You answered your desire in the first sentence:
SOME people.

Not many.

See, there's market for coffee after 9, but it's small, and wouldn't bring in significant revenue for these companies. It might bring in trouble. Talk to night clubs, 24 hour grocery stores, etc. They need hired help.

Did you try the Fireside on Powell?

Indy—

If it's not many, how come the two places I know of that stay open late are packed? I'm still at Pharmacy, it's 9:21pm, and every table is still full. Some have turned over once or twice since we've been here.

I'm not asking every shop in town to stay open until midnight. But I think Portland can easily support two or three more—hell, just ONE in North or Northeast Portland—open until 10 or 11.

Try your house

There's the spirit Joe and Indy! If everyone just locked themselves inside their homes after 8 pm, Portland would be such a vibrant, great place!

I used to run a coffee shop that stayed open till midnight on W Burnside. That was a very difficult and unpredictable proposition. Most of the people who liked to hangout for a very long time didn't spend a bunch of money, and unless you can have a very small staff (IE 1-2 people on staff) combined with a huge seating area (ala nob hill), its a very tough business to run. Frankly, I'm surprised Nob Hill is as busy as they are with crappy food and a stinky place (literally).

There's also Backspace downtown, open usually until 2 a.m. But the east side needs more! Staccato Gelato used to be open until 11 p.m. most nights (not really a coffee shop, but they serve coffee, and you can sit there for a while). But they've reduced their hours, I think -- it's hard to find current hours on the web. (Citisearch has the old info.)

Of course not every coffeeshop needs to stay open late, but there could definitely be a demand ... often people want a place to hang out after dinner that isn't a smoky loud bar. (Of course I love them too!) It's also nice if you're on your own with a magazine or laptop but want a place to sit in the proximity of other humans. Someplace like Crema could do a killing if they stayed open late, at least on weekends.

Amy: The Pharmacy is packed because it's mostly kids from PSU. Go in there sometime when school is on break and see how dead it is. I mean, really, the Pharmacy is set up perfectly for studying with those relatively-large independent tables and stuff. That's what propels that place.

Tea Chai Te on Alberta is open until 10pm. The Portland Coffee House on 25th & Belmont is open until midnight. The Fireside on 13th & Powell is 24h (but sucks). The Pied Cow and Rimsky-Korsakoffee are open until at least midnight, but often full of high school kids and not really the best for sitting around with a laptop.

That's all I can really think of. Nothing really in N/NE besides Tea Chai Te (and I don't really consider 10pm "late").

Being that most of my life has been spent living in studio and one bedroom apartments (suffocating) late night coffee shops (and parks) become a person's living room. And after living on Capital Hill in Seattle for more than a year I'm convinced late night coffee houses are where it's at - freaks, geeks, weirdo's, and lovers too. Of course you have the campers and the asshole who takes it to far for one reason or another, but it's all a part of the coffee experience. And you always meet the weird genius that's working on something brilliant and it inspires you to do some brilliant (or at least you think so) ... you're not going to get that experience hanging out scanning the internet blogging from home!!!

Starbucks baby, STARBUCKS

Okay. Indy is right about the lack of late-night customers (and after the awesome job he did recovering the Ark from those Nazis, I'm not about to argue with him.) After 8PM, a coffee shop often spends more in wages than they take in in revenue. Bad business. Gotcha.

But no one's suggesting that every cafe has to stay open late, but hell, considering that it's currently impossible to find a cup of coffee in NE Portland after 9:00, I think one would do.

How about this:

All the independent coffee shop owners on the east side of the river get together and hold a caucus. At some point, they draw straws (That's fun, right?) The short straw agrees to keep his or her shop open until midnight every night for three months -- a trial period. Amy and the other Mercury staffers could then agree to promote the fact that there is, in fact, an eastside cafe that doesn't close before How I Met Your Mother comes on.

Watch the place fill up, yo.

I haven't tried the Portland Coffee House on Belmont—we'll check that place out.

And seriously—if ONE damn N or NE place started staying open until at least 10, I'd personally patronize the place five nights a week for the first month. And blog the hell out of it.

coffee time is open until 2 or 2:30.. and there's usually lots of room.

I live in North Portland between Friske and Portsmith off of Lombard and we have two coffee shops within a block of one another - and they both suck! How unlucky is that?

