Hollywood Gothique
Dining & DrinkingLA Night/Life/Style Gothique

A Tragedy of Galactic Proportions: Nova Express Cafe is Closing!

Just got this in my e-mail:

The Nova Express Cafe has existed to make the claim that a unique artistic cafe is an important part of the cultural ecology of the modern urban landscape. Essentially, Nova Express Cafe is an art project designed to explore the parameters of how a kind of art, based on the importance of community and generally motivated by an idea of fun, can function in society. However, The Nova Express Cafe has existed outside the normal channels of either capital investment or art world patronage and now faces severe economic difficulties. The cafe will be closing Wednesday, March 5. The last fifteen years have been a great romantic adventure! Thanks and goodbye!

What can I say, except that this is a bummer to the power of infinity squared? Nova Express is – was – has been – one of the coolest places on the planet, tucked right into the hip Fairfax district, right across the street from Canter’s Deli.

Your humble reporter at Nova express in 2007.
Your humble reporter at Nova express in 2007.

As I wrote in the entry on the Hollywood Gothique Haunted Hang-outs page:

Sci-fi fans who haven’t been to to this eatery-nighclub, you don’t know what you’re missing: decor (illuminated by eerie black lights) that suggests the interior of a space ship (complete with a Star Trek-type “view screen” on which the films are projected), replete with actions figures and toys (anime and comic book characters abound), not to mention the monstrous figure of the Elder God Cthulhu himself, who for some reason is not sleeping in his undersea city of R’lyeah but has instead positioned himself in the corner, from whence his evil eyes can observe the evening’s festivities (why he is wearing bunny ears is a question we will not attempt to answer here). The cafe features guest DJs on Mondays and Thursdays, old sci-fi movies every Tuesday, and live music on Wednesdays. Also, they claim to serve the “best pizza in the galaxy” (and lots of other great food and drinks, the later with and without alcohol). Check out their website for more information. NOVA EXPRESS CAFE, 426 N. Fairfax Avenue, Hollywood. Hours: 7 days a week, 7:00pm to 4:00am. (323) 658-7533.

If you haven’t been there, you’ve got to take advantage of these last few days, or you’re just not as cool as you should be.

Beam me up, Scotty – one last time!