The Swell Cafe

San Diego, United States

3.7

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 858-539-0039
Website:
www.theswellcafe.com
Address:
3833 Mission Blvd, San Diego, CA, 92109
b/t Seagirt Ct & Salem Ct
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
2.2 miLine nr. 30
2.7 miBalboa Avenue
2.7 miClairemont Drive
Categories:
QR code
Download QR Image Download vCard

Map

Streetview

Activate map

Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Bitcoin
No
Good For
Breakfast
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
No
Dogs Allowed
Yes
Waiter Service
No
Caters
Yes
Good for Working
Yes

Today

Today 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (San Diego) 05:49 Monday, 23 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Thursday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Friday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm
Sunday 7:00 am – 4:00 pm

Description

Specialties

*Voted Best Coffee in San Diego 2014*

The Swell Coffee Roasting Company & Café is an outdoor beach coffee roastery, breakfast, and lunch spot dedicated to small-​batch, artisan roasted coffee beans, serving fresh, simple, healthy foods and well trained barista made coffees that make a positive impact on the world.

All coffees are traceable from farmers or co-​ops around the world and are either direct-​trade, or carry such certifications as Fair Trade, USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Certification, and more.

The café features a fresh, simple, and healthy yet diverse breakfast, lunch, smoothie, salad, pastry, and dessert menu. We make our salsas, salad dressings, hummus, pesto, soups, and various specials in-​house. All sandwiches and dishes are prepared to order.

The team at The Swell Café takes great pride in service to others and works hard to minimize their impact on the environment by the elimination of the use of styrofoam, LED indoor lighting, energy star certified appliances, and low-​flow faucets.

History

Established in 2009.

Navy Veteran owned, The Swell Café is operated with one of the most friendly, knowledgeable, and coffee-​loving teams you will ever encounter.

The Swell Café was originally called Café Mono back in the day. We (finally) changed the name to The Swell Café in 2013.

The café roasts all of its traceable, sustainably sourced coffee and serves the best lattes and cappuccinos in Mission Beach. The café also offers a variety of fresh, made-​to-​order breakfast and lunch, served all-​day.

Our team takes pride in their product and service to you, and the vibe is relaxed. You know you are at the beach, sitting on the outdoor patio listening to live music on the weekends during brunch when you walk up to this café!

Meet the Business Owner

John V.

Business Owner

John Vallas, and his family have lived in San Diego on and off for years. Both he and his wife La are Navy Veterans. Their daughter Shyla (our official dog ambassador) was born here in San Diego.

Before The Swell Café (formerly Café Mono), they started and sold a successful street fair concessions business locally. John also has ten+ years of restaurant and catering experience. From that to now, the goal is to continue to experiment with coffee, it’s unique and wonderful flavors, and ensure customer service is the primary focus.

The Swell Café also recommends

Rubicon Deli

754

reviews

Delis

,

Sandwiches

John V. says,

«Great friends of ours. Staff is cool. Great spot for late afternoon sando or evening dinner pickup! And… they love Mission Beach as much as we do!»

Luv Surf Shop

13

reviews

Women’s Clothing

John V. says,

«A cool womens boutique w/​their own unique clothing lines. Staff’s friendly, and such a laid back vibe w/​really nice gifts and things for your lady.»

The Patio on Lamont Street

1085

reviews

Breakfast & Brunch

John V. says,

«Awesome spot for happy hour and dinner! Sweet restaurant… I can’t say enough good things about it!»

The Patio on Goldfinch

639

reviews

Seafood Restaurants

,

Breakfast & Brunch

John V. says,

«One of the best restaurants in San Diego, CA… and they carry our coffee and tea! :)»

Raising Ruckus Rentals

3

reviews

Motorbike Rental

John V. says,

«Cool family owned and run business that rents these cool scooters to get around the beach area… if you’re staying nearby… check these guys out!!»

Related places

Explore similar places:
300
ft
The Mission Cafe
3795 Mission Blvd
700
ft
Better Buzz Coffee - The Lab
3745 Mission Blvd
810
ft
Juice Wave
3733 Mission Blvd
1
mi
Kingdom Kaffa
4465 Mission Blvd (Pacific Beach)
1
mi
California Bean
809 Thomas Ave (Pacific Beach)
1
mi
Starbucks
4315 Mission Blvd (Pacific Beach)

Nearby

Near this location:
10
ft
Beach House Market
3833 Mission Blvd
20
ft
Radd Action Sports
3837 Mission Blvd
40
ft
Ready John T
3829 Mission Boulevard
40
ft
Helen Nails Design
3837 Mission Blvd
70
ft
Sherry’s Brush
3827 Mission Blvd
70
ft
Pacific Beach Pro Roofing
3829 Mission Blvd Ste 401

