Bucking the trend

June Casagrande

Original paintings, including a nude, hang on the walls. The coffee

menu includes a lot of familiar concoctions, but the drinks sizes are

“single,” “double” and “triple.” The clientele are hip, the decor is

irreverent and the experience isn’t one likely to be franchised from

coast to coast.

This is a coffee house designed without shareholders in mind.

Though Newport Mesa has its fair share of big-chain coffee houses

-- about 16 Starbucks spread throughout the two cities -- independent

and small-chain coffee joints continue to thrive. Each with its own

special niche, with its own unique personality, these lesser-known

establishments offer what the big chains can’t: a distinctive

experience served up steaming hot.

“You don’t see art like that at Starbucks,” said customer Todd

Stocking, pointing to a cluster of paintings on the wall at the Gypsy

Den, the popular coffee house and lunch spot in Costa Mesa’s

Anti-Mall.

The Gypsy Den is just one of dozens of local coffee houses that

not only survive but thrive in the shadow of the nationwide chains.

“I think Starbucks has actually helped because they’ve made it a

lot more mainstream to have different types of coffee,” said Rich

Baranoski, manager of the Harbour House on Balboa Peninsula, which

offers a serene waterfront experience with every cappuccino.

Not so long ago, people would brew a pot of Folgers at home before

heading out the door to work. But the age of the multinational coffee

house conglomerate has changed all that. Now, many eschew the home

brew in order to stand in long lines for a latte or a morning mocha.

Instead of snuffing out potential competitors, the major chains

have fostered a trend that in turn created a new market for competing

coffee houses. The best strategy of the mom-and-pop java joints and

the small chains alike is to offer an experience that the

cookie-cutter coffee houses just can’t match.

Take Cafe Ruba on Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa. Just going to

the bathroom there is a walk on the wild side. The ladies’ room walls

are covered with black paint, accented by red lights, a pink neon

flamingo sculpture, a string of flashing bulbs in a frame and a TV

hung above the toilet and draped with sheer fabric. The volume is

turned down, so that the only noise comes from the rock water

fountain on one wall.

After reluctantly exiting the bathroom, the visitor finds that

Ruba itself is a stimulating jumble of indoor and outdoor hang-out

options for enjoying a good cup of coffee for $1.65 served by a pierced but perky young person.

Some local espresso bars such as Alta Coffee House in Newport

Beach offer evening entertainment, like Alta’s Saturday and Sunday

night live music nights, monthly poetry nights or just-launched

open-mike nights on Tuesdays.

“I don’t even feel like Starbucks is competition for us because

we’re just so incredibly different,” Alta manager Tina Bentley said.

Fresh baked goods made on the premises, home made lunch fare and a

down-home bookstore atmosphere have been part of Alta’s success for

more than 10 years, Bentley said.

“Before Starbucks came along we were just as busy as we are now,”

she added.

And even before the big chains were big chains, Orange County was

a coffee-friendly community. Diedrich Coffee, now a publicly traded

company, got its start here.

“I like having a place to go that’s kind of eclectic, kind of

hidden,” said Mike Martinez, lounging in a comfy chair at in a dark

corner of Gypsy Den on a recent afternoon. “Places like this are just

nice places to go.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.