On October 4, 1926, the Saratoga Improvement Club voted to change its name to the Chamber of Commerce. Soon after, the new Chamber took up the main road through town, which was then called Lumber Street. Twelve members voted, and "Big Basin Way" won with nine votes.
That vote was a hundred years ago today. The Chamber is marking the anniversary with a free party on October 10. The street it named is full this month with scarecrows, a Halloween walk, and two new restaurants in spaces that had gone dark. Taken together, they show that Big Basin Way is still run on the same idea the 1926 vote expressed. The street works best when someone gives people a reason to come up the hill.
The Name Was a Pitch
The old name described what the road carried. The Saratoga Historical Foundation's history of the Chamber explains that Highway 9, now Big Basin Way, was an important county road from before statehood. It gave Saratoga an economic edge because it led to the lumber mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The same road also led to Congress Springs and the scenic hills beyond.
The new name described where the road went and who might want to go there. Saratoga had already called itself "The Gateway to Big Basin" for years. Around the turn of the century, local boosters tried a broader slogan, "Crown of the Valley, the Pasadena of the North." The foundation's history notes that it never caught on. Changing Lumber Street to Big Basin Way made the more successful slogan official, right where visitors would see it.
The booster tradition is older than the Chamber itself. On March 7, 1887, residents formed the Saratoga Village Improvement Association. Its goals were to beautify the area, to lobby the county supervisors for road grading and regular sprinkling, to plant hedges, and to promote Saratoga. That group later became the Saratoga Improvement Association, then a Board of Trade organized in 1904 to handle street lighting and road repairs, and finally the 1926 Chamber. Each version took on the same task: keeping the Village pleasant enough and well enough known that people would make the trip.
A Century Later, the Task Is Foot Traffic
The task has outlasted every renaming. In May 2025, the Mercury News reported that Saratoga Village's economic vitality had long been challenged, largely by low foot traffic.
The Chamber's response was Saratoga Nights, a free first-Thursday evening series in the Village. It ran from April to October in its first year. The 2026 season started in May and wrapped up on October 1, three days ago. The final night ran from 5 to 8 p.m. in the Saratoga Village Center Parking Lot on Big Basin Way. Fishhook played, and there was a beer-and-wine booth, kids' games, and discounts at local restaurants.
Chamber President Jim Cargill told the Mercury News group in June that the series was never meant to be judged by sales on the night itself.
"What it really does is introduce people to the fact that there are restaurants and unique shops there, so maybe they will come back on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday night. It creates that regular foot traffic."
Cargill said the 2025 events drew a couple hundred people on average. April and May were well attended, June was lighter, and turnout jumped whenever there was a live performance. Neither the city nor the Chamber had hard numbers on the economic impact. Cargill said Anchors and Big Basin Burger Bar both saw more business on those nights. Wine donated by Cooper-Garrod and by his own House Family Vineyards was sold to help pay for the series.
The 1887 association lobbied for road sprinkling, and its modern counterpart worked on visitor basics too. In September 2025, the City of Saratoga held a ribbon-cutting for a new self-cleaning Exeloo public restroom in Village Parking District #3. It has automatic doors and touchless sensors. The city said the wider project used $7.2 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for stormwater management and for rebuilding the Village parking districts.
October Runs on the Same Plan
With Saratoga Nights finished for the year, the rest of the month keeps the same pattern of free events that bring people onto the street and into its businesses.
| Date | Event | Where | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Through Nov. 1 | SCAREatoga | Along Big Basin Way and at participating homes | Handmade scarecrows judged in categories such as Most Original, Funniest, Scariest and Best Organization |
| Sat., Oct. 10, 6–9 p.m. | Saratoga Chamber of Commerce 100th Anniversary Celebration | Odd Fellows Saratoga, 14414-A Oak St. | Free and open to the public, with light hors d'oeuvres and beverages |
| Sun., Oct. 25, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. | Goblins in the Garden | Montalvo Arts Center | Fratello Marionettes at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., plus slime-making, the Potion Lab and a family costume contest |
| Sat., Oct. 31, 2–4 p.m. | Witchy Walk-A-Bout | Along Big Basin Way | Free, with costumes, games, crafts, trick-or-treating at local businesses, a robotics demonstration and a bubble booth |
The SCAREatoga prizes follow the same thinking. Each winner receives a $60 gift card to a local restaurant, and applications and scarecrow drop-off are handled at the Chamber office at 14460 Big Basin Way. The Witchy Walk-A-Bout is organized by the Saratoga Village Development Council and sends trick-or-treaters to the doors of Village businesses. The Village's events are designed to send people into its shops and restaurants.
Goblins in the Garden is the one event off Big Basin Way. Families can bring a picnic or buy from food trucks and a no-host bar.
New Kitchens at Familiar Addresses
The plan only works if visitors find open doors when they come back on a Tuesday. This fall, two long-familiar spaces on Big Basin Way are filling up.
- Sultan's Kebab, 14554 Big Basin Way. It opened in the space that was Mangia Mornings. In late August, owner Fatih Ulas told the Mercury News the Saratoga location was "opening soon." By September 22 it was open, serving beef kebabs, lavash, rice, hummus, falafel and vegetarian dishes. Takeout orders go to 408-740-8021.
- Negeen Persian Cuisine, former La Mere Michelle space. Negeen has been a favorite in Campbell for more than 20 years, known for its wide range of meat and vegetarian dishes. It has announced that its second location will open soon in the former Mere Michelle space. A 2025 city planning memo lists La Mere Michelle at 14467 Big Basin Way. No opening date has been announced.
These openings build on one from last year. Mochinut, which the Mercury News described as a business city officials hoped would draw foot traffic, held its grand opening in summer 2025 on Big Basin Way, between Fine Vines and Mai's Barber.
Both new restaurants come from operators with track records elsewhere in the region. Ulas is opening Sultan's Kebab in Concord and Saratoga at the same time, and Negeen is extending a Campbell restaurant that has run for two decades. In both cases, the Village is attracting businesses whose owners already know how to run a restaurant.
A Centennial One Block Off the Street It Named
The October 10 celebration is at Odd Fellows Saratoga on Oak Street, just around the corner from Big Basin Way. The Chamber is billing it as a celebration of 100 years of supporting local businesses and strengthening community connections. Admission is free, donations are welcome but not required, and the Chamber is asking guests to RSVP.
For most of those hundred years, the Chamber's own office has stayed close to the street. The historical foundation records an office at 14483 Big Basin Way in 1969 and a move to 14417 Big Basin Way in the early 1970s. In 1976 the Chamber moved to the newly renovated McWilliams House in the Saratoga Historical Park. It outgrew that small house and returned to an office on Big Basin Way in January 2003. Its current address, 14460 Big Basin Way, is where this month's scarecrows are being dropped off.
The Chamber's history covers more than the street name. In November 1955, it sponsored the open forum that started the study of whether Saratoga should incorporate. The town voted to incorporate on September 25, 1956, by 1,687 to 1,527. Centennial guests will be celebrating the group that helped create the city as well as the group that named the street.
The plan for October is easy to follow. Take a walk past the scarecrows, pick up kebabs at 14554 Big Basin Way, and head around the corner to Oak Street on October 10 for the Chamber's hundredth birthday.
If you're out on Big Basin Way this month and wondering what the Village's next chapter could mean for your own plans, I'm always glad to talk about it over coffee in town. Mark Vantress follows these Saratoga storefronts as closely as the homes nearby, and you're welcome to reach out anytime. Let's Connect.
