I've always wanted to run into a busy, buzzing newsroom and shriek, “STOP THE PRESSES!” The problem is that (a) I write for a food blog, hardly an incubator for urgent, breaking news; (b) 90 percent of what I write is online and shouting, “Stop the blog software!” just doesn't have the same cachet; and (c) the newsroom is nowhere near the presses, so they'd just pick up the phone and the drama would be lost.
Nevertheless, STOP THE PRESSES! Something besides fast food and Alberto's knockoffs is actually open in Fullerton past 10 p.m.
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Of course you knew already that it'd be in downtown Fullerton: The Night Owl is at the corner of Harbor and Amerige, next to the future permanent home of Joseph Mahon's Burger Parlor.
The place reminds me a lot of Lulu's Beehive, an all-night coffeeshop near my first California apartment in Studio City; it's painted in dark but warm colors, with local art adorning the walls, comfy seats, and a big patio (with space heaters) out back. It skews a little hipster, which is predictable given there's nothing like it in Fullerton, but everyone's quite friendly. The music is the required indie rock–I have them to thank for the umpteen tracks from a Newfoundland band called Hey Rosetta! (their exclamation point, not mine) I've just looked up on YouTube.
This is no third-wave coffeeshop, and you won't find steampunk-y siphons à la Michael Moorcock here; drip coffee and espresso drinks are the orders of the day, with a few selections of tea. There's no hot food, but there's a wide variety of pastries from Sweet Lilikoi, the same folks who sell at the Old Town Orange farmers' market on Saturdays and provide the pastries at Portola Coffee Lab. Order a latte or a rooibos tea and play chess or discuss Moxley's latest crusade in the Weekly (ahem, cheap plug). Hang out. Late. The official hours are “10 [a.m.] to close,” which is generally after 3, sometimes 4.
Fullerton needs a great place to hang out like this.
200 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, (714) 525-0305; thenightowlfullerton.com.
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