Selva Coffee House — Restaurant in San Diego

PRO TIP: I didn’t realize this, but at the bottom of your Selva Coffee House receipt it says “Receive 10% off your entire Terra Bella Nursery purchase with this receipt” - so definitely buy your coffee before you shop & buy your plants!

It felt like we stumbled into a coffee shop with jungle vibes & tucked away tables.

It was an unexpected twist, as we were looking for coffee off the freeway in San Diego and landed in a tropical plant nursery meets popular coffee shop. You can find your favorite new house plants while sipping trendy sweet coffees & matcha under a giant disco ball at Selva Coffee House tucked inside Terra Bella Plant Nursery.

With intimate tables spread throughout the dog-friendly café space, this is an ideal chill date activity or morning outing with friends.

This is not a place you go when you’re in a rush. There was a line and a bit of a wait for our drinks, and we were originally told upon ordering it should take ~25 minutes. We arrived at 10:44am, finished ordering at 10:53am, and got our drinks at 11:38am.

While you wait in line at the coffee shop, you get to look at plants and their merchandise tables, full of trendy gifts. I ended up buying 4 cute wavy iridescent glass straws as gifts, $5/each, $20 total, because I was looking at them so much while waiting in line. I wanted to use them as straws for our cold drinks immediately, but then realized that other people in line had been touching them and they need to be washed first.

If you like lush plants and sweet coffee, you’ll want to save this for your next morning activity in San Diego. They’re known for their sweeter specialty drinks, including both sweet matcha and sweet coffees. You can get your drink less-sweet, which is what I did and it was still more than sweet enough for me. I ordered a half-sweet version of their Flying Solo iced latte ($6.90) with blueberry puree, espresso, and oat milk, and when the coffee mixed with the milk and blueberry, it made my drink a greenish color and it almost looked like I was drinking matcha! My boyfriend got the Strawberry Syrup Lemonade ($5.90) and it was ready at the same time as my drink.

I appreciate that they don’t have an additional charge for alternative milks, and their milk options include: whole, 2%, oat, almond, soy, and coconut. You can add Cloud Cream in a variety of flavors to any drink for $1. They also have their own free parking...

Picturesque coffee spot that delivers on flavor, price, and friendliness!

We popped into Selva around 10:30am on a Saturday. Parking in the lot is not permitted for the coffee goers, so we found street parking nearby.

Walking in to a jungle, we were greeted by the loud music and the coffee counter right at the entrance. The display case full of pastries drew me in so quick I almost missed the fact that the line went all the way back yo the store! No problem, I thought - I'll browse plants while I'm waiting.

3 things to note about my wait in line: 1) the plants were super cute, but a bit steep on the price. 2) the wait was helped by menu's posted in line so I could start deciding what I wanted. 3) These guys got inspo from CFA and kept that line moving along (the wait was not long)!

When it was time to order we were greeted promptly! The display case had so many delicious options, including a whole shelf dedicated to vegan pastries!

One of my FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT THIS PLACE was their "all milks are equal" policy (not upcharging for non-dairy milks!) 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I ordered the Queenie and a vegan cookie dough croissant and a vegan vanilla concha. My friend got the Peep Show and an almond croissant and a burrito. They texted us when the drinks/food were ready. All pastries were delicious but that almond croissant hit!!! My Queenie (matcha with strawberry foam) was fire 🔥 and my friend said her drink was delicioussss.

I docked one star b/c the music was a bit loud and felt like we were in Ibiza (or a club). It was hard to have a conversation because of the volume. We discussed that perhaps that was the atmosphere they were going for - grab you caffeine and gooooo, but during the wait it sucked being drowned out by rave beats. Other than that, the food was great and so was the service. After seeing the overpriced plants while in line, I opted not to visit the nursery ✌🏻But I'd definitely swing back in to Selva for a...

Tell me you live in San Diego without telling me you live in San Diego: plants and coffee on a sunny Saturday morning- doesn’t get much better than that. Okay here we go. Great concept. We frequent the nursery to actually buy plants, so I’m pleased there is designated parking only for the nursery. The café is definitely an extra perk. We visited on a Saturday morning around 9:30 AM and the coffee shop was packed. I read other reviews stating they waited over an hour for their coffee (yikes!) and luckily I walked right up to order. While we waited for my drink, we walked around and picked out our plants. About 20 minutes later my déjà vu drink was ready. Dang, it was really good (coconut matcha)! I’m looking forward to trying the other specialty drinks, as they all sound amazing. They have a great selection of pastries and parfaits, but this is where I knocked off one star: I bought the mango lassie vegan protein bowl. It is delicious, but not for $13!! My eyeballs probably came out of their sockets when I went to pay at the register. It is 8 oz, the size of a regular yogurt container just square shaped and shallow. Seriously Selva, that is way overpriced! I paid $22 for the mango “bowl” (definitely not a bowl) and a matcha drink- that is insane!!! It’s not even the size of an açai bowl! As tasty as it was, I will not be purchasing that one again. Other than the highway robbery, it’s definitely a cute place to check out if you’re...