Our Cup Runneth Over

San Diego was, of course, a tuna town before it was a coffee town, but the end of one marked the beginning of the other. In the late 1800s, a wave of Portuguese immigrants formed a fishing community in Point Loma, and by the 1970s, San Diego was the tuna capital of the world. The city’s “Cannery Row” stretched across the downtown waterfront, filling warehouses with thousands of employees sorting, processing, packing, and canning fish to ship across the country.

As those halcyon fishing days waned for multiple reasons—the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, increased competition from abroad, rising costs of production—some warehouse proprietors turned their sights to alternative business opportunities.

Coffee was a commodity on the rise.

At the time, only a very small handful of coffee businesses operated in San Diego, including G. H. Ballou & Co., considered to be the city’s first. Established in 1889, it began importing coffee and tea in Little Italy (taking advantage of the nearby rail line for easy shipping), eventually becoming the Adams-Henry Company in 1912. The San Diego Coffee Company purchased it in 1928, adding a roastery to its importing and distribution model.

By the mid-1900s, there were only about a dozen coffee shops across the city. Writers like the late Lou Curtiss, founder and owner of San Diego’s iconic music shop Folk Arts Rare Records, described them as mostly European salon–style respites for beatnik poets, painters, and other artist types. Torrey Lee, owner of Cafe Moto, remembers that bohemian vibe.

“Coffee shops were a place where it was like going to the beach, if you didn’t go to the beach,” he recalls. He’d hop on his scooter and search out that communal culture (he met his wife Kim in a coffee shop in the ’80s).

Lee is a second-generation San Diego coffee authority. In 1968, his mother Gay and stepfather Bob Sinclair opened Pannikin Coffee & Tea in La Jolla. It’s believed to be the first modern-era San Diego coffee roaster, which also sold specialty coffee to both wholesale and retail customers and imported tea, coffee, and Mexican cocoa. Sinclair acquired various warehouses in the Gaslamp and downtown, including the historic Wheelworks Building on J Street in East Village. He grew the coffee-roasting portion of the business so much that in 1997 he separated that facet as Cafe Moto. In 1998, Lee and Kim purchased it outright and have operated it as a wholesale company and café out of Barrio Logan for over 20 years (it’s one of the first drive-thru coffee joints in the city).

In 1989, Karen Cebreros launched Elan Organic Coffees, San Diego’s first company importing green coffee—raw, unroasted beans—from various countries of origin. Roasters buy green coffee for a few reasons: They’re less expensive, have a longer shelf life, and allow local roasters to control the flavor profile and be part of the craft instead of buying someone else’s finished product. It’s the de facto option for specialty coffee roasters. The same year Elan opened, the price of coffee collapsed across the world, giving cafés in San Diego and beyond even more incentive to give roasting their own beans a try.

Kayd Whalen is the senior trade and head of the San Diego office for InterAmerican Coffee, a global importer of specialty raw coffee across 27 countries. When she worked for Elan in 2005, “there were very few roasters here,” she says, pointing to businesses like Ryan Brothers (opened in 1994) and Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (whose founder Chuck Patton started roasting in 2002 but didn’t open the first retail location in Bird Rock until 2006). But she could see the revolution was coming.

“I think the actual birth of specialty [coffee] and the birth of roasting coffee in San Diego kind of came along hand-in-hand with the craft beer boom,” she adds.

Beer and beans’ concurrent explosion isn’t a surprise: The rise in craft in one category makes people look around and think, “What other, similar things can we do this to?” From the mid-2000s to mid-2010s, both beverages were on the rise. By 2018, at least 155 breweries operated across the city, and Wallethub ranked San Diego the 10th best coffee city in the United States.

While the 2008 recession was bad news for a lot of businesses, the silver lining was that more people started tinkering with the art. “Everybody got into roasting because they were trying to lower their cost of goods,” explains Bird Rock Coffee Roaster president Jeff Taylor. Whalen estimates the number of local roasters she worked with jumped from three or four in 2007 to well over 100 today.

San Diego’s proximity to Mexico is also crucial; we’re the closest major US city to a coffee-producing country. Roasters from Baja are beginning to attend and host cuppings in San Diego—events where coffee pros sniff, slurp, describe, and discuss characteristics like aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, and aftertaste to evaluate a particular brew. “Tijuana is really coming up,” Whalen says.

