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| Dark Horse Coffee Roasters now open in North Park. |
COFFEE SOCIETY--There
was a time in recent history when North Park, the historic and now hipster
neighborhood, didn’t have one coffee house.
That was 1993. In fact, the only non-fast food restaurants in the area where
you could order a cup of any kind of coffee were Paesano’s on 30th; Rudford’s,
Red Fox and Chicken Pie Shop on El Cajon Blvd. and Western Steerburger on
University.
For a writer and editor, who
spent a career in newspaper and magazine offices, I was hooked on coffee and my
home ‘hood was a wasteland for espresso drink aficionados.
But eventually things began
to perk up.
In the mid-90s, when most
Hipsters were transitioning from trikes to bikes with training wheels,
Millennium Coffee opened at Kansas and University Avenue. Good idea and great location, however, the
Millennium just didn’t catch on. It barely lasted a year before folding.
Fortunately, the next tenant
to occupy Millennium’s space was a young hard working woman named Claire Magner, who
created North Park’s first true coffee house and called it Claire de Lune
Coffee Lounge. That was in the late
1990s.
Claire de Lune is a survivor becoming a quintessential neighborhood coffee house. Thanks to a remarkable work ethic and a love
for North Park, Claire de Lune has withstood and actually flourished with
coffee house competitors that have come and gone since Ms. Claire opened her
doors to all things coffee.
Thanks, Claire.
Fast forward.
Dark Horse Coffee Roasters
opened for business this week. It is the second
Dark Horse location (others being in Truckee CA and Adams Ave. near Bancroft in
San Diego). The Adams Avenue site has a
solid following. The new Dark Horse
(adjacent to Waypoint Restaurant at 30th and North Park Way), offers
the full range of coffee drinks.
I ordered a $3.50 café latte
for 12 oz.
It was delicious. Just the right temperature. The barista also produced a nice flower
pattern on the cream. OK, I like
patterns on my café latte.
The décor for this very small
operation was exceptional. The indoor/outdoor seating adds to the eclectic and
walkability of the neighborhood. This is not a review because one 12 oz. café
latte on one day is not a true basis for any serious critique, but it was
another good day in North Perk, especially for the neighborhood’s new growth
industry.
NORTH PARK COFFEE HOUSES
Caffe Calabria
3933 30th St.
619.291.1759
Claire de Lune Coffee Lounge
2906 University Ave. (@Kansas
St.).
619.688.9845
Coffee & Tea Collective
2911 El Cajon Blvd. (@30th
St.)
619.564.8086
NEW--Dark Horse Coffee Roasters
3794 30th St.
(entrance on North Park Way)
Holsem Coffee
2911 University Ave.
Remodeling the spaces formerly occupied by Chester's Furniture and Chito’s Shoe Repair site. Chito's is now on Lincoln St.
Influx
3000 Upas St. #103 (@30th
St.).
619.795.0680
Santos Coffee House
3191 Thorn St. (@32nd
St.).
619.640.3376
Starbucks
2899 University Ave. @29th
St.
619.692.0755
Starbucks
3206 University Ave., @32nd
St.
619.285.9814
NEW--Streetcar Merchants
4002 Lincoln Ave. (@30th)
619.546.9010
Subterranean Coffee Boutique
3764 30th St.
619.780.0916
Young Hickory
4096 30th St.
(@Polk. Ave.)
619.795.6574
South Park
Rebecca’s
3015 Juniper St. (@30th
St.)
619.284.3663
About the Author:
North Parker Tom Shess, a career magazine and newspaper
writer/editor attended Roosevelt Junior High School, where they sold no
coffee. Among many posts, he is the
founder of this blog and the North
Park News, where he was editor and
publisher from its founding in 1993 until 2000, when he sold the monthly
community newspaper to become editor of San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles.
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