Cafe Bella Drive Thru

This is the kind of place when I’m out walking I sometimes just end up at because the vibe is so good. The girls who run this spot work really hard and are super friendly. I usually stick with a double espresso because I’m basic af but I’ve tried the Vietnamese ice coffee and it’s a great treat on a summer day. Smoothies and muffins are dank as well.

We are from Arizona and saw this while walking around and decided to check it out the next morning. Had a good bagel and pastry. Husband loved the chunky monkey and my white chocolate mocha was good.

We stopped in nearly every day on our vacation stay. My girlfriend really enjoyed the mocha with peanut butter added. The dog park is right down the road. Thank you for y'alls hospitality. We really appreciate it

Bella is an OB staple and local spot! The best coffee for when you're on the go! They have a nice setup with tables and umbrellas if you want to eat there, you can drive through, or you can walk 2 blocks up to the beach! The staff is SO friendly, they know the regulars, and always ask how we are doing. THE FUNKY MONKEY IS AMAZING! So is the PINK PASSION smoothie.

I visited San Diego. Honestly I’ve been here so far for breakfast every day. One of the best açaí Bowls ever. Their tea and coffee is top tier. Service is great. Easily one of the staples for my trip here. I wake up craving açaí from them.

I wish I got a picture of the food before my fiancé and I devoured majority of everything Upon entry, the place is cozy and the cashier was patient and kind The empanadas are nice, warm and flakey with just the right crunch We got the soy-chorizo and chicken empanadas As for the taste, they are seasoned to perfection-- not too salty, not too spicy-- perfectly balanced! As all things should be The ocean beach bowl is beautifully made, colorful and tasty! Its the right breakfast smoothie bowl if you're looking for something to start your day The funky monkey is a great smoothie-- even if you don't want espresso in it. Can never go wrong with peanut butter, chocolate and banana As for the dirty chai, the coffee is smooth, and is not too bitter, making it the perfect blend of an earthy roast and sweetness We also bought a lil egg side for ourfur baby, and he approved of everything too :] If youre looking for a sign AND breakfast, come here!!! Yours truly, a Punk

One of my favorite places to get anything from coffee to smoothies and bowls. And they’re dog friendly of course

Love this place. I’ve visited San Diego three times in the past two years and always make sure to stop by at least once or twice when I’m in town. Awesome açaí bowls and iced mochas. And you can’t beat the location. Pick up your coffee and breakfast and walk to the beach in 5 minutes. The staff are very sweet as well.

Got takeout and took it back home to eat. Absolutely delicious fruit bowls with a variety of topping combinations.

I really love this place! Every time I'm in the area I stop her for an acaì bowl and I'm never disappointed. They also had a lot of other options that are worthwhile as well but the acaì is my go-to. I love the outdoor vibe and they have a few tables set up for you to relax if you want to sit down to eat before going on your way.

It’s busy here! So convenient, great location and service. An abundance of options.. great way to start your day.. midday or close your day. (PS- they also have a drive-thru!!! Editing, now that I’m seeing it as I leave)

A true smoothies with raw pure fruit and vegetables which was satisfying! It's a drive through capabilities so you don’t have to deal with parking scene around that area! I'll definitely come back!

I absolutely love this coffee shop when I'm in San Diego. Great specials and wonderful people! They even have treats for dogs!

Love this awesome Kiosk/drive thru! Excellent lox, great açaí bowls, smoothies, and drinks. Always friendly and service is fast.

Amazing drive thru coffee cart! Staffed by some amazing ladies! The drive thru is a little on the small side so I recommend parking and just walking up. My son got the Java Chip Bellaccino and I got the Mexican Mocha! Absolutely delicious! Will be back soon!