“It’s not like you have to go to Portland to get a good cup of coffee,” Taylor says, noting that everyone has access to the same beans, same machines, and same training. “The coffee culture in San Diego is 100 percent as good—maybe not as large, maybe not as intense—but absolutely as good as Seattle or Portland or New York or anywhere else.”

The Mentor

Cafe Moto

If the San Diego coffee industry had a Hall of Fame, there’s no doubt Cafe Moto would occupy a place of honor. Not only is it one of the OG roasters in town since 1998, but the Moto gang has also mentored many other roasters, baristas, and café owners for years, sending its influence across every corner of the county.

Owner Torrey Lee subscribes to the theory that sharing knowledge with others creates community, not competition. He works to help professionals find their feet in an increasingly crowded (and expensive) industry. “Coffee is a people business,” he says. At least two dozen different hands touch coffee beans along the supply chain, from farmers to exporters to the baristas handing over the final, finished cup. The true cost of the beverage many of us take for granted is a relentless daily grind (no pun intended) for many, many folks.

One of the biggest challenges is getting customers to try a single-origin from a lesser-known coffee region like Rwanda or Papua New Guinea—and ballooning costs aren’t helping people break out of their comfort zones. But despite the occasional sticker shock, the team makes many choices—like buying from women coffee farmers (including Las Hermanas, an organic and fair-trade cooperative in Nicaragua)—based on the belief that value comes from more than just a price tag.

The Shape-Shifter

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters

San Diego’s coffee timeline can be divided into two eras: Before Chuck and After Chuck. Chuck Patton launched Bird Rock Coffee Roasters in 2002, riding the third wave of coffee—defined by a commitment to ethically sourced beans; more delicate roasting profiles; and, well, the art of it all. It was perfect timing to get into the coffee game, and Patton had the right touch: By 2006, he opened his first café and in 2012, Roast Magazine (which hosts what’s basically the Oscars of coffee) named Bird Rock Roaster of the Year. Then he left.

In 2017, Patton sold Bird Rock to Jeff Taylor, cofounder and CEO of PT’s Coffee out of Kansas. (The two were friends, having spent years traveling across the world on buying trips.) He handed the head buyer reins to Taylor’s wife Maritza, one of the first “coffee sommeliers” in Colombia, before leaving the company in 2018. In 2024, he launched Chuck’s Roast and Patton Coffee Consulting, two ultra-small passion projects dedicated to coffee education, training, consulting, and roasting. 

Meanwhile, Taylor took Bird Rock on a larger trajectory. He expanded café operations, opened a dozen shops across San Diego, launched wholesale accounts with Costco and Cometeer (an up-and- coming, fully recyclable alternative to plastic coffee pods), and made Bird Rock synonymous with San Diego coffee.

The Goldilocks

Dark Horse Coffee Roasters

In 2013, Miley Cyrus topped the charts with “Wrecking Ball,” President Obama started his second term, and brothers Daniel and Bryan Charlson opened the first Dark Horse Coffee Roasters, serving cold brew and direct-trade coffee out of a small storefront on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights.

In the years since, the punk-oriented brand has grown slowly, now operating eight coffee shops in San Diego County (with two more in Truckee, CA and Koloa, Kaua’i) and slinging merch that satirizes ’90s cultural touchstones like the D.A.R.E. program and the cover of Sonic Youth’s Goo. The branding helps, but the beans and drinks (including a buzzy nitro cold brew and “The Champ,” a latte with honey and cinnamon) have been consistently good since day one.

Some other highly renowned cafés opened before Dark Horse (Coffee & Tea Collective, 2012), and some came later (Steady State Roasting, 2018). Others grew bigger (Better Buzz Coffee Roasters has at least 50 locations and remains on a roll), and others kept things a little more niche (James Coffee has five shops). But in an increasingly crowded coffee landscape, Dark Horse has found a formula that works, partly by going beyond obvious coffee meccas like North Park and South Park to launch outposts in places such as La Mesa, Mission Gorge, and Chula Vista.

The Curator

Rikka Fika

In an era of cluttered social media algorithms and Instagram-over-flavor drinks, Rikka Fika’s simplicity manages to shine through the hubbub. Combining the Japanese word rikka (meaning the first day of summer) and the Swedish word fika (the daily ritual of slowing down for a coffee break), the brick-and-mortar opened in 2023 in East Village after a few pop-ups around San Diego.

