Stopped by Pinpoint Cafe in La Jolla on a Thursday morning with my girlfriend visiting from…read moreCharolette, and it was such a great start to the day. She wanted a coffee / cafe with a great view and this spot did not disappoint! The kind barista recommended her favorite drink, the maple brown sugar latte, and she absolutely did not steer me wrong. I got it hot in a small, and it was the perfect cozy pick-me-up -- smooth, flavorful, and not overly sweet ($7-8) The atmosphere was welcoming, and the location is even better since it's just a short walk from the beautiful views of La Jolla's Bay. Definitely a spot I'll be coming back to anytime I'm in the area showing friends around!

The smoked salmon toast was amazing!! Coffee was not watered down / so well made! Barista was sweet…read moreand welcoming. Even tho the outside is small, it's very beautiful and on a busy street where it's always fun to people watch

It is so hard to find good gluten free pastries , this place did not disappoint. Tried 3 different…read morepastries, the banana oat muffin was my favorite. The salted maple latte was also delicious. Love that they are committed to using high quality, clean ingredients. Staff is friendly and easygoing.

This is a quaint Cafe for breakfast or lunch. There is a good selection of muffins, pastries,…read morebreakfast bowls, burritos, waffles, wraps and coffee/juice. There is indoor and patio seating, either spot is nice and clean. Inside has cute wall art with a beach and parrot theme. If you choose outdoor seating, you will have a spectacular view of the cove and seals across the street. There is paid parking beside the cafe that connects to a hotel. It is convenient to have lunch then walk along the shore, which is steps away. Sincerely, Rosemary

I stopped in Hermosa Surf Shop on Labor Day and had Bell's Berry Smoothie, which came with…read morestrawberries, raspberries, and blue berries as the main berries for $13.50. It was a large smoothie and they filled it above the rim of the cup. Although the smoothie was delicious, it was on the tart side, which was not a surprised given the amount of berries in the smoothie. It was well blended and slightly creamy. As hot as it was that day, it certainly was refreshing as well. I really liked the garnish of fresh berries and bee pollen on top as well. I would have liked to have gotten more flavors out of the almond milk and coconut milk. The place doubles as a surf shop as well or doubles as a cafe as well. They also offer Acai bowls and toasts, not to mention espresso based beverages and teas as well. They offer comfortable inside and outside seating.

Came on a Thursday morning, so it wasn't too busy. I loved the vibes of the store! It was very…read morebeach-y, surf-y, and san diego-y. They had a mini chess set, so my friend and I were able to play a game of chess while enjoying our acai bowl & smoothie. We got the hermosa acai bowl and the blvd smoothie and agreed that the acai bowl was better than the smoothie. I liked how the acai bowl had kiwis because I usually don't see that as an option at other spots. Smoothie was pretty standard imo

This was absolutely worth the wait!! I've tried a few times to come here but the parking is quite…read moretough. So be prepared to park and walk. But when you get here the views are worth it! It's so relaxing to just sit and look down the beach while enjoying coffee. They are super friendly here. And the food was delicious! I had their Mexican Mocha with the "GOAT". Highly recommend!! Love how they made it into a heart. It was the perfect sweet with salty bacon combo, and who doesn't like goat cheese! It is a true hidden gem that if you are near UCSD, come check it out. Plus they give 20% discount to students at UCSD. Thank you!

I absolutely love this place. The staff is super friendly and welcoming and it seems like they…read moreactually give a damn. You can hear the waves from the ocean over the sound of the espresso machine as though you were feet from the beach. Nestled between a Scripps/UCSD Oceanography campus, it's a small/quaint private getaway. Since the word is getting out it's been quite busy and it totally killed my zen to see people doing zoom conferences and speaking loudly at their screens throughout. Really? Oh well, to each their own. The lavender latte was delicious and hit the spot. The sourdough they used for the toast was heavenly...filled with air holes and homemade sourdough flavor. Loved the heart shaped toast. They take care with their presentation. Only drawback is lack of parking. Unless there is some secret spot I haven't discovered yet, be prepared for a bit of a hike. I've been here on the weekend as well and the lines can get long.

Always my favorite place. Quality ingredients and great Customer Service. Delicious smoothies that…read moremake you feel great. I highly reccomend this location. Enjoy.

