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By Branda Gorgies
Photos take
n by Branda Gorgies, Miriam Raftery, and Nathan Dumlao via UnSplash
July 11, 2023 (East County) – While there’s always a nearby Starbucks, gas station or convenience store, shopping locally and supporting small businesses is a great contribution to the community.
Although, sometimes it can be difficult to find local coffee shops near you. This article is here to give you a comprehensive list of local brewers that you can support. Click the titles of coffee shops listed to visit their websites.
Address: 6101 Lake Murray Blvd, La Mesa
The Brew Coffee Spot is a bustling local coffee shop. With plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, the
shop is a nice place to visit with friends or family. They have open mic nights, usually consisting of live music or comedy. They also have monthly community markets, and all their coffee is sustainably sourced. The Brew Spot provides coffee, tea, pastries, food and other drinks.
Address: 737 Jamacha Road, El Cajon
Cafe 88 is located in a small plaza in El Cajon. They offer smoothies, juice, desserts and acai bowls along with coffee. They have both indoor seating and outdoor seating, although it is limited. When I went, it was late at night, around 9 PM, and people were sitting outside and inside. I ordered a caramel latte and a
classic crepe. They’re known for their use of Nutella, even having a drawing of a Nutella jar on their wall.
Address: 1140 Tavern Rd, Alpine
Caffe Adesso is a small cabin-kind shop located near Kumeyaay highway and a couple of gas stations. The cafe does have a drive-through and a walk-up window, but it has no seating. Caffe Adesso has various coffee options, the most popular including the Mexican mocha, Chai latte and #44, a cold brew with vanilla cream. The #44 is a homage to the owner’s son, Joe Musgrove, #44 for the San Diego baseball team, the Padres.
Address: 1730 Alpine Blvd #108, Alpine
The Cleveland Cafe is known for its coffee and crepes. They have both hot and cold coffee, with many flavoring options for an extra 50 cents. Their crepes can be ordered with different jam flavors, chocolate hazelnut, or plain. While they don’t offer outdoor seating, they have indoor seating.
Address: 2806 Alpine Blvd, Alpine
The CroBean cafe is an Alpine cafe loved for its great coffee and macaroons. Although, the shop offers a lot more than just macaroons. They offer many baked goods and pastries, including, but not limited to, croissants, croffins(croissant muffin mix) and cake. For their coffee options, popular choices seem to be the cafe latte, cold brew coffee and caramel latte. They have both indoor and outdoor seating at the cafe.
Elevated Coffee & ConfectionsAddress: 8091 Broadway, Lemon Grove
Elevated Coffee & Confections offers many coffee options and 100% vegan confections. They offer an “Iced Flight” on their menu that allows you to try four different iced drinks. That can also be paired with a sampler of three confections or cookies. The shop has indoor and outdoor seating. Their cinnamon rolls are well-loved, and their lattes do not disappoint.
Address: 9631 Campo Rd, Spring Valley
Gladly Coffee has high praise when it comes to reviews. They do have seasonal offerings, currently consisting of a latte, two cold brews and some sandwiches and wraps. On their cafe menu, the categories include espresso drinks, house specials, craft drinks, blended cold brews, tea, coolers(refreshing drinks) and smoothies. They have a wide variety of items that you can order from, and you can either take a seat inside or outside or go through the drive-through for a quick pick-up.
The Hamlet Coffee Shop & Apothecary
Address: 7801 Broadway, Lemon Grove
The Hamlet Coffee Shop is an interesting mix between caffeine, apothecary and alchemy. So while they sell coffee, they also sell self-care items such as homemade hand sanitizer, cuticle oil and herbs. On their “Drink Alchemy” menu category, they have drinks including sea moss, maca root and blue spirulina. For coffee, they have many regular coffee drinks and then some more unique ones such as a mermaid matcha latte, a beet x rose latte and a golden root(turmeric) latte. The shop is very community-orientated and even hosts personal, business and community events. With plenty of indoor seating and free Wi-Fi, the Hamlet is a good spot to hang out for a while.
Kaffee MeisterAddress: 13277 I-8BL, El Cajon
9225 Carlton Hills Blvd UNIT 30, Santee
The Kaffee Meister has two locations, one in Lakeside and one in Santee. The one in Lakeside is attached to an antique shop and has indoor and outdoor seating and a drive-through. The shop in Santee hosts “live & local” nights and has indoor and outdoor seating, but no drive-through. Customer favorites include the hazelnut white mocha, KM Cortado and vanilla latte frappuccino.
Kali’s Garden CafeAddress: 1921 Main St, Julian
Kali’s Garden Cafe is a newly opened all-vegan, plant-based cafe. One of our reporters, Henri Migala, went to the cafe. At the cafe, he savored jackfruit-based tacos and more. You can read up on his review here. The cafe offers a variety of coffees, juices, delicious pastries and food items. There’s indoor and outdoor seating.
Address: 9664 Winter Gardens Blvd, Lakeside
Koffeeing UP is a newly opened espresso bar in Lakeside. The Colombian coffee there is well-liked among guests, and the shop also offers pastries and cake. The shop has outdoor seating. Some coffee offered by the shop includes iced and hot mochas, sweet vanilla and hot and iced campesino.
