The only tip-off that the steak and seafood restaurant might be operating again was an unobtrusive sign on the front porch of the old yellow house. It said simply: "Now Hiring, Inquire Within." The tables that had remained set with linen, glassware and flatware for months after the closing were cleared.

Houston-based Landry's Restaurants, Inc., which has owned the Chart House chain since 2002, opened Chart's Jan. 7. Company officials deferred inquiries to Joanie Goldstein of Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations.

"[Landry's has] reevaluated the market and they think it has great potential," Goldstein said. "They've revamped the menu but it still has many of the Chart House favorites."

Jeff Cantwell, Landry's vice president of development, told the Los Gatos Weekly-Times after its January 2004 closing that the 115 N. Santa Cruz Ave. location "was not a successful restaurant for us."

The company then attempted to sell the building in a package with four other properties, real estate broker Beau Hatfield said. Several potential buyers surfaced, but a sale was never reached.

"They're still going to be trying to sell it," he said. "It's bleeding profusely."

Hatfield said Chart's limited schedule—Wednesdays through Saturdays from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.—was created to keep overhead costs as low as possible.

Goldstein, however, said she knew nothing of plans to still sell the restaurant.

"We're not aware of anything like that, actually," she said.

Bud Lortz, community development director for the town of Los Gatos, said his department has been working with Landry's executives for some time on the best way to operate the restaurant, since a conditional use permit with the town would have expired Jan. 13. In order to maintain the permit, a restaurant must operate at the location.

"The process of establishing a use permit is challenging," Lortz said. A public hearing process—which has the potential to be lengthy—would have been required for either Landry's or a new owner to re-establish such a permit once it expired.

Lortz and company officials agreed the restaurant should operate more than on a token-use basis and in a way that is typical of fine dining. They agreed on the four-day, dinner-only schedule.

"We're all glad to see them open here," he said, "and want to assist them in any way we can."

Corrine Best, a veteran of 14 years with the Chart House, is returning to the general manager position she held for a year and a half prior to its closing.

The Los Gatos Chart House—an 1891 Queen Ann Victorian complete with reports of ghostly happenings—opened in 1976 after 60 years as The Place Funeral Home. The home was built for Australian widow Mary G. Coggeshall, who lived there until her death a little more than 25 years later.