The Insomniac Café in Hermosa Beach


For a period in the not-too-distant past, the Southern California surfer clung like a barnacle to the bohemian ideology. Before surfing became a competitive sport, with advertisements nearly enveloping its progenitors, surf-dwellers found a plethora of coffeehouses, galleries and nightclubs to frequent after the sun went down. Nowhere was the link between beatnik and surfer spelled out more clearly than at 53 Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach – home of The Insomniac Café from 1958-65. BRIAN CHIDESTER looks back.


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