For Christ's sake, Amy--morning is coffee time, night is booze time.

Amy, BLOG THE SHIT OUT OF THAT COFFEE...you go grrrrrrrl!

Gorramit, now I want coffee.

"There's the spirit Joe and Indy! If everyone just locked themselves inside their homes after 8 pm, Portland would be such a vibrant, great place!"

Yeah because we need coffee late at night to stay a vibrant place. Coffee isn't even a very social drink. Whenever I've been in the stumptown downtown, I get glares for even daring to not have a piercing on my face.

No... If it's such a demand, go ahead and open one. The reason there are coffee shops currently is probably to support a specific group of people (i.e. gaming for people at backspace)

Perhaps the Mercury could take over a coffee shop for the three hours after it closes. I don't mind being one of the baristas! In the interim though Amy I really recommend buying one of these:

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_8/601-4309987-5098550?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B000AV6S2I

I agree! My roommate and I complained about that 9 years ago when we moved here. Before moving here I was never a regular coffee drinker - only a social cup or two - always in the evening - when we didn't feel like hitting the bar. The coffee shops were all local - heck the state didnt' even have a Starbucks until last year I think - and wree night time gathering places. I saw some good live music. (and some bad!) Sheryl Crow played for free just passing the hat at our favorite coffee shop one night before she got famous.

We moved here to coffee central - and nothing up in the evening. They could do it - it just needs a different emphasis.

And there is one up in St. Johns that stays open late if you wanna go really north! I'm spacing the name but it's right on the "main corner"

I've already got one of those, Matt. So the issue isn't caffiene (and if I'm not up for making it at home, I can grab a cup to go at New Seasons until 10 pm).

The issue is a third place, as Israel stated so well above. As Portland gets denser, and more people live in smaller places, they need places like coffee shops (and bars, Scott, but we've got lots of those) to stand in as their living room. There are plenty of bars in my neighborhood and all over town, but there aren't as many well-lit places—coffee shops—where you can go to enjoy a less raucous crowd and a book. Or a quiet conversation with a friend.

Lest you forget...

Anna Banana's on NW 21st between Northrup and Overton is open until midnight EVERY NIGHT!

Stumptown Coffee in the Ace Hotel is open until 11pm.

westside location, westside location, westside location. boo!

i already have to cross the bridge to find a place that has more than 10 magazines (rich's) and they fricking close at like 6pm.

eastside, c'mon! represent!!

The Press Club (2621 SE Clinton) has a GREAT magazine selection and I believe they're open til 10 on weeknights (later on weekends).

Press Club's got way more of a bar vibe than a cafe, though (which I like, when I want a glass of wine). And they don't do espresso, last I checked.

The Press Club will start serving Stumptown espresso very soon, I've been told.

The right way to do it is like Stumptown downtown -- add a small selection of premium beers. That's all you need to ensure thriving nighttime business, and keep that coffeeshop vibe without turning all the way into yet-another-bar.

toomuchcoffeeman, two words.
Fuck Starbucks.

What?! No mention of Red & Black Cafe, SE Division & 22nd. Open 'til 11 / 11:30. Live music playing = crowded and maybe interesting, no-music nights = great spot for studying. Awesome healthy cheap food.

Oh, and they'll be moving in the fall resulting from the greediness of jerkface developers / landlords. Seven Corners Neighborhood, oh how we loved ye.

Events schedule:
http://redandblackcafe.com/?view=events

This is one of our community's most urgent and pressing problems - the cultivation of the third space for public gathering - after home and work.

The Nob Hill is dirty and the food is bad. Anna Bananas is also dirty and the coffee is bad. Staff at Fresh Pot are mopping up and glaring at slackers by 5 PM. Red & Black is closing. Stumptown has good coffee but too often the music is loud and often boring.

Here's the secret - hotel lobbies.

The coffee shop at Powell's City of Books is open until the store closes every night, at 11 pm. Okay, they close 15 minutes before the store closes, but still...that's pretty late compared to most places.

i fully agree. it's something you KNOW will change, as we grow into a proper city, but christ is it annoying when i can't find an espresso anywhere near me (alberta) at 9 or 10pm.

Caffe Pallino just started staying open til 9 every night actually, giving you another hour to hang out there...