Old Time Cafe to Sing Swan Song

ENCINITAS — Lease problems will soon put the Old Time Cafe out of business, eight years after the Greenwich Village-style coffeehouse opened.

As of Jan. 31, touring folk acts like Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Eric Andersen and John McCutcheon will no longer have a place to play when passing through San Diego.

Pearl Wolfe, who owns the cafe with her husband, Bill Goldsmith, said the closure is a mixed blessing. “After eight years of working seven days a week, it’s nice to be normal people for a change,” she said.

Wolfe added that while she and Goldsmith have no plans to re-open the cafe, they will continue to present an average of two folk concerts a month in larger facilities around the county, including the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas.

This week, the Old Time Cafe celebrates its eighth anniversary with a two-day folk marathon starring more than 100 local folk musicians. The marathon, consisting of 33 continuous hours of music, starts at noon Nov. 14 and concludes the next day at 9 p.m.