The shop prioritizes specialty coffee beans from a small number of international roasters that are hard to find in the US, especially much lighter, delicate roasts, as well as a small, hand-picked selection of retail products. “A lot of them are more curated items that promote slow living in a more minimalist way,” explains one of the two owners (who requested to remain unnamed since she spoke on behalf of the team).

Don’t mistake the shop’s intentional selectivism for pretentiousness. Neither owner comes from a hospitality background, and instead apply their professional expertise in fields like UX design to create something new—and rather special. “There’s more freedom and more liberty to do what we believe is right and what we believe is good,” the co-owner says.

There are plenty of coffee shops to bring your laptop to work or grab a latte to go as you rush to an appointment. But Rikka Fika’s whole thing is encouraging guests to take the time to await a hand-whisked matcha, savor a rare pour-over from a small roaster rarely seen outside Japan, or browse its collection of Norwegian porcelain cups—a rare reminder that it’s okay to slow down.

David James Kennedy (guitarist of Angels and Airwaves) moonlights as coffee roaster of James Coffee Co. He’s finally set up shop in North Little Italy’s VI Star boutique, serving pour-overs, pastries, and selling his beans.

Dark Horse Coffee opened its first shop in Normal Heights in 2013 and recently announced plans to expand to Lake Tahoe. A third Dark Horse location is also slated for Golden Hill. And longtime local leader in the roasting biz

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters will expand to a second location in Little Italy soon, and plans to open a new, larger roasting facility as well.

After 15 years married, my husband and I tend to agree on most things. But there’s one argument we both refuse to bend on—I prefer okonomiyaki Osaka-style, and he’s a die-hard Hiroshima-style devotee. (To be fair, we both adore both styles, but at this point, it’s just fun to have a low-stakes disagreement.)

Okonomiyaki is one of Japan’s greatest comfort foods, a savory pancake that’s about the size of a DVD, if you aren’t too young to know what that is. It’s not terribly hard to make—it’s flour, eggs, dashi stock or water, and a whole heap of shredded cabbage, plus optional fillings like green onions, pork belly, or bonito flakes, all cooked fresh on a flat top griddle. Drizzle some kewpie mayo and okonomiyaki sauce on top, and you’re hot to go. 

However, it’s not easy to make well, and as you now know, people have capital-O Opinions about Osaka-versus-Hiroshima. Hiroshima-style layers the ingredients one by one rather than mixing them together, adding a layer of soba or udon noodles and topping it all off with a fried egg. For Osaka-style,  all the ingredients are mixed together and then cooked on the griddle, so every bite includes every ingredient in a hodgepodge of deliciousness. (One Osaka variation called modan-yaki does include soba noodles mixed in the batter, but they’re not traditionally used in that regional version.) 

Despite a childhood spent in Osaka, Japan, Kumi Alexander specializes in making Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. “Okonomiyaki has been part of my life for as long as I can remember,” she explains. “My parents ran their own business when I was growing up, so Saturdays were often busy, and okonomiyaki was one of my mother’s go-to lunches because it was simple and easy to make.” 

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Alexander came to San Diego seven years ago with a desire to bring a part of her culture with her—not just a product, but a feeling. “When I thought about what could do that, the answer was almost obvious: okonomiyaki,” she says. 

She originally launched Surf’n Slaw as a mobile pop-up food stand in August 2025, offering what Alexander calls Japanese-meets-California okonomiyaki. “Our full Surf’n Slaw includes cabbage, noodles, umami dough, beef, shrimp, and vegetables,” she explains. The menu also has a “Green Wave Slaw,” an Osaka-style version that can be made vegan and gluten-free, as well as matcha drinks. 

Currently, Surf’n Slaw pops up at farmers markets in North Park, Scripps Ranch, Hillcrest, La Jolla, and La Mesa, as well as other local markets and community events. Eventually, she may expand to a permanent location, but that’s a future goal. And while Alexander hopes that one day okonomiyaki will be as well-known to American audiences as ramen or sushi, for now, she’s just happy to share a bit of home with San Diego. 

