How do you get into Norfair?
We have not confirmed it. Norfair is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
Drinks of the era
We have not seen this venue’s own list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: French 75, Clover Club, and Aviation are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
Where Norfair sits
Norfair is in San Jose, California, in Santa Clara County, in the West of the United States. The city sits inside the Bay Area metropolitan area.
Our directory currently lists four speakeasies and hidden bars in San Jose. The full list is on our guide to hidden bars in San Jose.
Measured from the map pins, the closest of those to Norfair are The Hidden Lanai, about 850 m away, Public Speak Easy’s Toastmasters Club, about 5.3 km away, and Italian Cellar Speakeasy Bar, about 5.3 km away.
California holds 173 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our California speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in California
California came under national prohibition on 17 January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment took effect and the Volstead Act defined an intoxicating beverage as anything above one half of one per cent alcohol — a threshold strict enough to close breweries that had expected to survive.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in California.
What the newspapers recorded in California
Searching the Library of Congress run of California newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from California:
- La prensa, March 6, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Imperial Valley press, June 14, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Imperial Valley press, October 18, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- Imperial Valley press, November 5, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach Norfair on Facebook.
The address is 3194 Moorpark Ave, San Jose, CA 95117-2222. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For Norfair we hold street address and social accounts. We do not yet hold telephone number, official website, opening hours, a published drinks list, an online booking link, or a listed-building record.
It is in the directory because the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.