20 reviews of The Swell Cafe

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Alpine, San Diego, CA
Ariel is excellent !!! We enjoyed our Vanilla Latte and Mexican along with the Jalapeño Bagel breakfast sandwich. Acai Bowl with delicious fruit and a side of bacon (delicious) what’s a day without Bacon. a must go for a fantastic meal with outdoor seating. We drove from Alpine and Ramona to enjoy our fantastic breakfast thank you
Place rating: 2
San Diego, CA
Super disappointed! The outside seating was lovely and I think the ingredients they use are good, but the execution of the dishes are OK at best.
We tried the chilaquiles and the egg white omelet, using the full egg instead of just whites. The chilaquiles were bland, with very little cheese, and very, very soggy. IMO chilaquiles should be a fine balance of soft with a little crisp, not a pile of mush where the tortillas are indistinguishable from one another. :(The eggs were cooked well, which was the only saving grace, as well as the hot sauce we added. The omelet was SO incredibly small (2 eggs at most) and under-​seasoned as well. It was fine once we added some salt and pepper.
The only thing that was really good was the cold brew.
After paying $ 30+ for our two dishes, a juice, and a coffee, I left feeling hungry and disappointed.
Place rating: 5
Cincinnati, OH
Rad coffee shop in a stellar location on the Mission Bay! Posted up here for a couple hours to work and enjoy some joe and would totally do it again. Diggin the surfer/​rasta vibes. The barista was knowledgable and super friendly, talking shop with me while pouring my v60 (tasty!) at the slow bar. She was also super helpful and chill when it started to drizzle and we wanted to move a table around to get to an outlet and outta the rain. Check this place out!
Place rating: 2
Shingle Springs, CA
I had high hopes. But our experience was a huge bummer. Read to the end.
The ambiance was quaint and the patio quite pleasing/​charming. There was seating for what looked like 30 on patio and we were one of four tables occupied. You order at front counter then they bring to your table. I ordered the vanilla bean French toast with thyme berry compote, orange zest mascarpone. They served it with one strawberry cut in half and two blackberries and no mascarpone. No thyme and no syrup, butter or mascarpone. Said they ran out. A $ 12 plate served at a $ 6 value at most. No syrup!!! I sent it back telling them that’s not what I ordered. I had to change my order to another item (mind you we already paid), so I got the chilaquiles at waitresses advise — and it was «meh». One scrambled egg next to some chips drizzled with verde sauce, and some creamy cheese. And a third of an avocado sliced on the side. A $ 10 dollar plate worth about $ 6 at most. To make up the cost I ordered side of bacon — I got 3 delicious slices.
Husband ordered egg and steak sandwich and aside from the «home pride» style wonderbread toast it came on, he said it was good. However, he too had to send it back because the menu said it came with two fried eggs and he only got one. He also needed more garlic aoli sauce so he requested an extra side of that.
Lastly, we ordered cappuccinos and they were designed quite pretty but they were kinda small, slightly bigger than an espresso cup. The brew was good, which is about all we could say about today’s breakfast on this drizzly Sunday morning.
Note to owner/​chef: don’t serve a half cocked meal from the menu. If you run out of the ingredients stated on the menu, either pull it, or offer an alternative that will blow our minds.
Do something different for the Chilaquiles– add homemade refried black beans, an extra egg and/​or a protein meat like shred ckn or carnitas. For $ 10 plate you gotta serve more than one egg and some chips.
For the steak sandwich try a better bread source… Maybe a Rosemary sourdough or panini style. The bread offered looked like the $ 1 best value from a grocer.
Lastly /​offer an item folks come to the Swell for that nobody else offers. Like an eggs Benedict that is mind blowing, or a lean and mean breakfast burrito made of egg whites, a protein (black bean, ckn, steak), cilantro and brown rice… something that will be talked about and sought out.
I’m going to be generous with 2 stars because the waitress was very nice, and the coffee tasted good albeit pricy for the (1) latte and (2) cap totaling $ 11 for the mini drinks. You the owner were also pleasant but not once in your rounds to clean up tables etc., did you stop by and apologize for the lack of ingredients and mistakes throughout our order. You must engage with your guests and when there is a problem or problems, personally see to it the guests are satisfied. I saw another table with guests leaving half their food on the plate as they left. That’s a sign that it wasn’t good enough to take home with them :(
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Swell is such a cute, outdoor breakfast place. Try the bacon breakfast brioche, amazing!!! The employees are all friendly and personable, I will be back!
Place rating: 5
Washington, DC
This was a great, casual, beach breakfast find. We came at 10am on a Sunday, and it wasn’t too busy. It has a nice, sunny outdoor seating area. It’s an order at the counter place, but then you can sit down and be served.
