The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Lea Tauriello

Night Beat: A group of San Jose Police Department officers take a coffee break at the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company Wednesday night.

With the help of new merchants, night life picks up along Avenue

Despite a history of silent nights, Willow Glen begins to come into its own

By Cecily Barnes

After six o'clock at night, Lincoln Avenue takes on the appearance of an old strand of Christmas lights--some bulbs burn hot inside restaurants and coffeehouses, while others inside retail stores have gone out. When the retailers drop their shades between five and six o'clock, a stroll through downtown reveals both small pockets of night life and stretches of darkness.

At 9:30 p.m. last Wednesday, Ari Rosenschein stood in line at the new Dolce Spazio dessert parlor, one of the only businesses between Sharky's and the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company open at that time. Rosenschein said the Avenue's alive enough to draw him from his Curtner Avenue home, but he wishes that retail shops were open later and that some art galleries would come to the area.

"This place is, like, halfway there. It's almost there, but not quite," Rosenschein said. "I wish there was more of a cultural feel, more stuff to do."

Rosenschein wasn't the only night crawler to express this sentiment. Everyone combing the Avenue last Wednesday night said they'd like to see downtown Willow Glen go all the way.

"We're happy with how late the coffee shops are open," Willow Glen resident Sara Pinkel said. "[But] they need a movie theater."

Yet every person enjoying the Avenue agreed that the area is much more alive than ever before. Espresso counters, billiards clubs, bars, live music, book shops and dinner joints are bustling throughout the evening--at least until 9 p.m., and many until hours later.

"The downtown has definitely gotten better," said Willow Glen resident Laura Tersigni. "I think it has potential, not to be a Los Gatos, but something like it."

At the corner of Lincoln and Minnesota, downtown seemed like a bustling metropolitan epicenter. Couples, teenagers and parents with kids clutched coffee cups at green tables outside Starbucks. Inside, a steady line moved across the display counter, past people reading, conversing, staring out the window or playing chess. Across the street at the Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company, six uniformed police officers sipped coffee and munched on scones. Behind them, nearly a dozen parents discussed a fundraising project for Hacienda Elementary School.

"The Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Company is a great donator to our school, so we try to patronize their establishment as much as possible," Debbie Gaeta said.

Willow Glen resident Janice Unger added that she's tried to hold a book club meeting at Billiards and Brew, but it didn't work out, so now they come here.

"Billiards and Brew is a great place; it's just not the best for a book club meeting," Unger said.

Across from the coffee company, which hosts live jazz bands on the weekends, Hicklebees and Willow Glen Books buzz with late-night business. According to bookstore employees, their shops are a regular evening stop for people walking the downtown.

"Probably the most people I see in here at once, on an average night, is 20 people," said Paul Adkins, an employee at Willow Glen Books. "Now that Christmas season is coming, there will probably be a lot more."

Two blocks up the Avenue, nearly eight people were lined up at the gelato counter at Dolce Spazio, which stays open until 11 p.m. during the week and until 11:30 p.m. on the weekends. Two employees frantically scooped the creamy dessert, poured coffee and rang up sales at the cash register.

Another block up Lincoln, the pool tables at Willow Glen Billiards and Brew were clacking with business. Three of the front room's six tables were occupied, and conversation and music pumped through the back bar area.

Billiards and Brew is one of several places catering to the cocktail crowd that's opened on the Avenue in recent months. Other stops, old and new, include the Plaza Inn, a Mexican restaurant with a small bar; Sharky's, one of the few Willow Glen establishments where smoking is allowed; the tequila bar at Aqui taqueria; and Goosetown Caffe, which will soon host a Motown band on Friday and Saturday nights. Already a pianist plays dinner music on Sunday nights.

Add to this mix the numerous restaurants doing business downtown, and there are enough lights burning along the Avenue to attract the average night owl.

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