The Sun Cafe: Young Building

by Sandee Wilhoit • Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation July 8, 2026

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The Young Building

Gaslamp Quarter Historic Building Marker #54

(1873-1883)

421 Market Street

Architects: Unknown

Architectural Style: Victorian Commercial

The early history of Lot A/Block 082/95, where the Sun Cafe sits, is a most circuitous one. On March 18, 1869, Alonzo Horton sold the property to Mary C. Smith, who promptly sold it to E. P. Fig, who returned it to Mrs. Smith, who resold it to Mr. Horton. Mr. Horton then relinquished his interest in the property to William S. McNealy and James McCoy on November 11, 1872, for $1,000 in gold coin.  Both of these gentlemen were very active in early San Diego civic and business affairs.  McNealy was a District Attorney and the youngest man, at age 25, to hold the office of Judge.   McCoy was a Sheriff and State Senator. He was also the founder of a newspaper, The Daily World.

These gentlemen divided their lot, giving the east half of the lot to John N. Young, an undertaker. The 1886-1887 City Directory lists his specialty as embalming and states that he also prepared bodies for shipping. He was also the City Coroner. A very versatile individual, Mr. Young was additionally involved in furniture sales, carpentry, and the building of the Young Block on 5th and F. His other activities included firefighting, public administration, and a stint as Superintendent of cemetery grounds. Mr. Young is the party responsible for the structure we know as the Sun Cafe. As the building was built between 1873 and 1883, it is thus one of the oldest buildings in the Gaslamp. The 1883 Sanborn fire map indicates a one-story brick structure on the site and notes that it is an undertaking establishment. The 1887 map also designates the building as an undertaker’s. In 1888, Mr. Young partnered with John Gray to establish a “fine handmade furniture and fine handmade coffins” store in what is now the historic Marin Hotel building at 552 5th Avenue. The building on Market St. then became a funeral parlor, and the undertaking was performed in the basement of the Marin Hotel building.

Mr. Young died in 1897, and the Sun Cafe building was purchased from the estate by Mrs. Sophia Remondino, wife of Dr. Peter Remondino, a physician who was said to own one of the finest medical libraries in California. Dr. Remondino also built the St. James Hotel at 830 6th Avenue. 

At the turn of the century, the building remained basically the same and housed a series of small business endeavors, including a barber, and two different cobblers, William Gurney and Samuel Thompkins.

In 1914, Joseph V. Obayashi and his wife, Sayers's, opened a shooting gallery and confectionery. Mr. Obayashi occasionally sold soup in the shooting gallery, which was so well received that in 1926, he converted the shooting gallery into a restaurant, the “Sun Cafe.” In 1925, he had the structure “remodeled and repaired.” The Obayashi family said that it was the original structure with a new facelift. The actual sale of the property was recorded as a transaction between Florence F. Obayashi and the Bank of America for $3500.00.

During WWII, over 2,000 Japanese were removed to the Poston War Relocation Center internment camp, and the Obayashi family was part of this group. In their absence, a Greek family ran the Cafe, and it was ultimately sold to the Jeongs, a Chinese family.  The Jeongs operated the cafe for 46 years, and Nui and Ming Jeong finally closed the doors of this San Diego icon on December 31, 2008.

When the Obayashis returned from the Poston War Relocation Center, Al Obayashi, the father of longtime Davis Horton House museum volunteer Jon Obayashi, opened a Japanese/Chinese restaurant on 4th Avenue in what is now home to the restaurant La Puerta. It was extremely popular, as American G.I.s, home from the war, craved the exotic Asian cuisine they had enjoyed abroad.

On Thursday, June 25, 2015,  Asian Story Theater premiered “Stories of the Sun Cafe,” a dramatized recollection of community leaders and real people who lived, worked and ate at this iconic cafe. It was held at the Lyceum Theater to a very enthusiastic crowd.

The Sun Cafe site is now the home of TJ 664, a Mexican restaurant. However, the historic sign above the door still shines brightly, reminding us of the past when the Sun Cafe was the hub of Japanese and Chinese life in downtown San Diego.

Sandee is the historian for the Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation. She can be reached at swilhoit@cox.net