Aki Aki

I wish I got a picture of the food before my fiancé and I devoured majority of everything Upon entry, the place is cozy and the cashier was patient and kind The empanadas are nice, warm and flakey with just the right crunch We got the soy-chorizo and chicken empanadas As for the taste, they are seasoned to perfection-- not too salty, not too spicy-- perfectly balanced! As all things should be The ocean beach bowl is beautifully made, colorful and tasty! Its the right breakfast smoothie bowl if you're looking for something to start your day The funky monkey is a great smoothie-- even if you don't want espresso in it. Can never go wrong with peanut butter, chocolate and banana As for the dirty chai, the coffee is smooth, and is not too bitter, making it the perfect blend of an earthy roast and sweetness We also bought a lil egg side for ourfur baby, and he approved of everything too :] If youre looking for a sign AND breakfast, come here!!! Yours truly, a Punk

Emanuela Dallas

One of my favorite places to get anything from coffee to smoothies and bowls. And they’re dog friendly of course

Brittany Lynn

It’s busy here! So convenient, great location and service. An abundance of options.. great way to start your day.. midday or close your day. (PS- they also have a drive-thru!!! Editing, now that I’m seeing it as I leave)

Taylor B

Love this place. I’ve visited San Diego three times in the past two years and always make sure to stop by at least once or twice when I’m in town. Awesome açaí bowls and iced mochas. And you can’t beat the location. Pick up your coffee and breakfast and walk to the beach in 5 minutes. The staff are very sweet as well.

Ben Kelley

Got takeout and took it back home to eat. Absolutely delicious fruit bowls with a variety of topping combinations.

Ken Pesile

I really love this place! Every time I'm in the area I stop her for an acaì bowl and I'm never disappointed. They also had a lot of other options that are worthwhile as well but the acaì is my go-to. I love the outdoor vibe and they have a few tables set up for you to relax if you want to sit down to eat before going on your way.

Monica Keller

A true smoothies with raw pure fruit and vegetables which was satisfying! It's a drive through capabilities so you don’t have to deal with parking scene around that area! I'll definitely come back!

Joy High

I absolutely love this coffee shop when I'm in San Diego. Great specials and wonderful people! They even have treats for dogs!

Cherilyn Jones

Love this awesome Kiosk/drive thru! Excellent lox, great açaí bowls, smoothies, and drinks. Always friendly and service is fast.

Cassandra

Amazing drive thru coffee cart! Staffed by some amazing ladies! The drive thru is a little on the small side so I recommend parking and just walking up. My son got the Java Chip Bellaccino and I got the Mexican Mocha! Absolutely delicious! Will be back soon!

My absolute favorite coffee spot in all of SD! Just the yummiest espresso and coffee, affordable prices, super quick service - will always make a point to stop here while In the area!

Rachel Nedresky

My absolute favorite coffee spot in all of SD! Just the yummiest espresso and coffee, affordable prices, super quick service - will always make a point to stop here while In the area!

Great coffee and very friendly staff. However, both days we were here on vacation we got day old pastries-not good. We don't expect that from a California coffee seller.

Pretty good food but they always burn their bagels. Reeeeally good smoothies and coffee. Pretty good service, sometimes they don't greet you at all and just look at you sort of annoyingly until you order. Never seen a dude working here and their sign says something like "brunch, brew, and babes" which makes me also think they only hire women which seems a little messed up. Overall, I come here because the smoothies and coffee are phenomenal.

The atmosphere is less to be desired but honestly that is not why you come. You go for the coffee and convenience. We got the oat milk late and the Vietnamese coffee - both fantastic! I would definitely update the counters on the inside of the stand - looks out dated. Also, they have a drive through option! That is an amazing add. I have been back twice. I plan on going again before I leave!

Wish they were open at 5am, but alas, this is false advertisement 💙

The girl taking orders,kept holding her ears while we were trying to order complaining of the traffic noise. Took our money then never said when our order would be ready and went on to the next person. She needed to be more attentive.

Cool local coffee spot. They’re pretty quick, good quality. Acai bowl hit the spot, bagel sandwich good but small, not cheap but relative to area. Drive thru, online orders and window ordering. Dog / kid friendly, high traffic intersection.

