Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Ice Creams: Last Call At…9:46pm?

“You’ve got oh, about six minutes,” says Sarah. “We close at 9:46.”

Sarah Mattinson. It’s her place, so she should know.

This was in Mission Beach last night. I’d just popped into the Olive Café (805 Santa Clara Place, at Mission Boulevard, 858-488-1224).

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29472/

It was about 20 to 10. Fifteen minutes before my #8 bus was due.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29462/

The Olive Café had looked so cheery and inviting from across Mission at the bus stop...

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29470/

...White forties-looking place with French doors opening up onto a deck with tables, umbrellas, flowers. I suddenly remembered: this had been a Turkish cafe where you could get great cookies, great teas, and even have your tea leaves read. The lady also sold blue glass amulets, good “eyes” to ward off the evil eye and bad luck. In the Turkish tradition. Think her name was Ozlem.

But best of all was that scrumptious Turkish coffee. Big flavor in little cups. It made you want to linger longer.

Except the business has long since been bought by Sarah. Not only that but she also bought the next door restaurant on the corner and turned it into an ice cream parlor extension of the Olive. And where the main café closes at 3:00 p.m., this ice cream part obviously stays open late.

Me, I’ve just got myself a single scoop of butter rum pecan ice cream ($3.25). Should be able to slurp it down before the bus turns up. It’s good, too. Comes from Niederfrank’s, the ancient ice cream makers of National City.

So I’m working at the softer parts when it hits me.

A business that closes at…9:46? What thu…?

“You close at…9:46?” I ask. “Or do you mean like, around ten?”

“No,” says Hannah, her assistant “We close at 9:46.”

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29468/

Hannah, Sarah

“Uh, 9:46? Not 9:47?”

“Nine-forty-six.”

“Every night?”

“Every night.”

This is when a bunch of students and vacationers from Arizona suddenly turn up puffing away because they ran to get here before it closed.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29463/

They must have heard about the closing hour. They start hovering over the buckets of ice cream, arguing flavors.

So I’m just about to ask “Why 9.46?” again, when it starts.

“Boom!”

It’s the nightly firework explosions from Sea World nearby. I look at my watch: 9:50.

“That’s why,” says Hannah.

“We just like to be outa here before this starts,” says Sarah. “And they’re always on time. Nine-fifty exactly.”

“Also because our customers want to see them,” says Sarah, “with an ice cream in their hand. Best view is a couple of blocks across.”

Man, it’s close enough to sound like World War Three, if you let your imagination loose. I quickly gulp the last of my ice cream, and head across the road.

Now if the bus could just be as precise…

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29471/

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Big bugs early in the season – Wahoo bonanza off Mag Bay

Bluefin at the Coronados

“You’ve got oh, about six minutes,” says Sarah. “We close at 9:46.”

Sarah Mattinson. It’s her place, so she should know.

This was in Mission Beach last night. I’d just popped into the Olive Café (805 Santa Clara Place, at Mission Boulevard, 858-488-1224).

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29472/

It was about 20 to 10. Fifteen minutes before my #8 bus was due.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29462/

The Olive Café had looked so cheery and inviting from across Mission at the bus stop...

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29470/

...White forties-looking place with French doors opening up onto a deck with tables, umbrellas, flowers. I suddenly remembered: this had been a Turkish cafe where you could get great cookies, great teas, and even have your tea leaves read. The lady also sold blue glass amulets, good “eyes” to ward off the evil eye and bad luck. In the Turkish tradition. Think her name was Ozlem.

But best of all was that scrumptious Turkish coffee. Big flavor in little cups. It made you want to linger longer.

Except the business has long since been bought by Sarah. Not only that but she also bought the next door restaurant on the corner and turned it into an ice cream parlor extension of the Olive. And where the main café closes at 3:00 p.m., this ice cream part obviously stays open late.

Me, I’ve just got myself a single scoop of butter rum pecan ice cream ($3.25). Should be able to slurp it down before the bus turns up. It’s good, too. Comes from Niederfrank’s, the ancient ice cream makers of National City.

So I’m working at the softer parts when it hits me.

A business that closes at…9:46? What thu…?

“You close at…9:46?” I ask. “Or do you mean like, around ten?”

“No,” says Hannah, her assistant “We close at 9:46.”

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29468/

Hannah, Sarah

“Uh, 9:46? Not 9:47?”

“Nine-forty-six.”

“Every night?”

“Every night.”

This is when a bunch of students and vacationers from Arizona suddenly turn up puffing away because they ran to get here before it closed.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29463/

They must have heard about the closing hour. They start hovering over the buckets of ice cream, arguing flavors.

So I’m just about to ask “Why 9.46?” again, when it starts.

“Boom!”

It’s the nightly firework explosions from Sea World nearby. I look at my watch: 9:50.

“That’s why,” says Hannah.

“We just like to be outa here before this starts,” says Sarah. “And they’re always on time. Nine-fifty exactly.”

“Also because our customers want to see them,” says Sarah, “with an ice cream in their hand. Best view is a couple of blocks across.”

Man, it’s close enough to sound like World War Three, if you let your imagination loose. I quickly gulp the last of my ice cream, and head across the road.

Now if the bus could just be as precise…

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/aug/10/29471/

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Desperately Needing Niederfrank’s

Next Article

Going crazy at Don Pancho’s

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader