Halcyon

I can only give 4 stars as I didn’t actually order any food this time. However, the latte I got was delicious and I tried a sip of my friend’s Thai Iced Coffee… also amazing! The food that everyone around me ordered looked delicious too though.
The coffee shop/​bar has a great view on Fault Line Park/​Downtown and parking was not too difficult. The staff was also very friendly and welcoming.
I will definitely be coming here again.

Enjoyed a great Monday happy hour at Halcyon in their outdoor seating area overlooking the new park. We enjoyed the Watermelon Mint Negroni ($ 2 off for happy hour) and a delicious and big Margarita Pizza. On Mondays after 4 p.m. they offer a $ 5 Margarita Pizza Mondays deal, yum! Friendly and attentive service as well. Definitely going back soon!

New favorite spot, excited to go back!
— Great Location
— Fast, friendly and attentive customer service
— Awesome atmosphere
— Pet friendly!
— Clean
— Amazing Alcoholic Beverages — LOVED the (7.5%) Kombucha
— Tasty FOOD w/​fresh ingredients! The Bruschetta had fresh homemade Mozzarella (spoke to an employee, the mozzarella is made in-​home daily) Best Bruschetta I’ve ever had!

Halcyon has the most shittest customer service ever! I have never cursed in any of my reviews & I am pretty sure this review will get flagged but let me warn you while I have the chance, it is truly shit.
I was eager to try this place after seeing it on a friend’s Instagram because of their S’mores. I hyped it up & told my group of friends that we had to go here after the Padres game, just a 10 minute walk away.
This place is extremely pretty & has a back patio with a fire pit that overlooks a park. We sat in the patio & our server, Marino, killed our vibe. He looked like he hated his job, did not give us any input on the questions that we had about their menu items! We ordered our drinks & got them a little later. I ordered the S’mores for 4 people (good enough for our group of 8 people) & did not get it for like 25 minutes. The S’mores is not something that they make, it is literally a tray of items to make the S’mores with a mini gel fire. Then we were ready to pay. He was no where to be found & it was not a busy night. Then he came suddenly, dropped off the check, then came back a minute later to see if the payment was ready, left annoyed when we said we were still splitting it, & never came back. Then my friend went up to the bartender & tried to give him the check & he said with annoyance «That is not my job, I am here to just make drinks» & he left the tab on the corner. Great teamwork you have Halcyon! & even after that, we had to wait for our server to pick up the tab & close it out. Honestly, we should have just ditched the tab, they did not even want it anyways! We spent more time waiting for these people than we actually spent enjoying our dessert & drinks. It would be a different story if they were busy, but they were not & just fooling around talking to their friends. Rude!
S’mores: For the price, this was a great deal!
Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate: Just the way it sounds with peanut butter in the middle, good!

I was invited to attend happy hour during their summer preview event. They are located in East Village and share the space with Stella, their sister restaurant. I really like the open air feel and the view! This lounge is also pet friendly and has a fireplace and heaters above in case it gets chilly.
While I was waiting for my friend to arrive, I was given a couple of their Mules on Fire. It was infused with cilantro and jalapenos, but I didn’t feel the kick as much as everyone else did. Some of their new menu items included the Angus beef sliders, fried mozzarella, and bologna sandwiches. A colleague of ours ordered a couple of pizzas for us, so we had a lot of food!
I enjoyed everything I tried. Even though I wasn’t in the mood for pizza, it was actually my favorite thing to eat that night. It was flavorful, thin, and not too greasy.

After being in town for less than 12 hours, we’ve been here twice and thus far have found it to be an absolutely incredibly place to grab a drink and/​or dessert! We came in one evening after visiting Stella for lunch and were seated quickly by a super helpful dude working at the bar.
The patio, where we sat, is pretty legit. A fire pit with Adirondack chairs and with a half dozen booths and other lounging options. The three of us split an Affogato, a PB hot chocolate and a the great budino — their signature dessert. The vanilla gelato of the Affogato was excellent and paired really well with the bitterness of the espresso — it was like Paula Abdul was singing opposites attract in my mouth… and it was good! The PBHC was boss and something you could go at with a spoon and the Budino was excellent — really nice salted caramel in the mousse!
Our waiter was there the perfect amount, chatted with us about the area and gave us some great info things to do in the surrounding blocks. We all felt like it was an A+ effort! Based on our current frequency, we’ll be here 8 more times before the weekend is up. Well worth checking out, especially on a nice evening!

Great venue with a ton of potential (if they had better customer service). Both Halycon and their neighbor next door seem to employ kids that resemble Spicoli, who are clueless in life. They wait for you to ask them for help versus going up to you to take your food or drink order. Then of course they’ll want a tip after doing virtually nothing for you.
It’s funny, the hipsters in flannel wearing beanie hats at 80 degrees outside with waxed mustaches sit at the bar and are actively engaged in conversation with the barista/​bartender. But me, athletically dressed looking for a nice chicken salad, must wait like a peon until I go out of my way to get his attention.
Bizarre customer service here, but very cool venue. I wish them success and hope they can turn around their customer service. It appears others echo this subpar customer service sentiment.
Running a successfull restaurant business is not that hard:
1. Location (check)
2. Good Food (check)
3. Good Service (FAIL)
4. Venue (check)
5. Profit/​Correct Pricing (probably check)

It’s the kind of place where you have to flag down the waiter or waitress. That being said, the food was divine and very well priced. Beautiful location. My friends and I did our homework there after eating an amazing brunch. There are outlets, wifi and plenty of seating and couches. You can’t go wrong with a café, bar and restaurant wrapped up in one.
If you don’t mind raising hand for someone to come over the place is gold. Lol

Came in on a Sunday evening. It was busy, but not that busy to take someone’s order at the bar. Sat there for 15 minutes with their menu in front of me and no one bothered to ask if I wanted anything. Atmosphere is nice — spacious and airy, however their service is horrible and very disorganized. They charge almost $ 4 for mediocre iced coffee which is mainly just ice and 10% coffee.