A small spot where you can grab a coffee while out for a walk or just passing by. The flavors are just perfect.

Carlos Delgadillo

Cool local coffee spot. They’re pretty quick, good quality. Acai bowl hit the spot, bagel sandwich good but small, not cheap but relative to area. Drive thru, online orders and window ordering. Dog / kid friendly, high traffic intersection.

UGURCAN SAHIN

A small spot where you can grab a coffee while out for a walk or just passing by. The flavors are just perfect.

The smoothie was the strangest consistency, and their matcha is presweetened. The acai bowl was okay, but I have had much better in OB.

I have been going to your Voltaire location for the past year. I have loved the coffee and the service that the workers provide, and because of this, Cafe Bella is my daily coffee shop! I am reluctant to write a negative review because I do not want to damage the reputation of the business. Unfortunately, the last several weeks that I have gone to Bella, my coffee has been extremely watered down, over-milked, or over-sweetened. I tried asking one of the workers what I could say to the barista to hopefully get a more balanced latte, but their advice didn’t work. I’m very disappointed, because between my partner and I spend $600+ a month at Cafe Bella, and we haven’t received a good drink in weeks! :(

A coffee kiosk for a quick take out stop. Good if you’re desperate for a coffee. I ordered a Cappuccino with almond milk. Tastes burnt. I guess anything goes.

Magdi Badawy

A coffee kiosk for a quick take out stop. Good if you’re desperate for a coffee. I ordered a Cappuccino with almond milk. Tastes burnt. I guess anything goes.

I was looking for a good breakfast sandwhich in a rush in OB and unfortunately this was probably the worst breakfast sandwhich i have ever had. I am giving 3 stars because while i do love the staff and their coffee and other drinks are good, the food is terrible. I will probably never go there again unfortunately.

Ashley C.

The smoothie was the strangest consistency, and their matcha is presweetened. The acai bowl was okay, but I have had much better in OB.

I went here on Tuesday 8/21. I ordered a Nutella, banana & peanut butter smoothie which isn’t on the menu but I asked prior to ordering and was told they could make it. The smoothie was fantastic. On the other hand, the two blonde girls behind the counter were not. After being told by one girl they could make the smoothie, the other girl basically gave me attitude about what I was ordering. They proceeded to talk negatively about it the entire time they were servicing my husband and I. I assume they probably didn’t realize that I could hear everything they were saying. I would never order from here again if those two are behind the counter. This isn’t high school, it’s a smoothie shop. They should look into hiring actual friendly staff.

Apparently the “recipe” changed and Almond milk is added, when I questioned this I was told “this has always been the recipe”, no, it hasn’t, I’m allergic. The funky monkey was a perfect start to the day

Elisabeth Gingrich

Apparently the “recipe” changed and Almond milk is added, when I questioned this I was told “this has always been the recipe”, no, it hasn’t, I’m allergic. The funky monkey was a perfect start to the day

It kinda blows my mind how catty these girls are and how much they lack customer service skills. I just moved to this side of OB so instead of Val’s I now go here as it’s a lot closer. And this place is terrible. I said thank you after receiving my coffee and some child behind the counter gave me a super dirty look. Another time, my drink was ready but I never heard them shout it out and it just sat there for a good while. They didn’t bother to take note that it had just been sitting there. Just super rude all around. I will now skate on down the block and go elsewhere. Things like this matter. This is how you lose business because I’ll never get coffee there again. Do better

Camrin King

It kinda blows my mind how catty these girls are and how much they lack customer service skills. I just moved to this side of OB so instead of Val’s I now go here as it’s a lot closer. And this place is terrible. I said thank you after receiving my coffee and some child behind the counter gave me a super dirty look. Another time, my drink was ready but I never heard them shout it out and it just sat there for a good while. They didn’t bother to take note that it had just been sitting there. Just super rude all around. I will now skate on down the block and go elsewhere. Things like this matter. This is how you lose business because I’ll never get coffee there again. Do better

