Since opening its doors on San Carlos Street in 1946, Lou's Village has been owned and operated by the same family.

"My grandfather, Lou Santoro, opened the restaurant with Paul Polizzi," says Tom Muller, who now runs Lou's Village with his brother Tim.

"They each had 25 years in the fire department, and as they were getting toward retirement, they started talking about opening a restaurant," Muller says.

"Why?" was the one question Muller never asked his grandfather.

"I don't know. I'd like to find out why," he says.

Muller does know that at that time Lou's Village "was on the edge of town. San Carlos was a road on the way to Santa Cruz, and Stevens Creek stopped at Bascom."

Today the area is called Midtown and just as everything around it has changed, so has Lou's Village, growing from its original 6,000 square feet to its present 28,000 square feet.

Working with Santoro and his wife, Alvina, from the beginning was their daughter Gloria and her husband, Frank Muller, parents of Tom and Tim. In 1951, Polizzi left and the Santoros and Mullers became partners.

When Lou Santoro died in 1967, Alvina continued in partnership with her daughter and son-in-law. She was in charge of the kitchen until she died in 1978.

Frank Muller died in 1992 and Gloria in 1997, leaving Tom and Tim to run the operation.

Both boys literally grew up with the restaurant. Tom was born the year it was founded and Tim was born four years later.

Tom Muller says his favorite memories are about the musicians who played Lou's Village.

"From the time I was 4 years old, I'd go up and play the instruments when they weren't there. When they were, I'd watch them rehearse," Muller says. "My brother and I used to terrorize their equipment. Tim became a drummer and I played piano."

Initially, Lou's Village was as much about entertainment as it was food.

"I remember the acts. It was like everything you think about in terms of that era of live performances. People who came through were big names and on their way to being bigger names. The King Sisters, Ink Spots, Lenny Bruce. We've got a great picture of Lenny and Honey Bruce. It was their publicity picture. All those people on the walls were actually here," he says.

For the most part those days are gone, although the walls of Lou's Village are still covered with the autographed photos of celebrities.

"It became too expensive," Muller says. "We didn't charge covers or minimums, and people came in and had one drink and watched the show. We lost money."

That era is revived at least once each year when the University of Santa Clara's Catala Club hosts a major entertainer. This year it was Shirley Jones, and past performers have included Lanie Kazan and Sam Butero.

"That's the best entertainment for the year," Muller says.

When it became obvious that the entertainment wasn't going to pay for itself, Muller's father, Frank, started the catering side of the business. The catering proved successful, and they took it a step further, opening up a banquet room in 1957.

The banquet area has expanded twice, most recently in 1989, and it now accommodates 1,000 people.

A willingness to change is one of the things that has kept Lou's Village going. It is now known for its seafood, which originally was just part of the menu mix.

"We became a seafood restaurant in the '60s," recalls Muller. "My dad was from New Jersey, and he met my mom on his way to World War II. On a visit back East she realized there was no one serving good East Coast seafood in California. I still don't think there's anyone besides us serving that kind of seafood. For 35 years we've been serving Maine lobsters, bluepoint oysters and soft-shell crab."

Along with the new emphasis on seafood came the addition of nautical decor to the walls of framed photographs. "My dad started collecting that stuff," Muller says.

While Tom and Tim have been involved with the restaurant their entire lives, they didn't work full time at the restaurant until after they'd finished their schooling.

Tom graduated from Bellarmine and Tim from Mitty High School. Both graduated from San Jose State University.

Tim went to work at the restaurant after earning an MBA at the University of Santa Clara.

Tom did some graduate work at San Francisco State University, served in the Navy and became a professional musician. He returned to Lou's Village in 1975 and has remained active, although he recently spent a couple of years in Sante Fe, New Mexico. He moved to help his wife and daughter cope with severe allergies.

The brothers divide the workload.

"If it's really busy, I'll be in front and Tim is on the banquet side," Muller says. "We tend to more or less do everything, but with his MBA, Tim is more the numbers person and I'm more creative."

The Muller brothers have brought their own innovations to Lou's Village.

When the San Jose Arena opened a decade ago, the Mullers were quick to borrow an idea from a sports bar in Detroit, which offers customers transportation to and from Red Wing games at Joe Louis Arena.

"We offer a shuttle on Sharks nights, and whenever there's a major concert in town. With the Sharks, we do 40 to 65 dinners, and with a major concert we might generate 150 to 200 dinners," Muller says. "We hire school buses, and with the arena so close, we just say, 'Why not have a good time, enjoy the dinner and ride over with us and we'll pick you up.'"

The Mullers have also made it a point to be involved with the community.

Earlier this year Tom and Tim were honored with the 2003 Business and Professional Achievement Award by the Italian American Heritage Foundation, the largest and oldest Italian cultural center on the West Coast.

Marge Valente, a vice president on the board of directors and also a member of the awards committee, says that in making the decision, "We went back and looked at the heritage of this family and how they give back to the community. Tom and Tim's great grandfather, Innocenzo Santoro, came here from Tricarico, Italy, in 1888. This family has been here a long time, and Tom and Tim are following that legacy."

The mirrored shark that sits out in front of Lou's Village is another example of the Mullers' involvement.

As members of the West San Carlos Street Neighborhood Business Association, they helped sponsor artist Marilyn Pratt Lebherz in the SharkByte Art project in 2001. Lebherz created "Mirror Ball Shark," which was on display in front of the restaurant until the auction in March 2002.

It proved so popular that it was bought at the charity auction and returned to its resting spot. It's one of the very few art sharks on display and is now a beloved landmark.

While's Lou's Village has evolved over the years and adapted to changes, Muller admits that this isn't the best of times to be running a restaurant.

"The economy and 9/11 have really impacted the business, more so than other businesses. Restaurants feel it quickly," Muller says.

He doesn't hide his frustration over the large subsidies the city of San Jose has offered to out-of-town restaurant chains to open new branches here, while local established restaurants are ignored.

The opening of many new restaurants at nearby Santana Row has also had an impact.

"All the restaurants have felt competition from down the road. Anyone who says they haven't is lying or asleep. Santana Row has created a lot of competition from the sheer novelty of it. For a while, people go to new restaurants," he says.

"We're used to watching trends and novelties go by and see people go to them and then come back after awhile. It's like the prodigal son, but it's the prodigal customer.

"Lou's Village has a consistency. People know what they're going to get when they walk in the door. If they don't, they know when they leave. They've got a great meal for a good price and they've parked for free," he says.

"We offer all the elements a chain doesn't give you. You know there's somebody here that cares. If there's something you want to comment on, there's someone to listen."

Whether the family tradition will continue isn't clear yet.

Tim and Jill Muller have one son and one daughter, and Tom and Janice Muller have one son and two daughters.

"I don't think any of them has any idea about it yet," Tom Muller says. "We're letting them make up their minds, but I would never expect anyone to be in the restaurant business just because of family. Maybe one of our grandsons will go into it and I'll leave instructions on video."

In the meantime, Muller says he's looking for a home in the Rose Garden area. Since moving back from Santa Fe, he and his family have been living in Saratoga.

"Tim and Jill live in Willow Glen, and we're looking for a house in the Rose Garden," he says. "If anyone wants to have a good neighbor, let me know, please."

Lou's Village is located at 1465 W. San Carlos St., San Jose, 408.293.4570. They're open daily. For additional information, visit http://www.lousvillage.com.