We ordered the lattes, which were extraordinary, and the breakfast burrito and bagel and lox. The everything bagel was very large and was stuffed with salmon, cream cheese, capers, onion, spinach, and tomatoes. The breakfast burrito was stuffed with bacon, eggs, potatoes, spinach, rice, and cheese. Both were delicious and appropriately priced ($ 10).
Would recommend for a pre-​beach breakfast or a post-​beach workout refueling!
Place rating: 4
Neshanic Station, NJ
I really dig this spot. Don’t want to spoil it for myself, but this place is such an easy & accessible reprieve from The Mission’s crowds & queues.
I’m a cold-​brew kinda guy, and their nitro tapped coffee is top-​notch. If you’re a traditional hot java drinker, I implore you to give it a go. It’s a real game-​changer, and these guys are bean-​savvy.
Also, a real edge is added to this place by the extra-​friendly staff. They’re quite charming, and go the extra step.
Not for the bougie folks, be prepared for mostly exposed in-​Sun seating, and walk-​up order system.
Place rating: 5
Del Mar, CA
To anyone who is looking for a local, specialty breakfast/​lunch/​coffee place with a great vibe, look no further.
Small place with half booth tables, regular tables and raised bar style seating looking out at the main drag of mission beach makes for great people watching.
Fun live, acoustic music many days.
Coffee: if you are a coffee lover and with another coffee lover, ask the cashier to recommend their favorite espresso beans that day and try a few; like wine tasting, you will notice a huge difference in flavor a between the different beans.
One caution I have is that for a specialty coffee and for all food, they prepare it with care. The first time I went, I figured that because it was order and pay at the counter the food would come fast but it takes the same time as a restaurant, so if you need your coffee or food quickly just call it in.
Highly recommend the americanos, mochas and breakfast burritos.
Place rating: 1
San Diego, CA
Let me start off by saying I really wanted to like this place before coming in. I spend a lot of time in this area of Mission Beach and had just noticed it recently; mainly the cute outdoor patio and greenery.
You order at the register and the woman behind the counter today (short blonde hair) seemed hung over or with an attitude problem. I went to wash my hands and there was no paper towels to dry my hands with, I very nicely informed her that they had run out. To this I got an «Oh ok,» or something along those lines, and no apology for the inconvenience. It seemed like I was bothering her, or that she wasn’t interested in «having to do more work.»
The food was terribly mediocre, my friend ordered the steak and egg sandwich and I had the lox and bagel. The sandwich was nothing to write home about, two large slices of bread slathered in mayonnaise with some scrambled egg and the meat was dry (seems to have been pre-​cooked, for time convenience). I ordered my lox and bagel with avocado as an extra, when they brought it out the avocado was brown and rotten, I asked a very nice server if he could fix the problem and he quickly took it back. He returned with fresh avocado, but with less than half the original amount; I find it ridiculous that I was charged two dollars for four slices of avocado. To add insult to injury the salmon was inedible, at first it seemed fine, but half of the smoked salmon was grayish and tasted horrible.
I really wanted to like this place as most food in Mission Beach is mediocre and overpriced. And was hoping to come often, after this however I will never come back and could never recommend this place to anyone. They have poor quality ingredients and the surly staff member at reception, it seems the only things they have as positives are location and décor.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
I love this place. I go here every morning for at least half of the week. My usual is an almond milk cappuccino. BEST cappuccino i’ve ever had. If I feel like an iced drink, i’ll order an iced almond milk latte. I haven’t tried their acai bowls yet because their granola isn’t gluten free, but i might have to try it without the granola some time. They do serve gluten free paradise bars most of the time, and their new chilaquiles are AMAZING and SPICY. If you go for the chilaquiles, be sure to order an iced drink and not a hot one or it won’t be as enjoyable because your mouth will be slightly on fire.
The staff and owner are always fantastic. Great service. Sometimes on the weekends there is a musical performance, which i haven’t enjoyed too much because it’s difficult to have a conversation especially when the artist uses a microphone. My advice for any artists performing here is never use a microphone. We can hear you just fine and you’re perfectly lovely without a speaker and mic.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
We had breakfast there this wonderful location this morning. They have an inside Starbucks style coffee bar with some seating. The location is really comfy and clean. They have a great choice for breakfast and an amazing looking Acai bowl that I will try next time. The food was good, but the coffee took longer than the food. The chai latte was too sweat for my taste, but good. The service was really friendly. I had the white egg omelette with goat cheese, which was extremely strong. Not too much my style. However, everyone else loves their food. I can recommend this location. It is a little more of a French summer coffee with good looking healthy food options which is a refreshing contrast to the dozens of American style breakfast places that offer meat, sweat and hearty food.
