Award Winning Coffee House in San Diego County

Old California Coffee House & Eatery is the oldest coffee house in San Marcos and now serves morning scrambles, sandwiches, wraps, salads, soups, vegan chili, gluten free sandwiches, vegetarian meals, smoothies, and desserts as well as a full line of gourmet coffees and teas. In Sept, 2011 Old California Coffee House and Eatery was named "the best coffee shop in San Diego", according to 10news.com

“Waking up San Marcos since 1990”

Long before the big chain coffee houses moved here, a little coffee house – not much more than a stand opened up in Restaurant Row.  It had one employee and limited hours.  Soon the place was hopping and locals were lining up to order drinks not usually found outside of Seattle, at the little coffee house then known as Mocha Marketplace.

Fast forward thru the years, five remodels, and a name change later, and the once little coffee house now has a hand full of employees, lots of seating, and is open for 14+ hours each day, seven days a week.

A lot has changed over the years, but we still remain committed to providing the finest quality locally roasted coffees and ingredients that we always have.  We’ve added a more diverse café food menu with many vegetarian and “vegan” selections.  The comfort of sofas and chairs to lounge in, and access to free wireless internet has become a huge draw for business professionals and students alike.  Nightly we light the fire pits for cozy gatherings and on Friday and Saturday nights we have live local entertainers on the patio. 

Our Goals include being a haven from the sterile, cookie-cutter atmosphere of the corporate coffee house, and offer a respite from the hectic, frenzied pace of life.  We strive to preserve the legacy of the coffee house as a place of community – a place to meet friends, hang out and relax, have stimulating conversations, listen to music, read, study, draw, write poetry, meet with business associates, enjoy the local flavor and have some great coffee and eats. 

Hope you will make us your daily choice.