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A sci-fi-themed bar and grill wasn’t exactly what Jenny Voccola was expecting to find in San Jose while perusing Yelp for places to eat – but it definitely intrigued her. It was the fall of 2019, and she had just moved to the Bay Area from Southern California.
“On Yelp I saw this place that had a big statue of Jabba the Hutt, and I was like, ‘Well, that looks fun,’” she said.
So after work, she went to 7 Stars Bar and Grill for dinner. She decided to go back after a day at the Northern California Renaissance Fair, sitting at the bar dressed in Renaissance clothing.
That’s when Crystal Isola walked in. A schoolteacher, Isola had been frequenting 7 Stars to watch shows like “The Mandalorian.”
“I felt very comfortable there,” she said. “It was a fun atmosphere and very welcoming and safe, even for a single woman.”
She had just come from the opera and was dressed elegantly, Isola recalled. She sat next to Voccola at the bar and complimented her Renaissance outfit.
“We just hit it off really, really well, so we exchanged phone numbers,” Voccola said. “To this day…under the (new contact) company description, it said ‘Kindred spirit I met at 7 Stars.’”
Now they regularly hang out at 7 Stars, which relocated to Campbell in the former LvL Up space on Sept. 20. Established by husband and wife Paul and Marya Cunha in 2011 in San Jose, 7 Stars wasn’t initially sci-fi themed – its goal was mainly to foster a safe and comfortable neighborhood bar without an emphasis on sports. The name isn’t a sci-fi reference either – it symbolizes Paul and Marya Cunha and their five children.
“We opened the bar we wanted to be at…somewhere for me, where I could meet my girlfriends for a ladies’ night and not wait in my car until someone else arrived,” Marya Cunha said.
Over time, the Cunhas – who had a “Star Wars”-themed wedding in 2004 – slowly began decorating the space with “Star Wars” memorabilia and action figures. Instead of streaming sports at the bar, the Cunhas played movies that they enjoyed, like “Indiana Jones,” “The Goonies” and, of course, “Star Wars.” In 2012, 7 Stars hosted its first May the Fourth “Star Wars” celebration. The community’s reaction was extremely positive, so the Cunhas decided to lean into the theme.
“If you picture a sports bar with signage, 1989 Giants, champions, whatever it is, you don’t see that here,” Paul Cunha said. “Instead of seeing those 49ers posters and jerseys, no, we’ve got limited-edition artwork or convention-exclusive poster work that was done. So we’re essentially a sports bar for nerds.”
In June 2020, 7 Stars shut its doors due to COVID, opening back up in July 2021 for five weeks to say goodbye. In March 2024, they found 7 Stars’ new home: the historic Growers National Bank in Campbell, only a seven-minute drive from the Cunhas’ home.
Walk inside the former bank to find a pair of child-sized stormtroopers guarding the door. Funko Pop figurines are lined up in display cases, starfighters hang from the ceiling, “Star Wars”-themed art fills the exposed brick wall and a Landspeeder, Jabba the Hutt and BB-8 keep the DJ in the back company. In addition to “Star Wars” decor, find art and figurines related to “Indiana Jones,” Marvel and DC franchises, “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings” and more.
Open for lunch and dinner daily, 7 Stars is all ages (and offers a kids’ menu) until 7 p.m., at which point guests must be 21 or over. The menu ($5-$16) offers bar food classics like nachos and hot dogs, as well as more unique items like plant-based banh mi sandwiches and 7 Stars eggs with housemade aioli, pickled onions and trout roe. The Grown Up PB&J features salted caramel almond butter and jelly, both sourced from the farmers market, spread onto Texas toast and put into a special panini press that seals the sandwich.
“It’s like a grown-up size Uncrustables,” Marya Cunha said.
But despite its name, the new 7 Stars doesn’t actually have a grill.
“It’s a historic building, so installing a hood is just not happening,” Marya Cunha said. “But we had our name established. We had 10 years at the old location. We had a loyal following. We didn’t want to change the name.”
The food menu is pared down from the former San Jose location – you’ll no longer find linguiça corn dogs, burgers, chicken strips or fries. But 7 Stars is still making its hummus, aioli, roasted nuts, pickled jalapenos and pickled onions from scratch.
The cocktail list ($8-$18) includes themed drinks like the Chewie, made with vanilla vodka and coffee liquor; the Rey, made with coconut fat-washed vodka, lime juice and soda water; and Blue Milk, made with chocolate whisky, blue curacao and your choice of dairy, almond or oat milk. New to the Campbell location is 7 Stars’ gin egg sour, called the Mace Windu ($18).
“A lot of our staff came back from our previous location,” Marya Cunha said. “They were waiting for us to open, and as soon as we were able to announce an opening day, we got several back, and some of them had worked at other places with more elevated cocktails.”
7 Stars is working to expand its nonalcoholic offerings and focuses on sourcing its brews and kombucha locally. Karaoke is held Fridays and Saturdays beginning at 8 p.m., trivia is Mondays at 7 p.m. and special events are announced on 7 Stars’ Instagram.
Marya Cunha said one facet of 7 Stars that’s particularly meaningful to her is its ability to help uplift community voices. In the former location, she held a women’s forum where local leaders explained propositions to help educate women voters, as well as a LGTBQ business showcase where local LGBTQ-owned businesses came to 7 Stars to showcase their products.
To continue the bar’s inclusive nature, she hopes to reinstate rotating ads on the TVs with messages encouraging bargoers to talk to bartenders if they feel uncomfortable and emphasizing that “everyone is welcome.”
The community at 7 Stars has not only fostered friendships, but several marriages from couples who first met at the bar.
“We’ve been invited to four different weddings (where) we’ve been announced…as where the couple met,” Paul Cunha said. “We’ve met children that were born to couples that met at the bar, and I played with and hung out with kids and helped kids that they were around because their parents met at our business.”
One couple is Matt and Serena Holt, who met in 2014 at 7 Stars during its Rock Band-themed night.
“I just went there with my best friends, and she was there with some other friends,” Matt Holt said. “We ended up singing a Green Day song together, ‘Jesus of Suburbia.’”
They began dating, and in 2016, they became fast friends with another couple who was also sporting 7 Stars merch, moving in together as roommates in San Diego in 2018. Last year, Matt and Serena Holt got married, inviting Paul and Marya.
Bars played a role in Paul and Marya’s own love story – it’s where they dated and became inspired to open a bar of their own. Paul and Marya attended the same junior high and high school together – even working at the same food court during high school – but they each had separate families and didn’t connect until their divorces.
“We saw in other businesses things we’d like to do differently,” Marya Cunha said. “We were just building the bar we’d like to be in, without the sports, without the misogyny that’s in a lot of bars.”
With the bar now built back up in Campbell, the couple is eager to continue building community in its new neighborhood.
“We’re here to support the community,” Marya Cunha said. “When we look at this street full of restaurants and bars and whatnot, we don’t think of all the competition. We think of all the community, all the neighbors, all the support.”
7 Stars Bar and Grill, 400 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell; Instagram: @7_stars_bar_and_grill. Open Tuesday to Thursday 4 p.m. to midnight and Friday to Monday 11 a.m. to midnight.
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