Love their juices --so consistently fresh and delicious love the green juices and acairead more

BLUE BOWL @ UCSD LA JOLLA…read more Parking is available, but I believe you have to pay if you park in the garage. I decided to just park along Gilman Drive, which is free, and walked about 20 minutes. Honestly, it wasn't bad at all -- it was a sunny day and there's plenty of street parking if you're willing to walk a bit. I've always loved Blue Bowl Superfoods in Oceanside. It's SO good and easily one of my favorite açaí spots, I could literally eat it every single day. I love all the customizations they offer, the variety of bases, and just how many ingredients they have. This time, I decided to visit their UCSD location, which is right in the middle of University of California San Diego's campus. They open around 10 AM on Saturdays (and typically around 8 AM on weekdays), and even right at opening there were already a lot of people waiting. My friend and I were still able to get in and out pretty quickly around 10. I ended up getting their mango passion base along with açaí. For toppings, I loaded it up strawberries, bananas, apples, blackberries, blueberries they truly have so many options. I also love their variety of nuts, seeds, and different types of nut butters. They really don't skimp on choices. Overall, I would highly recommend stopping by. I was SO full after, and honestly, you could even split a bowl with a friend because they pack it generously. It's about $12 for a normal medium-sized bowl, which I think is worth it for the portion and quality. The staff were very friendly and welcoming, which I really appreciated. The ambiance is nice it's more of a grab-your-bowl and then sit outside type of vibe, but there is indoor seating as well. Definitely one of my favorite açaí spots, and this location did not disappoint.

Blue bowl is my absolute favorite açaí bowl spot and has been for the past 7 or so years. I love…read morethat it's a set price for unlimited toppings and their açaí base and blue chia combo can't be beat by any other açaí spot I've tried. I drive to the USCD campus just to get blue bowl and I'm praying they open up another location in central or south San Diego! Service is always quick and consistent. At this location, parking can be tough depending on what time you arrive. Weekends are pretty easy to snag visitor parking. On weekdays, beware lines can get longer towards lunch rush hour.

This gem was hidden. It is outside on the left of the building. The owner was very friendly and…read morenice. I ordered a caramel macchiato. The coffee was smooth and tasteful. It was not overly sweet compared to Starbucks. I would come back again for a cup of coffee.

The drinks here are truly awesome! The barista was extremely kind and gave great recommendations to…read moreme and my wife. I typically don't get acai drinks, but this one was great! Nice place to sit outside too!

I've tried this Shake Smart twice. Once because of an event and another time because I received a…read moregift card. I had the greens to go smoothie which I found a little chalky and you could still taste the protein powder a bit too much for my taste. I had the almond butter toast to use up a gift card, which was fine but I'm not sure I would personally pay $5.87 for it. I found this place a little bit inconvenient to go to since the hours on Google and Yelp are incorrect and they didn't have any hours posted on their door, but they open at 10am on Tuesdays and not 7am. I also found it odd that they bill themselves as "on the go" food, but you cannot order ahead for pick up. If you order ahead you still have to go to the register to pay, which makes it a less convenient option than other campus options that do allow pick-up. There is no seating inside, but there are close tables and chairs that are outside. Note: This is on the UCSD campus, so it's not very convenient to go to unless you are already on the campus as you have to pay for parking.

So grateful this was open on July 3! Literally everything was closed. I was also pleased at how…read moretasty the smoothies were. I would pass on the toasts which felt like they came out of the can. The student running the counter was friendly and happy to strike up conversation. I can imagine this being pricey for college students. I found it refreshing given how expensive things are getting. I would come back again especially to enjoy the sea breeze on the rocking chairs!

I loved their ube pancakes! It was something completely different from anything I've seen before…read more The presentation was spectacular, and the taste was spectacular. Literally, I will go back here every time I go to San Diego because it was that good. There's not too much seating available because they get really busy and the place packs up pretty quickly. But we were still able to get seats, which really says something about their turnover time. The people were also really nice. I also got their BLT sandwich, which was really good. I expected the hash brown presentation to be a little bit better, but other than that, the taste of everything was great. If anything, having the savory sandwich with the sweet pancakes was a really good combo because we were able to balance them out. It's also really close to the beach, so that's another plus. Definitely recommend!

