Café 20/20 — Restaurant in San Diego

If I could give this place 0 stars, unfortunately, I would. I was looking for a good cafe coming from the Catamaran Hotel and found this one down the street. I've driven by it many times as a San Diego native and knew it was there but I was never attracted to the cafe. There's poor signage on the outside showing a confusing mix of food and drinks that look fairly unattractive. Coming into the place we were met with a hot room that seemed to lack AC, a small dining area that seemed poorly kept and outdated, and a vast menu with items that were uncoordinated to one another and viciously overpriced. The menu seemed lacking in freshness and nothing seemed to be held to a good standard. A cheap looking smoothie was listed on the menu for $13 starting price. There was a sign at the front counter that said "bad attitude, right to refuse service". After contemplating the menu for a little while, I decided to try another place. While standing in the store looking at the menu, the lady at the front seemed annoyed and left a snarky comment that "I was taking a while". Brushing it off, I decided to go elsewhere and politely left saying thank you. As I was walking out the door I was met with an aggressive comment from the woman at the front counter saying "why did you come in, then? Just go!". I was taken aback as the sign I had just read seemed to enforce a policy of respect and politeness. It's truly a shame to see a business hold their customers to a standard they completely fail to maintain themselves. It was a complete disappointment coming into that cafe. My encouragement to everyone would be to avoid this cafe at all costs. Poor food is one thing, poor customer service, however, is another. My assumption is that she was the owner from the other reviews I have read. This is an unbelievably poor way to run any sort of business. However, I wouldn't leave my comment without a solid critique. My advice for the business would be scrap the menu and opt for a smaller, fresher menu. Alongside that, pick a theme. That corner spot gets so much foot traffic and has a ton of potential. Give the business a face lift and maybe try fixing the AC. Lastly, a change in ownership would probably be the only hope for that business. Get rid of the rude staffing and hire some kind, respectful staff. If the owner can't handle people, she should stick to the background and get some decent people working the front. Overall, a horribly disappointing experience. My final message is if your looking for coffee around the area, go north and head to one of the coffee shops on the left. They can give you the service and expectation that this cafe failed to deliver. They need to rename the place...

Got a strawberry boba tea this evening. I was a bit sketched out by the place after going inside. Lots of haphazard signs and the lobby was closed. The drink wasn't great- the boba was falling apart, and the tea had a weird aftertaste, almost like incense. That really put me off and I couldn't finish it, just had to throw most of it away.

They also had a bunch of menu items that seemed pretty clearly to be just microwaved frozen foods? Like, Costco chicken bakes, or frozen burritos. They didn't say they were from Costco.. but they did have "chicken bakes" cut out of a box of frozen food, and that's how they advertised it for sale. I had the impression that they might have some trouble if a health inspector came through. Would not recommend.

Edit: the owner has replied to my post with a very confusing rebuttal. The 29th was a gorgeous, sunny day- I didn't have anything to complain about. I also didn't swear at anybody - my partner and I sat very quietly while she made the drink. I had politely asked if the strawberry tea had cream / milk in it, and she told me it did. I thought she was rather nice. It's a shame to see how quickly she goes after bad reviews - she didn't behave that way in person.

Update: we dropped by again this morning and calmly asked why they lied in their response. The woman working the counter recognized us and was friendly, so I don't think she's the one writing the reviews. A man from the back room came out to talk to us, but we didn't get a very satisfying response from him. He just said "that's the Internet", that "we have a team to reply to everyone", and that if we had a problem with an online interaction that "you can leave and go online". So that's where I am!

Cafe 20/20 has a video camera that (very loudly and weirdly) states you're being recorded when you enter. If I yelled or swore at you, prove it- I know I didn't. There's an incredibly bad energy...

Edit: Responding to owner - as I mentioned in my review... I was talking about Espresso drinks which are definitely not $2.40. Your nitro cold brew is over $6, that is a little overpriced in my opinion (especially considering it looks like you don't make your own nitro in house). I'm sorry if you don't agree with my review, but you should take it as constructive criticism and improve your shop rather than trying to defend yourself online. My group bought 4 drinks and NOBODY in my group liked their drink / finished them. I'm not looking for free, but I am not trying to spend over $20 on 4 espresso drinks only to throw them away because they taste so weird / bad. To anybody looking for a place to grab a coffee or drink around Mission Beach, don't stop here... go down the road and you will find MUCH better places. Use my review, other reviews, and the way that the owner responds to each criticism as proof that there is something wrong with this shop. And it is absurd that you are accusing me of working at another buisness down the street, if you even read my review you would know that I was here on vacation (Don't even live in the state).

Stopped by here for a quick cup of coffee since it was close to our rental house and immediately regretted it. Four of us bough different coffee drinks, and I am not exaggerating when I say that none of us could finish them because they tasted so bad / off. Prices were very high, and the coffee we received was mediocre at best. Do NOT waste your money here if you are trying to grab a good coffee / espresso drink, walk a little further down the street to try another place. Can't comment on their food / snacks, but just based off of the store's appearance and the menu, it seems overpriced and...