By Linda Taaffe

Two modern storefronts are expected to replace one of Los Altos’ most notable and notorious landmarks in upcoming months. The Los Altos City Council last week approved plans for a major rehaul of the former Mac’s Tea Room on Main Street.

The facelift includes replacing the historic brick building with contemporary-looking slate and glass storefronts. Developer Paul Bosman plans to convert the building into a restaurant on one half of the property and a shop with upstairs office space on the other half.

The building at 325 Main St. has sat vacant for more than a year, since the city’s original watering hole shut down in April 2000.

Mac’s Tea Room operated at that site since it first opened in 1938, and it is where the bar earned its colorful history. The tea room quickly became a site frequented by cowboys, politicians, professional athletes and a string of other well-known patrons.

Mac’s occupied the entire building and had 225 seats. The new restaurant will have 116 seats with indoor-outdoor dining, a bar and a banquet room. Bosman described the restaurant as an informal bistro with a pub. Plans include an open kitchen for exhibition cooking.

Councilman John Moss called the proposed design a major improvement from the current building, which he called uninviting.

Councilman Francis La Poll was more critical of the design, saying it looked like something from Palo Alto’s University Avenue.

The Los Altos Chamber of Commerce urged the city to move quickly on the project.

“We believe that the location has historically proven itself an excellent site for a restaurant and that it will bring back the vitality needed in that area of Main Street. It has long been a landmark restaurant destination, and we feel a new eating establishment at the location is long overdue,” chamber president Julie Rose told the planning department in a letter.