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San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Izola Bakery announced big plans for a second location and bakery HQ (checks notes) over three years ago and it’s kind of been crickets since then. But there may be movement in the expansion plan—the East Village bakery recently put out a hiring call for “the people we need to help us build what’s next.” Here’s hoping things get cooking (or baking, as the case may be) soon. 
• As a California-born, East Coast-raised foodie, I can confidently say the East Coast has the deli game on lock. So whenever anyone announces they’re bringing an East Coast-style sandwich to the West Coast, I remain cautiously optimistic until proven otherwise. (Big Jim’s in Pacific Beach is a phenomenal example of a transplant done exceptionally well.) Los Angeles-based Ggiata Delicatessen recently announced plans to open a location in Encinitas, promising authentic Italian staples like meatball parmesan subs, cheesesteaks, and Italian cold cuts. Don’t let me down, guys!
• Unfortunately, it’s not all openings and expansions. Nola on 5th in Hillcrest permanently ceased operations without warning or explanation. We can probably pick from one (or more) squares on Restaurant Closure Bingo for the reason (increased costs for ingredients, labor, equipment, etc.), but for the jambalaya enthusiast, it doesn’t really matter why. It’s simply adieu to a slice of The Big Easy in San Diego. 

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Tokyo unquestionably holds the title as one of the best, if not the best, food cities of the world. But despite the plethora of Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurants and hole-in-the-wall ramen joints, you’d be remiss in walking past glowing signs beckoning you to enter one of the 56,000-plus konbini across the country.

Konbini cafes like Lawson’s, FamilyMart, and 7-Eleven may look like run-of-the-mill convenience stores, but convenience store culture is a completely different animal there. Absent are the sad, floppy hot dogs sizzling sweatily on a rotating wheel of misery. Instead, konbini are stocked with a bevy of hot and cold drinks in every imaginable flavor, meals like tamago sandos (Japanese egg salad sandwiches) and prepacked bento boxes, snacks like onigiri (handheld triangles of rice and seaweed, often filled with fish or pickled plum), and even limited-edition merchandise (not unlike Wawa’s line of merch). 

Soon, Hillcrest will get a taste of konbibi culture. Hako Hako opens in front of Uptown Inn by Vantaggio, next to Ramen Ryoma, in early 2027.

Kenji Blouin-Ito, a half-Japanese, half-French San Diego native grew up eating Japanese food at home and during trips across the Pacific. “I remember looking forward to eating bentos on the train,” he says, grabbing quick items to munch on without sacrificing quality or succumbing to cost. When in France, he saw a rise of appreciation for casual Japanese cuisine, “long before it happened here.” 

So he decided to bring it here. After AB 626 passed in 2018 to allow different jurisdictions to permit Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKOs), Blouin-Ito launched Foodnome, the first legal marketplace for homemade food in the US. Eventually, the national nonprofit The Cook Alliance took over the project, leaving him open to the next new idea but with the experience of running a food-based business. 

“That experience changed how I think about food, not just what makes it good but what makes it work,” he explains. Bento boxes felt affordable in a time of inflation, convenient in a bustling world, and versatile to a variety of palates. When he got the chance to open a konbini himself, he went for it. 

His family runs Uptown Inn, a mix of apartments and hotel rooms that’s seen increased food traffic over the past few years. “We had a small space in front of the building that wasn’t being used, and it just made sense,” he says. Hako means “box” in Japanese, a reference to both bentos and small space from where he’ll sling freshly made bentos, coffee, drinks, pastries, snacks, and a small retail selection.

Hako Hako will initially open for morning and afternoon hours, but you don’t have to wait until next year to get a taste of Japanese culture. Blouin-Ito’s concept is popping up at various coffee shops around San Diego, with a few coming up: Easy Does It on September 19 and Cafe Moto on October 17. Until then, practice the art of gaman: patience with grace. 

Hako Hako opens at 819 University Avenue in Hillcrest in early 2027.

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San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events