I had a very very disorienting experience with an Ocean Beach Brewery employee while sitting at Cafe Bella. I'm not sure if the two are related but it seems that the OB Brewery uses the cafe space. Our group was sitting at an outdoor table at the empty restaurant to eat food from the farmers market. There were no signs indicating that outside food wasn’t allowed and we'd eaten here before without issue. We were about to buy drinks from the cafe when an employee from the brewery started passive-aggressively yelling at us from a distance, demanding we buy something from their brewery. Less than five minutes later, she stormed into the cafe and aggressively yelled at us to leave, continuing to yell while we were packing our things and until we were on the sidewalk. When we mentioned that some of us are regulars who visit the cafe and brewery weekly, she dismissed it and claimed she would have recognized us if that were true. It was an extremely frustrating and uncomfortable interaction. It’s a shame, because we wanted to support these local businesses but after this experience, we won’t be returning. I can see other reviews mentioning issues with this same person, she's a blonde woman who appears to be a bartender and seems very disgruntled by people visiting the farmers market.

I have been a customer of Cafe Bella for many years. I have seen many staff come and go, always attractive young females (never once have I seen a male employee) & I always had a good experience for the most part. Recently, a few of the staff have been acting very rude & on one occasion made fun of me as I waited in the line for my drink. To this day I have no idea what I did to offend anyone there, I always try to be kind while I get my daily coffee. The store uses a punch card system so that every time you shop, you can earn either a "smoothie stamp" or a "coffee stamp" so after nine cups, you get something "for free". Everyday, I do a refill, get a stamp, and save it. I always saved my full cards so that I could get a drink called a "Snickers" (which is $9.50 otherwise for 20 0z.) as a special treat on days that are harder than others. The staff yesterday told me they "could no longer take my cards as a request from management. Today, I spoke to the manager, Frank, who told me I was using "fraud" and "had my own stamp" because I have "too many cards" & "they'd no longer accept them so just throw them away". My apologies for being a loyal customer who shouted out your business on my podcast with thousands of listeners every single week. I will be sure to get my coffee from somewhere else where I am treated with respect and not berated with false allegations. I like the coffee, it's not worth that though. I would recommend the 7/11 across the street from now on.

Walked over with the pups to grab coffee this morning. The entire interaction was disappointing. I waited by the register to order and was ignored for a while. Finally, a mousy brunette turned around and asked "do you need something?". I ordered and began to wait for my drink. The baristas were very loudly talking about how they make people wait on their drinks based on how much they like them. I used to love this spot, I will give my money and support to another shop where they are kinder to their patrons.

My husband stopped to grab us coffee and had a horrible experience. Had to tell the lady our order 3 times because a text was more important and the order was still wrong. When he went back to the register to let them know he was met with attitude. Sucks cause this place is just down the street from our rental.

Sadly some undertones to our service. Very pushy and impatient server taking our order. She was hurrying us up to order even though we were the only one there. One person on our party had a sore throat and her english is second language,so it was a little hard for her to order. And the girl was kinda rude saying "speak louder". Not what you expect in Ocean Beach. My take,just chill a little.

The asian girl is rude for no reason....me and everyone i know avoids this place ONLY because of her....otherwise we love tue coffee and the place

