No Jitters

In a typical strip mall in the Valley lies a Kinko’s, a liquor store, a Chinese restaurant, a laundry and the epicenter of Northridge’s industrial-strength coffee--Common Grounds. At the corner of Reseda Boulevard and Prairie Street just a few blocks from Cal State Northridge and all those jangle-craving Matadors, Common Grounds is yet another coffeehouse with a clever name.

The ceiling fans are working overtime these days, not because anyone is smoking (they’re not) but because it’s summer in the Valley. Nonetheless, the place is packed with lots of student-types sitting around talking about Important Stuff.

The customers are only outnumbered by the sheer number of coffee varieties available to them. The designer beans are lined up on the counter waiting to be chosen--much like an out-of-luck catfish swimming his last lap at a Chinese market.

“There’s no night school in the summer, so what you see is a cross section of the community,” owner Paul Solomon said. “There’s a lot of apartments around here, and a lot of those people are our customers. During the school year, we get students, professors and just people from the neighborhood.”

Common Grounds has an uncommon menu that includes a lot of options, considering this is a coffeehouse. Maximum chocolate cake is no lie. There are munchies galore, from banana splits, root beer floats, health bars, muffins and enough cakes to have Valley dentists dreaming of higher income brackets. And there are soups, salads, pizza, veggie lasagna and chili. Smoked turkey sandwiches and the Greek salad are popular.

On the walls are surreal renderings of Coltrane, Hendrix, Dylan, Gillespie, none of whom was able to attend. The Grounds always has something going on apart from the caffeine-driven motor mouth activity.

“In the Valley, there are a lot of places to go, and I think people tend to go to the place nearest to them,” Solomon said. “What sets us apart from all the other places is that we have entertainment seven days a week. I think it’s probably one of the oldest coffeehouses in the Valley, at least in Northridge. We’ve been in the same place since 1991, which is even longer than Starbucks has been around the Valley.”

The Grounds’ lineup usually features jazz on the traditionally dead nights of Sunday through Tuesday, Open Mic Night on Wednesday, poetry or comedy on Thursdays and folk rock and light rock on weekends. No Iron Maiden reenactors need apply. And Solomon himself seems to have partially solved the hassle of booking.

“I love to play the trumpet and the fluegelhorn, and my band plays once a month. I’ve built up the jazz nights, but we’re going back to smaller acts on the other nights. I was lucky--when I bought this place it was already zoned for entertainment.”

Which brings us to Wednesday night, home to the long-running Open Mic Night, orchestrated by Scott Edwards who explains the plan: “The rules are simple: No poets, just music. Basically, it’s just guys with guitars who play and sing. Depending, there’s usually between eight and 20 people that show up. You get to play your guitar and sing two songs in 10 minutes. Sometimes two songs can be a long time.”

Democracy with a beat. Wednesday, musicians register with Edwards (it’s free), then he writes down all the names, and draws them out of a fishbowl to determine the order of appearance for the 8:30 p.m. showcase. He also insists that patrons reverse the usual process and applaud the artists first.

“In 100 years, you’re all going to be dead anyway. So I’m going to ask you to clap before each of these performers plays,” Edwards said. “It could change their life. And if you don’t like them, you can boo them when they’re finished.”

Leading off on a recent Wednesday was one Tom Washington, who received a raucous ovation before and after.

At Common Grounds, the rule seems to be: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So don’t expect Solomon to switch to beer, blues and bouncers any time soon.

“I can make my own hours. I can take a day off and have my kids scream at me while I talk to you on the phone,” he said while talking on the phone on one of his days off. “The worst thing is this is not a steady income, but I’m proud that we’ve been able to hang on for as long as we have while 10 or 15 other places have closed their doors.

“And I love coffee. I was just going out the door to Starbucks when you called.”

BE THERE

Common Grounds, 9250 Reseda Blvd., Northridge. Tonight is Comedy Night; Friday, Nocturnal Promise plays blues and jazz and majority DOG plays folk rock; Saturday, Rolling Thunder plays original rock; Sunday, Sal & Friends play acoustic music; Monday, Roman Pulati & Friends play jazz; Tuesday, the Terje Lie Quartet plays jazz; Wednesday is Open Mic Night. Admission is free. (818) 882-3666.