Spill the Beans Coffee and Bagels — Restaurant in San Diego

LOVE THIS PLACE!

It's so hard to find the perfect neighborhood coffee shop that's a mix of (a) good coffee/drinks, (b) good food (c) good people and vibes. Spill the Beans has all this and more.

I'm lucky to work from home, and love popping into Spill the Beans. There's always ample space - whether the sit-down tables (indoor and outdoor available), the picnic tables, or the high top benches (indoor and outdoor available). There's also charging ports for devices which is a lifesaver.

The music is always a vibe and seems like the team mixes it up depending on mood / who's on duty.

And the premises are always clean; the team does a great job of maintaining the restroom, surfaces, etc.

As for food+drink? Top-notch. LOVE the Marinelayer and the Chagaccino. I usually sip on these throughout the day, and they've got water as well. The San Dieggo and the Lox+Bagel are both fantastic - would 110% recommend. Even just the bagels and spreads alone are great too.

And - yes - wouldn't say prices are "cheap". But it's kind of like the usual "Yeah, okay, fair, and add a bit more because we're in California" kind of pricing.

Okay - but warning: weekends can definitely get crowded! I'm always so surprised at how many people show up on weekends; last time it was raining, the line was still out the door. Honestly, though, makes sense given the quality of Spill the Beans. And it's a great place to get the day started/wind down after Fashion Valley Mall, Costco, IKEA, etc.

Last, but most importantly: the team here is absolutely amazing. They are kind, responsive, and really try to make everyone feel welcome. If you need anything, you can always go up and ask - they'll do everything they can to fix / make things better (just yesterday, I heard an elderly woman explain that she misunderstood the kinds of milk - the staff was kind and patient and got her a new drink).

Please stop by and see for yourself. This place is a total gem and hope y'all...

Wow I don’t give bad reviews often, but be warned about bland food and questionable customer service. We thought we would try these new boiled bagels with fancy flavors, so we rolled down to Mission Valley at 11am on a Sunny Sunday morning.

Parking - difficult in a small lot with Apts and 3 other restaurants.

Atmosphere- Lovely with a big patio and sunshades and nice breeze! (Unfortunately the table numbers were too flimsy and blew over constantly) Front Service- greeted pleasantly at the counter at 11:15am. They were out of Everything Bagels at this point but still had a selection of 2 new flavors and 3 reg flavors. We were warned about 15-20 min wait for bagel orders. (We eventually got them 40 min later)

$39 for two bagel sandwiches a drip coffee and a $3 tip. 😳

Coffee - was meh. Nothing strong or exciting, although smooth. Kitchen- you can see the pic of the white paper orders waiting in the kitchen, so we were prepared for a longer than 15 min wait.

as we left the counter to find a seat we hear a worker shout “Jennifer!!! Jennifer!!! “ then another worker says”She left!” And the runner says “wohoo!! We get a bagel to eat!” Way to Stay Classy SD😳

35 minutes into our wait, the kitchen staff comes out and says they don’t have the Bagel I chose. What do I want. “What do you have left?” They tell me Plain and baked. (Baked apparently is another name for a brioche) “Ok then… guess I’ll take a Plain bagel” since that is why we came. Few minutes later it comes out on a Brioche bun. The runner says. “They may be out of bagels. And it would take forever if you sent it back” I say “ok” And start eating the egg sandwich with two eggs and bacon and cheddar cheese and avocado, and I can honestly say it was amazingly bland. There was a sauce on it, but no flavor, it needed seasoning. (And of course the bagel tasted like a brioche bun. lol) The other sandwich came with an un-toasted sesame seed bagel and bland...

We ordered 3 bagel breakfast sandwiches and 3 drinks (1 ice coffee and 2 lemonades) for a total of $64! I was okay with the price for the time being as I know it comes in hand with "trendy spots" but the experience made the price feel ridiculously high afterwards. I had asked for a coffee recommendation and the cashier said the Blondie Mocha was a popular so I went with that!

The Blondie Mocha was lacking flavor for it being 3/4 on their sweetness scale. It was suppose to be a blondie bar as a latte and I got none of that. It just tasted like a plain latte with a little after taste which I assume was the macadamia? I went back up to the counter after a single sip and asked if I could possible swap it for just a plain lemonade as I didn't enjoy it. The barista said "You not liking it is not a reason for me to give you something else but I will" ummm okay? I told him I would just pay for another drink then but he rudely answered back "No, I'll give you the lemonade but I'm just saying someone else will not swap it next time" - what is the point of these backhand comments?? I would have been okay with a no... this is the point where I realized I wasn't coming back. We could also hear the kitchen staff yelling in the back while we ate inside, unsure what was going on there.

The lemonades were good ill give them that. The bagel sandwiches were okay but the eggs lacked season and there was a lot of aioil which also didn't taste like anything. The bacon and the sausage were carrying the team.

The place was clean and offered plenty of seating inside and out. We hung out and chatted a bit since there was space.

There are better and friendler coffee/bagel places in my...