Living Room? More Like...Threshold

The Living Room (1010 Prospect Street, La Jolla CA)

Open late, serving caffeine and booze and desserts and hookah (so you can have ALL THE ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCES). 

They’re not particularly friendly to me, but maybe it’s because I order mini coffees and sit there for two hours sipping at it as I read a book, then ask them to re-heat it two or three times (until they give up and just get me a new drink…which is actually really generous of them when I’ve ordered something pricier, like a dirty soy chai…though it kind of defeats my goal of warming the remnants of my beverage so I can actually finish it). 

Or maybe they’re less-than-friendly because they’re middle eastern and so am I (middle eastern people intuitively mistrust one another, I think…and it’s not racist if I say it because I’m including myself in there, right?). Really, I think they're just busy and they tend to get a large quantity of student/tourist lurkers, so they're not beaming and farting sunshine at you. It's part of their vaguely-punk vibe. Like their mohawk-piercing-coffee-sipper-cartoons on their coffeecup sleeves...

I don't appear to have hoarded pictures of the lovely Living Room, so here's a screenshot from Freaks and Geeks instead. James Franco's smile makes everything better.

If you’re a high-maintenance vegan, probably don’t come here for a meal. I asked if there were dairy or egg ingredients in the pitas that come with their baba ghanoush and the (unfriendly middle eastern) serverman told me: “They’re...pitas. I don’t know.” Geethanks. I guess I’ll stick with the overpriced vegan cookie-crisp-things by the register. Or an overpriced banana. You get away with the overpricedness because of your beach view and your antique/genie-whose-bottle-just-exploded-all-over-a-café décor, and the punk-rockers on your coffeesleeve logo.

Again, sorry for the lack of actual pictures. Here's William Carlos Williams in his underthings. Isn't the internet fabulous?

Aaanyway, their chai is not very remarkable: kind of grainy, kind of cinnamony, decent when dirty but otherwise a bit of a sugarbomb that leaves its sweet sweet shrapnel all over your teeth. BUT their vibe is getting close to what I'm looking for in my lurking-while-clutching-a-chai scene. So...close? So close.

Hours: 6 a.m. to midnight

Service: You have to ask for an actual ceramic mug (otherwise you get a to-go cup, even if you say it’s for dine-in). The cashiermen tend to be frowny but not unaccommodating. I’ve had my order messed up a couple times, but I’ve also had free refills and excessive friendliness from a few of the staff members sooo I guess it balances out.

Seating: Downstairs café-like ambiance, upstairs hookahlounge and bar. The ocean is just visible out the windows, and there are also TV screens by the bar-region for you to catch football games or whatever. (Go Vikings!)

Eatables: Pastries, sandwiches, middle eastern stuff, fries, etc. More excitingly: honey packets! Full of honey! On the counter with the other drink-doctoring supplies! Including cinnamon(!) and cream and sugar and fakesugar.

People: Wifi-(ab)using students, adorable old people, families/tourists, hookah-smokers.

Music: Slightly less charming/quirky than other area coffee shops (with a cleaner, more uptight vibe than Pannikin...which is a charming place a few blocks east, which I shall review at a later date), but a similar ambiance from the medley of oldies, top-forties, and random hip hop or whatever seems to be on the baristas’ iPods.