Talon Penix, 10, plays his didgeridoo during the monthly flute circle at Zippy's Java Lounge on Hewitt Avenue in Everett. Young musicians are encouraged to perform at the coffeehouse. COURTESY OF BARNEY SALTZBERG The coffee shop's namesake, Zippy, leaps for a treat from the hand of owner Marilyn Rosenberg. Health rules don't let Zippy stay for long. COURTESY OF BARNEY SALTZBERG The flute circle at Zippy's draws a crowd. Customers also can play chess and many other board games, including Sorry and Trivial Pursuit. COURTESY OF BARNEY SALTZBERG Syd Cregger plays original songs on his flute at Zippy's. Live music is common at the coffeehouse. COURTESY OF BARNEY SALTZBERG Zippy the Dalmatian watches the action at Zippy's Java Lounge from his "office" above the coffee shop. MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES Gwendolyn Zabicki and Jason Reiznor chat over coffee as Ali Boe sweeps up at Zippy's.

So where else would you expect to find a young film student from Chicago on a low-key weekday morning, his fingers caressing the keys of a well-worn Hammond organ — a $57 Goodwill special — as he demonstrated the reggae-funk sound of his Canadian band?

Or an Australian woman, on a happening Friday night, raptly listening as her kilt-wearing, ponytailed husband vibrated the room with the raspy drone of his didgeridoo?

Or the Edmonds biotechnology executive, surfing on his laptop computer during a conference call with a Boston associate? Or that white-haired artist and guitarist in bib overalls, chatting about his songs stored in the Library of Congress?

"It's always a little different, every time you come in. It's an eclectic blend of people," said Lake Stevens businessman Sean Simon, sitting at a back table on a recent Saturday with a cup of coffee and his University of Phoenix homework.

Enter Zippy, the enthusiastic inspiration for what many say is the hippest establishment to hit Snohomish County in years. Zippy can't stay long — modern health rules don't allow Dalmatians so close to the croissants and black-bean quesadillas — but in spirit he clearly belongs.

"He doesn't discriminate — he wants to greet everyone and love everybody," said his owner, Marilyn Rosenberg, who in July opened Zippy's Java Lounge on Everett's historic Hewitt Avenue.

First, Zippy greeted Kwesi Coleman, a Navy fitness trainer who is working on a degree at Everett Community College. Coleman turned away from the keyboard of his personal digital assistant long enough to say hello to the familiar dog, who then raced off to befriend someone new.

"I really like the warmth of this place," said Coleman, 30, a Houston native who found Zippy's shortly after it opened. "It's like the 'Cheers' of coffee places — it's like they say, everybody knows your name, and they're glad you came."

With rotating art exhibits, live music, a knitting circle, speed dating and other events, Zippy's has a cross-cultural appeal. The music, picked by the coffeehouse's young counter workers, is equally varied — a mix of jazz, blues, folk and alternative rock.

Rosenberg, a Minneapolis native, took a nonlinear path to coffee-cafe owner. She left the University of Minnesota after one year and tried various trades: working in cosmetology, managing a vintage-clothing store and bartending at Minneapolis' landmark First Avenue nightclub, renowned for its Prince shows.

She moved to Seattle in 1992 and began selling art at the Pike Place Market. At one point, she co-chaired the Market's Day Stall Tenants Association. But after 10 years, she moved to Everett, in part to be closer to her horse, Mojo, whom she pastures on Ebey Island.

Rosenberg opened Zippy's, financed with a $70,000 line of credit on her house, because she couldn't find "a neat community place" to hang out at, she said.

"I wanted a home away from home, somewhere where all people from all backgrounds and walks of life want to gather," she said.

Her customers use similar language to describe why they like the place, with its thrift-shop couches and armchairs, and its piles of board games such as Sorry and Trivial Pursuit.

They love her coffee, too. Rosenberg interviewed 10 roasters from throughout the region before selecting Seattle's Hines Public Market Coffee.

She is especially interested in attracting younger people, including families with children. At the far end of the long, rectangular establishment is an area just for young kids that includes a low table, a comfy couch, toys, a changing table and an easy-to-clean vinyl floor.

Rosenberg wants to recruit music students to perform on Saturday afternoons — even if they're beginners with only one or two pieces they're ready to play. Young theatrical types and artists are welcome, too.

"I want to give them a place to express their medium. Get them to do something that's completely outside their box," Rosenberg said. "I couldn't find that when I was growing up. I felt very stuck. I want to make this a cool place so kids can build their self-esteem and grow, instead of experimenting with drugs and being out on the street."

Hewitt Avenue has made major strides since downtown Everett hit bottom in the 1980s. Perked up in part by the Everett Events Center, which opened in 2003 one block east of Zippy's, the historic main drag is coming back to life. A new French bistro lies across the street; a martini bar recently opened in the next block.

But some storefronts remain empty, and others still are occupied by the strip's signature pawnshops.

"This place was just gasping," said Kevin Berg, the longtime manager of the nearby Hot Lix music store. "I'm interested in what kind of walk this is going to turn into."

Zippy's has "a savvy, humanistic vibe," said Berg, who moderated the coffeehouse's first poetry reading. Another poetry event at Zippy's recently attracted Tim Noah, a local Emmy-winning children's entertainer, he said. "People show up. Things happen over there."

A 1920s photo mural of Hewitt, covering a wall near the front door, anchors the place to its surroundings. Wander out to the sidewalk and look up — above the arty coffee cup and the dog bones embedded into the coffeehouse's entryway — and there it is, the same five-story brick building that forms the mural's centerpiece.

The medical and insurance offices that once filled the upper floors are long gone, replaced with low-rent apartments. But its name, the Hodges Building, is still spelled out in the sidewalk tile leading into its old lobby.

Zippy's occupies the old Stearns Stationery storefront. The building's corner retail space, once H.J. Frolich Company Clothiers, is vacant.

Though Zippy's appeals to visitors and transplants from metropolitan areas, the key to its long-term survival perhaps lies closer to the city's roots.

Construction engineers Blane O'Brien and Pete Michael, who walk over on coffee breaks from the nearby Snohomish County Administration Building, said they appreciate that Rosenberg isn't snobby or cold to the low-income downtown residents who occasionally wander in. She treats all customers with respect, they said.

"It's a mixed crowd," O'Brien said. "It's a nice, new, refreshing atmosphere. Before, everything in Everett has always been more traditional."

Michael nodded. "More conservative," he added.

"The extraordinarily cool people come here," Michael said, only half-jokingly. "Avant-garde. A little artsy. A little trendy."

A few tables away, Michael Tippie was finishing a conference call. He's part of a six-person biotechnology company — CNS Response — and could easily work from home. But he prefers spending part of his day telecommuting from places such as Zippy's.

This was his first visit. He'd seen Zippy's listed on the Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory on the Web.

"I've been hunting for a place that's not Starbucks. That's too formulaic," Tippie said. "I'm a musician, too. This place is more aesthetically pleasing for me."

Tippie, who plays jazz guitar, said he was getting ready to fly to Europe to close a $7 million deal. But he'd remember the hours he spent in downtown Everett.

"As soon as I get back from London, I'll be here," he said.

Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com