I would like to preface this with the fact that I am a regular here for over 2 years and love this place. Most of the time these ladies are on top of it all with a giant line and still get your order out in a timely fashion. I don’t know what exactly was going on today but I have never in my life been treated the way I was. I rolled up to the drive through and there was one person already waiting for their order by the palm tree. 1 girl actively working on drinks. 1 was writing something down and never once looked up. 1 girl was stocking things and I know she saw me roll up. Not a single one of them came over to me after about 6 minutes the one stocking finally came over and took my order. A veggie sandwich and matcha blend. Move up and wait. And wait and wait. 3 cars get their ordered behind me. Okay I get it the sandwich takes awhile, so the one who took my order finally comes over, and sheepishly asks “oh um sorry but what are you waiting on again?” I was already there for over 20 minutes at this point and now running late for work, so I tell her again my order and she walks off. Then I wait again and my drink comes out wrong and told the sandwich is going to take longer. I told her I couldn’t wait anymore and she just goes “um oh uhh sorry okay”. Now if this had been a super busy day I get it. But it wasn’t at all. Zero communication on what was going on, it was like they were afraid of telling me about the order. No offer to refund no nothing. Now I’m out money and more importantly the sandwich I needed for my lunch. These girls need to be pulled and retrained on basic customer service skills.

Been past due for a review of my favorite small business coffee shops in OB. All I can speak for is the iced coffee. It's quick, most of the time good when it doesn't have the coffee grounds in it, and right around the corner from my place and the beach. Well the coffee is good, my review is regarding the group of young girls that work here. The coffee shop comes in waves with girls in the 4 years I've been a customer. In this new wave of gals, I had a consistent awful attitude from a blonde with the name of BROOKE. Dare a customer ask her for anything else that will make her walk back to grab. She has the ugliest attitude and VERY POOR customer service. Ive experienced her attitude almost every time she's been there. Not sure how attitudes like this are getting employed by such a popular coffee shop. I also just experienced another rude barista, I would be happy to provide the name but the baristas and others working refused to give a name due to "privacy concerns". Or because they dont want their name posted on a review for management to see. The interaction was similar to what another reviewer shared. She brought the coffee, stared at me, didn't speak 1 word. Not so much as a thank you, goodbye, or anything else. Stood their silently and awkwardly with a smirk on her face. I had to ask her if there was anything else needed as she stood at my car door. It was very awkward, rude, and goes to show the level of immaturity and lack of customer service these young girls possess. You are in the business of service. If you dont like to provide good positive customer service to people. Do NOT work in a customer facing role in a popular coffee shop near a main beach. I hope the owners take action with the kind of girls they are hiring. Unprofessional, they act very childish as if they are in high school (maybe they are which is no excuse), and giving their business a bad name.

Won't accept 50 bill ... every week same story as the employees forget they work in hospitality? Haven't seen any sign on what's max allowed bills..feels like everyone makes its rules. Good coffe good service nad attitude darlings .

This is one of the worst if is not one of the worst places I have ever tried coffee latte ever. It’s literally steam milk with hot water. Save your money and go someplace else for coffee.

Ale B

Won't accept 50 bill ... every week same story as the employees forget they work in hospitality? Haven't seen any sign on what's max allowed bills..feels like everyone makes its rules. Good coffe good service nad attitude darlings .

Ray Ali

This is one of the worst if is not one of the worst places I have ever tried coffee latte ever. It’s literally steam milk with hot water. Save your money and go someplace else for coffee.

A while ago, at the Voltaire location, the entire counter fell over into the drive thru lane against my car leaving a mark across the driver side of my vehicle, and I was given a stamped free drink card that was initialed off, I gave that free drink card to my mom to try out one of their smoothies and they denied it because it was initialed by the same employee for the entire stamp card. Poorly managed shop, I wasn’t upset my car was damaged, didn’t file a report, but why deny a stamp card that was initialed by your own employee? Haven’t been here since, but wanted to share my experience.

Nick Kim

A while ago, at the Voltaire location, the entire counter fell over into the drive thru lane against my car leaving a mark across the driver side of my vehicle, and I was given a stamped free drink card that was initialed off, I gave that free drink card to my mom to try out one of their smoothies and they denied it because it was initialed by the same employee for the entire stamp card. Poorly managed shop, I wasn’t upset my car was damaged, didn’t file a report, but why deny a stamp card that was initialed by your own employee? Haven’t been here since, but wanted to share my experience.