Mo' Joe in San Diego

YOU WANT MORE THAN A CUP OF COFFEE. You want a comfy chair in which to savor it, a place where you won’t feel rushed to leave, maybe a little live music. You want a place where people get to know your name. And San Diego has scores of them: coffeehouses and cafés that offer the comforts of home, plus a crew of experts to wield the cappuccino machine. These are the cozy, caffeinated——and decaf, nonfat, sugar-free and herbal——places the neighborhood keeps coming back to. Here’s why.

Lestat’s Coffee House

If vampires drank coffee rather than blood, this is undoubtedly where they’d go. Lestat’s is open around the clock, and the goth crowd that flocks here would probably welcome a few fanged visitors. But they might have to hang out in bat form on the elbowto-elbow weekends, when the music acts in the adjoining space cause eager lines to form down the block, sending emissaries to fetch coffee and snacks while waiting for the doors to open. Bats and others will find at least one painting on the ceiling as well as the art-filled walls, which include a display of cast-iron “death skulls” (no, not life size) by Tom Fox. Along one maize-colored wall, a chess game is kibitzed by a latter-day hippie; under a crystal chandelier in a wood-and-windows alcove, an artist whose paintings are on view is buttonholed by a writer wishing to share his wares, too. The small neon OPEN sign above the front door of the storefront isn’t lit, but people stream in regardless, plopping themselves on couches and propping feet on coffee tables—after paying tribute to the counter in the back from whence the caffeine, if not the blood, flows.

3343 Adams Avenue, Normal Heights
619-282-0437; lestats.com
Open 24 hours daily

E Street Café

“How was that cheesecake ‘popsicle’?” asks the man clearing dishes. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to try it.” Hearing it comes heartily recommended, he smiles and heads off, perhaps for one of his own. Along with adventurous desserts, soups and sandwiches, plus a gallery’s worth of ever-changing art, E Street Café pulls in performers professional enough that the crowd pays them more than merely polite attention. This night, a Jewel-like singer on the corner stage is followed by another woman who sounds more like herself; both are applauded heartily. “Music has become a niche for us,” says general manager Barbara Trugliot. “I don’t know if people understand how hard it is for independent coffeehouses to compete.” The friendly staff here certainly do their part, finding customers an empty table on a busy night, offering information about caffeine levels in various teas, issuing warnings about parking skirmishes (it’s best to park on the street). And the community obviously appreciates the care as well as the coffee, with a mix of students and neighborhood moms bellying up for freshly brewed beans and snacks such as “fruit sushi,” staying for hours while they do homework or just soak up the atmosphere.

130 West E Street, Encinitas
760-230-2038; estreetcafe.com
Open Sunday-Thursday 7 a.m.–10 p.m.,
Friday and Saturday till 11

Old California Coffee House

Replete with a meal from one of the 18 eateries of San Marcos’ Restaurant Row, but not ready to call it a night yet? Old California Coffee House invites an extended evening—or perhaps the beginning of one—with two fire pits in its courtyard and an interior lined with overstuffed chairs and couches that beg to be nestled into while you sip a gigantic cup of coffee or chow down on the hearty chili. One nook has a set of bookshelves overflowing with tomes for the use of customers. Entertainment is scheduled only on Fridays; other times, anyone is free to sit at the piano and noodle away at the keyboard. The free wireless Internet entices some students with laptops, but this is not so much a place for serious studying as it is the sort of space where you sit down to talk with a friend for an hour and look up nearly three hours later, amazed how time flies when you’re made so much at home.

1080 San Marcos Boulevard, Suite 176,
San Marcos
760-744-2112
Open Sunday-Thursday 6 a.m.–10 p.m.,
Friday and Saturday 7-11
Pannikin Coffee & Tea
With a Harley-Davidson motorcycle parked on the mantel above the fireplace, you might expect a biker component to rumble through Pannikin. Indeed, one customer in his mid-30s recognizes the vehicle as “omigod, just like my first motorcycle.” But this is a quiet corner of La Jolla, where—even if the décor hints otherwise—coffeehouses are well-behaved, closing early and keeping the rowdy, highon- caffeine elements to a minimum. The big draw at this original Pannikin (there are locations in Encinitas and Del Mar also) is breakfast; on weekend mornings, the small converted house is packed, with the coveted seats on the large deck outside, especially in warm weather. The staff seems almost as loyal as the locals. One crew member confides he’d worked at Starbucks before coming here, and says, “This is nothing like that.” For one thing, he says, “No rude customers.” Not even the bikers.

7467 Girard Avenue, La Jolla
858-454-5453
Open 6 a.m.—7 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, till 8 Friday and Saturday

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