Little Portugal, San Jose Little Portugal, San Jose Little Portugal is a historic neighborhood of San Jose, California, in East San Jose and historically the center of San Jose's Portuguese-American community. Little Portugal is home to numerous Portuguese businesses, including Adega, San Jose's only Michelin starred restaurant, Portuguese social clubs, and the Five Wounds Portuguese National Church. Portuguese immigrants to California have historically come from the Azores, rather than from Mainland Portugal, and were traditionally farmers. Portuguese settlers came to the Santa Clara Valley beginning in the 1850's. The Mexican Heritage Plaza is within the neighborhood. In the mid-2010s, the Urban Displacement Project at
Mayor of San Jose a runoff election. All elected mayors of San Jose have been members of the Democratic Party. The first elected mayor was Ron James and the first female mayor was Janet Gray Hayes. Many mayors of San Jose have either served in other public offices or been influential in the private sector following their tenures. Norman Y. Mineta subsequently became a congressman, U.S. Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Secretary of Transportation. After his terms, Tom McEnery has served on the Board of Directors of the San Jose Sharks and founded the Irish Innovation Center and Silicon Valley Global, two downtown-based groups