My friend and I found this place online (TikTok) and wanted to try it for their gluten free…read moreoptions. I have to eat gluten free so I got the French toast made gluten free and we got the Ube pancakes to share/try. My friend got the Steak and Eggs (she is not gluten free). My friend also got a vanilla chai latte and I got a flat white. What went really well: I thought the French toast was great. I loved the raspberry on it and the fruit. My friend and I thought the Ube pancakes were good as well. But like most gluten free pancakes, they were a bit dry/crumbly. That doesn't necessarily bother me but it could turn someone off if they are not used to gluten free foods, as these pancakes are made gluten free by default to my understanding. Overall, I was excited to have this option and Blue Whale seemed to do breakfast sweets well. The flat white was decent too. Presentation of all the meals was great; definitely "instagram worthy". What could be better: My friends meal in its entirely was pretty awful. She rated it a -2 overall. I did try her chai latte and it was the worst I have ever had - basically watery milk with cinnamon in it. The steak and eggs left a lot to be desired. The sirloin was very fatty and had little to no seasoning. She only ate the accompanying sourdough slice and hash brown but said even the hashbrown had way too much salt on it and was not enjoyable. Overall, I find it strange that my friend and I had such different dining experiences at one restaurant. I didn't have an awful experience but she sure did which left us both feeling like we would be unlikely to return here. If you are planning on dining here, I would suggest ordering coffee and breakfast sweets as this appears to be their strength.

They who love unicorn maximalist breakfast spots, for you this place was made…read more A rec by a friend's ex, Sugar and Scribe did not disappoint for breakfast number one of a girlfriend get-away in La Jolla. After being sat on the patio and before ordering, we checked out all the merch inside, an explosion of color and sparkle. The indoor seating is a room of inviting, plush, forest green chairs and the walls dripping in white and blush pink flowers. The quote "Cooking is my soul's desire, eating is my heart's calling" catches your eye on the north wall. One of my friend's and I decided to order 2 entrees and split them - the Spicy Shakshuka Sunrise Skillet (2 eggs poached with fire-roasted tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, fresno pepper, cilantro, yellow onion, feta, harissa, cumin, chili flakes, and sourdough bread) and the Windansea Breakfast Bagel (with scrambled egg whites, Irish cheddar, sauteed garlic spinach, and avocado on a Big City everything bagel). That was a smart call because both were amazing and re-orderable. The shakshuka was flavorful but not intolerable spicy hot. The bagel made the sammich. All was washed down with a Cafe Viennese (coffee with honey, cinnamon, and vanilla, a great sub for my usual Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbies). The service was great and engaging and not a hustle for us to churn and burn our meal. Would love to return and indulge in some of the retail in addition to some pancake or waffles. I only had 1 bite of the single fluffy pancake that my other girlfriend ordered...quite the tease.

Sugar & Scribe located in La Jolla, they do have a small parking lot as well as street parking…read more Customer service was AMAZING from our waiter Chris! I can't speak on the ambiance as inside dining was closed and only available on weekends. We sat outside the restaurant under a tented area, that had a nice decor. We only had a slight issue dealing with flies at our table having only outdoor seating available. Next time I would come on a weekend to be able to enjoy inside dining! It was our first visit and our waiter Chris was very knowledgeable of the menu items and gave us great recommendations being 1st timers! Customer service all around was great! As soon as we walked up, we were greeted immediately and sat down shortly thereafter. One upside to dining outside under the tent is we had no problem getting the attention of our waiter or any workers for that matter because it was such close quarters. It appeared they also had some tables set up outside the actually restaurants walls along their porch area. We ordered: The Big Bad Biscuit & Bird - Biscuit was thick and perfectly baked all the way through. Gravy lacked a bit of flavor for my liking, nothing that salt, pepper, and some of their hot honey sauce (that comes with the entree) couldn't fix! Chicken strips were thin but surprisingly not dry for its size, along with scrambled eggs. I enjoyed they did not skimp on the gravy as a good amount gravy is needed for their thick biscuits! Blueberry Love Pancakes - Lemon curd in the pancake itself was a treat but, the real star of the dish is the blueberry compote on top! Bread Pudding French toast - Perfect texture, not too soggy or wet but just enough moistness. DELICIOUS and MUST ORDER Strawberry Lemonade - strawberry flavor stood out and lemonade was not too sour. Nice balance of both flavors! Mango Lemonade - I was NOT A FAN! Unlike the strawberry lemonade, I was not able to taste ANY mango flavor at all! I definitely would be back to try more dishes but, on a WEEKEND, to be able to enjoy inside dining! This location is also a bakery although we were too full after our entrees to entertain baked goods. Definitely a location to consider if you need a good brunch location!