Beth’s Bites

• Sushi Tadokoro held on to its Michelin star for three years—no mean feat for anyone. But now, the Old Town restaurant is changing things up, eliminating lunch and à la carte service at the end of September before transforming into an omakase-only experience in October. The dining room will close from October 1 through October 22 to make the change, but promises it will be “more intimate. More personal. More focused on each guest and every piece we serve.” Sounds worth the wait.
• Bock brought new life to South Park when the German-inspired beer bar opened after a long construction process by owner Brian Jensen (Vino Carta, Bottlecraft). Now, Bock is getting its own shot in the arm with a new in-house kitchen from the people behind Majorette, Love Letters Pizza, and Scrimshaw Coffee. Kurz, or “quick” in German, is already open, serving European-inspired bites like the requisite currywurst, Bavarian pretzel, and schnitzel, along with some newcomers like a pierogi and famous “Majorette burger.” (I can confirm it’s a damn good burger.) Reminder: Bock and Kurz are 21+, so leave the kinders at home.
• The popular Japanese dessert chain Warabimochi Kamakura already has 70-plus locations in Japan, Australia, China, Thailand, and the U.K. (to name a few), but is finally opening a location in Convoy District at 8322 Clairemont Blvd. After a successful pop-up test run at Asa Bakery, Warabimochi Kamakura will bring its signature warabimochi (a traditional simple, jelly-like dessert), plus tea like matcha and hojicha, as well as soft serve as soon as October, but possibly November. (Although warabimochi is sometimes considered a summer treat, I’m pretty sure I can make an exception for autumn.)

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No matter your job, it’s helpful to find some sort of joy in it to avoid going completely insane. Some people savor the variety of personalities when dealing with customers. Others find comfort in the predictability of closing a bar after last call, counting tips and wiping counters. Perhaps achieving Inbox Zero really gets your blood pumping, or shipping a new product design sparks joy.

For Heidi Greenwood and Juerie Masters, work doesn’t get better than logistics and operations.

“[We] both love all the unsexy parts of supply chain and backend management,” laughs Greenwood. Tracking outbound orders? Ensuring compliance? Managing inbound freight? Stop me if this is getting too hot for you!

Not enough people think about the unsexy reality of running a business before launch, but effectively and consistently keeping an eye on operations separates successful companies from out-of-business ones. Both Masters and Greenwood already own their own businesses—Greenwood is behind the wine zine Campestre Mag and runs the online wine shop Esquina, and Masters co-owns Clos Wine Shop and Fintastic Provisions in University Heights with her husband Paul. Apparently, these gigs weren’t enough to satisfy their collective yearning for spreadsheets and inventory maintenance. 

So, they decided to start another business together—Sosal Line, a San Diego-based import and distribution company specializing in global pantry items. The pair launched Sosal Line at the beginning of 2025 and currently only sell three brands of tinned fish, but Greenwood says they plan to expand their offerings as they discover other small or family-run businesses that share their values.

“We want to work with brands and with products that really have a sense of place and actually tell a story—not just the product, but the people behind it too,” she says. 

Masters and Greenwood are both Korean-American and named this burgeoning business after Haenyeo, the legendary free-diving women of Jeju Island in South Korea. Traditional Haenyeo equipment and garb include oribal (swim fins), yeoncheol (lead belts to help them sink), and the company’s namesake sosal, a hand-held fishing spear (sometimes called jaksal). 

The average person, if sitting completely still, can stay underwater for up to a minute and a half at most. Haenyeo can hold their breath for up to three minutes while actively foraging, harvesting, and swimming. Scientists say these diving women spend more time underwater than any other group of humans on earth. Not badass enough for you? The average age of Haenyeo is around 70.

“Fishing is a strong heritage for Koreans, and it’s the same here in San Diego with the Portuguese settlers,” Greenwood explains. (We aren’t the tuna capital of the US for no reason.) 

Sosal Line carries 100 percent traceable, wild caught fish from Galicia in Northern Spain and the Pacific Northwest, all family-owned companies who don’t compromise on sustainable practices. Tinned fish has never been more popular—or more debated—but there’s more to it than cute labels designed for maximum Instagram reach. “I want to know who I’m purchasing from,” says Greenwood. One of their suppliers, Craft Fish Co., which is based in San Diego but fishes in the PNW, is run by JJ and Jessica Gerritsen. JJ catches, Jessica packages, and it’s a business relationship on a first-name basis. “You can’t find that when you’re working with some nameless brand.”

San Diegans can find Sosal Line products at local retailers like Clos/Fintastic (obviously), allmine in Oceanside, Always Hungry Grocery & Goods in Carlsbad, J. Brix Wines in San Marcos, Collins & Coupe/Tablespoon in North Park, and Green Acre in La Jolla. They’re also available in select retailers in Northern California, Oregon, Arizona, and strangely enough, South Carolina. Expanding its client base is, of course, a goal. But not at the expense of quality or joy of discovery.

“I would love to see people try food from different cultures and be excited about it,” says Greenwood. “Maybe make them want to travel to experience different areas of the world.” 

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