Address: 8138 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa
Light Bulb Coffee is also located in downtown La Mesa. The store offers many menu items besides coffee, such as bagels, sandwiches paninis, wraps and fruit bowls. For their coffee, they offer specialty latte flavors such as “Cali Pistachio,” raspberry white chocolate and cinnamon bun. They offer 7 non-coffee items, so their beverage menu is dominated by their coffee. The shop hosts events, both public and private, and they also cater. They have indoor and outdoor seating.
Address: 680 Main St, Ramona
Main Street Coffee is most well-loved for its coffee and crepes. The cafe is in the heart of the small town of Ramona. Their menu is available online, and some items include the breakfast crepe, cherry blossom latte, white mocha and bubble waffles. The coffee shop has indoor seating, outdoor seating and a drive-through if you need a quick pick-up.
Address: 5500 Grossmont Center Dr, La Mesa
Newly opened in the Grossmont shopping center, Marathon Coffee is a store meant for the running community of East County. The service is sung with high praise, with owner Simon, who’s both a coffee fanatic and a runner. While their menu isn’t available online, reviews listed items such as mocha, strawberry matcha, latte, hot chocolate and donuts. The shop has indoor seating, and as it’s part of the shopping center, they’ll be outdoor seating nearby and places to visit before or after you grab your coffee.
Address: 28841 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley
Pine Valley Java is a coffee shop in a unique 1920s-era building. After Major’s Diner closed down, Pine Valley Java opened itself up in the east part of the Pine Valley House building. With this, the owner of PV Java decided to manage the breakfast and lunch service in PV House and included many menu items from Major’s Diner. In the PV House, they serve breakfast, lunch, pastries, and of course, coffee. They also offer live music on most Friday and Saturday nights. The coffee shop has a drive-through and seating both indoors and outdoors.
Pink Rose CafeAddress: 8209 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa
This shop is fully decorated with pink roses. Everything from the cup sleeves to the walls is pink. Many consider it to be a perfect spot for an Instagram photoshoot, especially with the upcoming Barbie movie. The menu offers the categories of frappuccinos, lattes, matcha drinks, mochas, espressos and basic coffee. Popular items include the pink rose latte, raspberry white mocha and various matcha lattes. The shop offers seating both inside and outside.
Public Square Coffee HouseAddress: 8278 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa
990 Lane Ave, Chula Vista
The Public Square Coffee House is a coffee shop in downtown La Mesa. It’s most popular for its scones, but its coffee is quite well-loved as well. Popular coffee drinks include the brown sugar cinnamon latte, black sesame latte and pandan latte. The shop also hosts open mic nights and even concerts. They recently started selling pizza as “Pierre’s Pizza Place,” too. Along with that, they’ve opened a second location in East Lake, Chula Vista. The second location is a van that exclusively sells coffee for now, but they’ve planned to add pastries soon.
Purple Owl CafeAddress: 2907 Washington St, Julian
The Purple Owl Cafe is a newly opened coffee shop in Julian. It’s tucked away between an animal hospital and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. They offer all the basic coffee drinks such as a cappuccino, macchiato and cafe espresso, but they also have more unique drinks like Snickers latte and raspberry rose latte. They also offer beautiful bakery items such as cheesecakes, crepes, tartines (French open sandwiches), salads and soups. Currently, they have a deal; if the temperature is above 90, their slushies will go down to $3.
Rob’s BrewpointAddress: 153 E Main St, El Cajon
Rob’s Brewpoint is a small shop in Downtown El Cajon. The shop has both indoor and outdoor seating, giving plenty of room for you to sit down and enjoy your drink. Inside the shop, one wall has a chalkboard up and guests are welcome to write or draw on it with the chalk offered. Along with the chalkboard, there are books and toys offered and products to buy set up along the shop. They offer a couple of pastries along with their coffee. I’ve tried the lavender latte, cinnamon roll, lavender scone and Beehive latte.
Sheldon’s Service StationAddress: 8401 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa
Sheldon’s Service Station is located in downtown La Mesa. Sheldon’s is a community spot to get together and hang out. The name comes from the man who opened the first full-service gas station in La Mesa around 1920, George Sheldon. They serve breakfast and lunch. Some of their most well-loved coffee orders are the Bumble Bee latte (honey and lavender), cinnamon bun latte and Viennese latte (honey and cinnamon). They have indoor seating and a popular patio.
Spacebar Cafe & Wine BistroAddress: 7454 University Ave A, La Mesa
Spacebar Cafe is an internet cafe with free Wi-Fi available. Although there isn’t any outdoor seating, there is plenty of indoor seating. They have open mic nights and comedy shows at the shop and now offer catering for events. They serve breakfast, lunch, paninis and acai bowls along with their coffee. The cafe has good reviews, with many people saying the coffee is great. They have all the typical coffee drinks a person can ask for, from lattes to americanos to mochas.
Sultan BaklavaAddress: 165 E Main St, El Cajon
This Middle Eastern dessert shop offers a variety of coffee. They offer desserts like baklava, cake, knafe and much more. Pistachio is commonly used in Middle Eastern desserts, so you’ll see much of it in this shop. In terms of coffee, they offer many latte, espresso and specialty options. Popular orders include the pistachio latte, rose latte and Turkish coffee. The store provides seating inside, and although there isn’t a patio, there are nearby areas where you can sit outside and enjoy your coffee, as it is located in Downtown El Cajon. They also have a next-door restaurant by the same name, Sultan Baklava Mediterranean Grill.
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