Worth a try :)
Place rating: 2
Los Angeles, CA
I went back today after very fond memories of the burrito and I’m really sorry but… no. The burrito has 2 strips of bacon (there were a ton more last time) and lots of egg to fill the burrito up. It was so disappointing. And the taste was so bland. Sorry but looks like I will not be coming back.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
Cute little café by water atmosphere. Yummy menu and their food presentation is adorable:)
Place rating: 4
Madison, WI
Great breakfast burrito! Nom Nom! Cute little café with outdoor seating and the staff was SO NICE! Only reason it’s not 5 stars is the flies were terrible (but honestly… It’s not their fault…). Easy to get to by bike, I’d come back :)
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I think I’ve found my new favorite breakfast spot. This is a great place to ride your bike to if you live in the area. I had an iced coffee, lox bagel and sat at the bar stools. It’s not too crowded so I was able to relax and read my book in peace. This would be a great spot to bring a laptop and get some work done, too.
They have incense burning on all of the tables along with reggae music. It’s a very chill vibe. Friendly staff with a good variety of food options to choose from on their menu.
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
Came in to get a coffee and some brunch with my sister. The environment was cute and the staff was friendly.
One star lost for all the flys that kept landing on the food
One star lost for the average flavor in the California scramble.
The cappuccino and Mexican mocha were delicious and the green hot sauce added some great flavor.
Three stars doesn’t mean I won’t come back again though! Maybe just for coffee to-​go next time.
Place rating: 3
La Jolla, CA
I came here with 4 friends because our original brunch place had a 45 minute wait. We stumbled upon this really cute café with all outdoor seating. Swell Café is pretty hipster, with a limited menu. I wouldn’t recommend it for brunch, based on my experience; it seems moreof a nice place for a coffee date or just relax for a bit. Swell is a friendly place with great staff!
However, the food was okay. I ordered the Nutella pancakes with strawberries and my boyfriend got the breakfast burrito. I tried his burrito and it wasn’t anything special. I felt like it lacked sauce, although it had good flavor. I wouldn’t recommend the pancakes or the burrito, but the coffee was tasty. What I thought was kinda cool was the cucumber water which was a nice twist.
The one thing that I really disliked about this place were the immense amount of flies… flies EVERYWHERE. I know we’re outside, but it was like an infestation. It made eating difficult because we spent a lot of our time time shooing them away.
Place rating: 2
Brooklyn, NY
Two coffees, both pretty darn yucky. Got there and we were told they were out of cold brew because it’s sooooo popular it runs out really quickly and they haven’t had it in two days. Huh? If it’s so popular, you should really keep it on hand, right? In the time they took to actually brew my latte, the cold brew appeared, although we kinda wish it hadn’t.
Both coffees had a really weird grassy undertone. Not smooth, not rich, just grassy. Vanilla dream was CAKED with far too much cinnamon. It was nasty. All we could taste was that grassy gross undertone and nothing more.
It’s a bad day when a parent with two little ones throws out half a cup of coffee, but so it was with our visit to the Swell Café. After waiting for 15 minutes for two drinks to be served and paid for, I definitely expected better.
Nice latte art though!
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
I came here to try out the acai bowl because of how delicious it looked in pictures, but when I tried it, it was icy and watered down! I don’t recommend coming here for acai bowls.
But all in all, the vibe and customer service here is great! Workers are super friendly and the decorations on the patio is very cute. It’s a great place for brunch or a cup of coffee. Also, they are dog friendly, which is a plus!
Place rating: 4
Del Mar, CA
Going out for breakfast on the weekends is a must do for me. My friend just moved to Mission Beach so it was a great opportunity to visit her and explore the hood.
Swell café instantly caught my eye as we were strolling along the mission blvd. with inviting patio that was full of people. As we walked in, i noticed the eco-​friendly décor with had organic & earthy motives. There is a wall full of life plants, cascading down, the entire patio is wood trimmed.
There is no wait service, so you just order at the counter and someone will deliver your food when its ready.
I got a California scramble and my friend ordered a Endless Summer salad. Our food came out incredibly fast, everything tasted fresh, flavors were well balanced, the potions were just right. The menu had great variety from salads, to smoothies, paninis, soups and egg dishes. There is something for everyone.
The swell is a perfect little open-​air beach café with a nice vibe and delicious food!
Can’t wait to go back