Three years I lived here before I actually walked in. It's fairly intimidating as it's not right on Pac Ave (like LuLu's or Santa Cruz Roasting Co) so you can't just waltz in unnoticed, relying on the tourist excuse if you manage to completely stick out. No, this place you have to be purposeful in going. The parking is hard to find, and in order to walk in you have to get past the cloud of cigarette smoke that comes from the smoking porch outside.
Finally, this year, I marched my unhipster, nonsmoking, nondreaded, pc using self right up those stairs and into the doors. Of course I was a little scared of my barista, so much so that i just thrust my handful of quarters and a crumpled up dollar bill at him and told him to surprise me with a drink. He chuckled and looked a little taken back. Then, he gave me some chocolate goodness decorated like a little tuxedo. Topped with homemade whipped cream and delivered with a french accent from the barista. I was in love. I was in love with the drink and the whipped cream and the dreadlocked french barista who was probably not french and from Gilroy, and the music, and the vegan cookies and the huge leather chair and the weird art and the huge tree inside the house and the little nook i found to get my work done.
And so here I am. Sitting where the affair began. In the "Blue Room" with the glass bottles by the window and the nook that I like so much. This month, the art is by Brian McIntyre (in this room..each room is home to different artists each month) and each piece is listed as made out of "paper, ink, acrylic, wood and love". Here is just one of the works on the wall:
This place is not about how hipster and "santa cruz" a person can be. I think that its just about being yourself and unashamed. Here, as I write this, I have unbrushed messy hair, hardly any makeup on, a stack of books next to me, unpolished fingernails and yet i feel utterly and completely at home. Next to me is a balding middle aged guy writing something or other and eating probably the most delicious organic vegan lasagna ever. To the other side, are two pairs of girls who are working on hw, but keep discussing music and american culture and the recent protests at UC Berkely and although the two pairs came in seperately the conversation keeps bouncing back and forth between the two groups. This is Santa Cruz: messy. dirty. friendly. relaxed.
Reasons I come back to Caffe Pergs:
-drinks (obviously)
-reasonable prices (2.50-4.00)
-CUTE guys behind the counter (each in completely different ways)
-the music (everything from jazz to ska)
-graffiti on the bathroom wall (everyone can write something)
-the church pews as seats in some rooms
-how different each room is
-making new friends (and thus sharing and comparing music)
-my nook
-the huge leather chair in the Orange Room
-their Italian sodas
-the monthly artwork in each room
-free wifi (thanks scotts valley for having NONE..not)
-tons of plugs for laptops
-The Green Room has BIG tables for groups or big messy study-ers
-For being everything I love about Santa Cruz, in one big old victorian house.
