Get an early start on tomorrow's happiness at Krakatoa

Over at Here’s the Deal we often revel in the local nightlife, but what about you day-drinkers out there? Krakatoa is the kind of place that allows one to feel validated — nay, vindicated! — slurping down a glass or five while firing off emails or knocking out some homework or posting political epiphanies to Facebook or whatever it is everyone does here with a cocktail in one hand and their trackpad in the other at 12:03 in the afternoon.

For being named after an Indonesian volcano whose 1883 eruption issued the loudest sound in modern history, Krakatoa is actually a pretty mellow place. On a recent Sunday visit, the café’s interior was humming with coffee grinders, soft chatter around tables and couches, and Mac DeMarco on the stereo. Outside, an acoustic duo strummed Beatles and Weezer covers to a crowd that clapped between spats of laptop type. The pet-friendly patio (there’s a self-serve jar of treats by the bus bins) recalls the café’s eponymous island with bamboo, palms, and a broad fig canopy. Keeping with the theme, Krakatoa’s breakfast and lunch items take their names from volcanoes around the world, while their coffee is sourced locally from Caffe Calabria.

If drinking is just borrowing happiness from tomorrow, you may as well get an early start on yesterday’s deficit, and Krakatoa’s 6:30 a.m. first call is probably the least depressing place in town to do it. Most of their ten or so rotating beers go for 4 bucks each and their cocktail menu stocks a collection of summery spritzers based on champagne and soju rice wine. Hippie-tinged potions such as watermelon-lime sangria, carrot ginger mimosas, and lavender or hibiscus champagne cocktails are a godsend on a hot afternoon and go for an easy $3 during happy hour. Don’t miss the Modern Times Stout Float ($6.50) with an added shot of espresso for 75 cents.

Krakatoa is owned by the folks responsible for local drink and dance institutions Casbah, Station Tavern, Live Wire, Starlite, and the Whistle Stop, so it’s no surprise that they’ll throw the occasional in-shop show such as last year’s packed performance from Sherman Heights/Tijuana cholo goth forerunners Prayers.

Hang out long enough, and you’ll probably end up kicking it with resident cat Anak (named after the island that emerged from Krakatoa’s caldera in 1927), who was born beneath what may well be the chillest patio in town.

Price: $4 craft beer bottles and cocktails

Capacity: 20 inside, 40 patio

Hours: Monday–Saturday, 6:30 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, 6:30 a.m.–6 p.m.

Happy: 3–6 p.m., $1 off sandwiches, beer, and cocktails

Food: Killer breakfast and lunch deli fare

Attire: Work-from-home casual

The Deal: Sandwich and beer for $11.50