Fair Oaks Drive-In

1032 N. Fair Oaks Avenue,
Sunnyvale, CA 94089

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.

Nearby Theaters

Aerial before-after Fair Oaks Drive-In

The Fair Oaks Drive-In was located in the Lakewood district of Sunnyvale at the intersection of N. Fair Oaks Avenue and Bayshore Freeway 101. It opened in 1964 with Tony Curtis in “40 Pounds of Trouble”. It was closed in 1974.

It was demolished and a single story business park was built on the site. By 2022 the site contains a housing development.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

jwmovies
jwmovies on September 29, 2012 at 9:26 pm

Approx. address for the drive-in was 1032 N. Fair Oaks Ave. Half of it is also condos.

bob007gold
bob007gold on August 19, 2014 at 2:26 pm

Legend has it that the Lion and Compass restaurant is at or near the site of the old sanck bar for this drive-in.

tahoekid77
tahoekid77 on February 16, 2015 at 8:24 pm

Original site is enclosed within the Fairoaks Business Park. Also, per the aerial photography, there was only 1 screen. The theater was built ~1961-1962.

lennyjw
lennyjw on May 13, 2016 at 11:42 pm

The Fair Oaks Drive-in opened in 1964 with the release of Goldfinger. The last movie to play there was Born Losers, in 1974. The theater could hold up to 990 cars. It was part of the United Artists Theater Circuit. Fair Oaks Drive-in fell victim to rising land values in an area which soon came to be called Silicon Valley. It was sold and became a business park. The Lion and Compass restaurant is indeed located on the site of the old snack-bar. The restaurant was established by Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 6, 2018 at 5:23 am

Does the restaurant have video games(Atari?)?

TomMc11
TomMc11 on October 10, 2018 at 7:59 am

No it doesn’t, because it has been closed since the beginning of this year.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on October 11, 2018 at 12:30 am

Is there anything in the restaurant building now?

rivest266
rivest266 on July 2, 2022 at 1:13 am

The Fairoaks Auto Movie opened on December 11th, 1964, with “Topkapi” and “The Pink Panther”. Grand opening ad posted.

Fairoaks not Fair Oaks.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on July 2, 2022 at 4:27 am

Also opened with “40 pounds of trouble”.

jwmovies
jwmovies on September 9, 2022 at 1:04 am

FYI Sunnyvale D/I is now Willowbend Townhomes. The Fair Oaks D/I is now Encasa Townhomes. Please update.

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