot in the alley built around the morning, and it stays open past dinner.
BitterBuck's Two-Part Menu
Cache Bouren and Tomoyo Yoshinaga own BitterBuck. They also run Haberdasher in SoFA and Cash Only on Santa Clara Street. According to the San Jose Blog's opening-day post, the menu splits in two:
- Until 4 p.m.: There's no espresso machine. Instead you'll find five pour-overs made with locally roasted beans and two Chromatic cold brews. Any of them can come as a boilermaker with a side of amaro, such as Andytown Shore Leave with Sfumato Rabarbaro or Kenz Ethiopia with Pasubio. Pastries come from The Midwife and the Baker, and sweet and savory pies come from Sweetdragon Baking Co.
- After 4 p.m.: The house Garibaldi is a shaken, foamy mix of orange, grapefruit, Select and Campari. Three drinks are on tap: a cold-brew martini, Chromatic nitro and Guinness. Most other drinks skip citrus juice and use verjus, the juice of unripe grapes, for acidity. Small plates come from BitterBuck's own kitchen.
Notch Gonzalez, whom the blog credits with Dr. Funk, designed BitterBuck's interior. Sal Pizarro of the Mercury News got the story behind the name. Bouren took it from "The Green Mile," one of his favorite movies, where Arlen Bitterbuck is a death row prisoner played by Graham Greene. A mounted deer head nods to the "buck." Pizarro also counted a lot of stuffed white mice around the room. Here's how Bouren explained his approach to naming bars:
"My naming scheme for a bar is meant to create a thread that when pulled on, unravels to inform the depth of imagination that a concept starts with."
BitterBuck sits next to Goodtime Bar. In the morning, BitterBuck is open while Goodtime is closed, and Goodtime opens its doors in the afternoon. Walking in from Second Street, you'll find something open next door at most hours of the day.
What to Show Guests While the Wrap Goes Up
Fountain Alley has a few new things to point out to visiting friends. The City's July update describes a new scaffolding wrap on the Bank of Italy building, which was being installed from the top down. The City said the wrap was expected to show a "science-fiction forward interpretation" of the tower with a Silicon Valley-inspired theme. The City says this may be the first time San José has decorated a construction site this way. Installation began this summer, so how much of the wrap is up depends on when you visit.
At the alley's edge, across from the restaurants and bars, a bird-themed mural was recently moved to the boundary between Fountain Alley and the parking lot. Above it all is the tower Giannini's bank built in the 1920s. Once the conversion is done, it will hold 109 apartments.
The quickest route to all of it is from Second Street. Start at the wayfinding display in the old storefront and head toward First, where Scratch, Fox Tale, Goodtime and BitterBuck share the brick strip below the scaffolding.
If you own a home near downtown and want to know how changes like the Bank of Italy conversion fit into today's market, Elsa Garza can walk you through it clearly, in English or Spanish. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, then let's talk about the blocks around Fountain Alley over a pour-over.