Refreshing and loungy… is that even a word? Popped in for coffee and really enjoyed the open air feel. A great place to meet friends or people watch. Menu ranged from craft beers, wine and cocktails to waffle, salads and dessrts!, The surrounding area is a little iffy though, so beware. But, I’ll definitely be back!

It’s true what the reviews are saying. We tried this place regardless and learned for ourselves. Attitude and bad service from the staff. Food isn’t great and is overpriced for what you get. Only plus side is the atmosphere/​views. I’d probably skip the Unilocal review but I can’t get past employees who give attitude for no reason. It wasn’t just 1 person having a bad day or something. It seemed to exist throughout the entire staff.
Staff: For starters, a manager and kitchen worker were yelling at each other out by the side of the building. Bad move, they were only 20 ft away from the entrance. This was a weekday morning and they were maybe only at 25% capacity. Plenty of people on staff but it seemed like anyone walking in was an inconvenience to them. My girlfriend and I wanted coffee and something easy for breakfast, to go. We enter and naturally went over to the counter where the sign read «coffee and to go orders here.» The guy behind the bar redirected us over to the bar to order then had us go back to the «to go» sign to pay. Whatever. That’s fine. Maybe it’s policy. But no smiles, no helpful words, just attitude.
Food: I ordered a breakfast burrito. Nothing complicated. Eggs, potatoes, bacon, no cheese. Cost $ 8 plus change all on its own! At that price I expected a gourmet burrito of some sort but what I got was something worse than a Denny’s breakfast and cost twice as much. Bland with very little flavor. And bland salsa. AND they put cheese in it. Thanks. I’ve had much better for much less. My girlfriend ordered the overpriced oatmeal. For $ 7, you might expect something better but then again it’s oatmeal which is hard to get excited about. A girl brought out the food and set it down in front of us. No smile. No eye contact. Just a «here you go» and was on her way.
The coffee: was fine and was actually the only thing not overpriced.
The lesson: There are too many other great places in San Diego to eat at so don’t waste your time here. Come here for a drink and take in the nice downtown views on the patio but go elsewhere for service and food priced reasonable for what you get.

Pros: great set up, great place to literally just hang out, outdoor view of Downtown. Hot chocolate I ordered tasted good. They bring the drink to your seat if you order in. There appears to be a bar built in on the other side of the divider here which may bring me back to try that out.
Cons: for $ 4 plus a tip, the hot chocolate drink I got lacked in presentation. This is supposed to be a coffee bar, so I expect a $ 4 hot chocolate to look like its worth the money I paid. Compare the pics of the Mayan hot chocolate drink I got to the others here on Unilocal and you’ll see what I am talking about. They also seemed to skimp me on the cookies that comes with the drink. I literally got 2 pieces of animal crackers. Again, compare what others got on the photos section in which they got way more then I paid for.

This review is just for their coffee and s’mores! I came once when they first opened during the beginning of December and found their outdoor area to be quite relaxing and a cool place to hang out at while you’re having your caffeine fix.
They have quite the bold and strong cold brew here that’ll keep you wired all day (beware of drinking it too late into the afternoon). If you’re looking for a double whammy, there are plenty of coffee based adult concoctions as well.
With the colder weather we’ve been having lately, get your sugar fix by toasting up some marshmallows and creating your own s’mores with one of their little personal sized «bonfire» stoves. There are two sizes but a small one is enough for 2 – 3 people.
Grab a seat, sip on your beverage and chillax!

Been here about 10 times now, first time there was awesome. Hell the second and third time there were awesome.
We went in about 6 months ago and had a horrible experience with a server, left instead of spending money there. Spoke with manager and she assured me that it wasn’t status quo. Went back this week, surprise surprise same server still there.
I am still confused by the layout, are the restaurants owned by the same company? You have a great selection of taps on stella side, but asking aforementioned server if I could see a beerlist from stella while sitting at halcyon resulted in a «Uh I guess, we really aren’t supposed to, but I guess I can do it this time.» Uh another first for me, if you are the same business and you have a cozy firepit on one side, why would you want to make someone move next door to sit without heaters just so I can enjoy some beer. Lame lame lame, will not return, obviously manager’s speech to me was lip service. Not sure how you can stay open with that sort of service.

Definitely a cute loungy place. I love the whole set up. I want the same tables and chairs for my dinning room lol. Anyway… The best affrogatto (sp?) — vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso. Great view of the new park and next door to Stella public house. Entire staff super friendly, became friends, since my coworker’s and I come here often for HH.

Halcyon is hidden gem. You can be right in downtown, find decent parking and have great food while starting at the beautiful sights of San Diego right here!
It is very classy and cool without being pretentious. Halcyon is right next to Stella Public House (they share the same kitchen). Halcyon has brunch, lunch, cocktails, and coffee and a few basic smoothies while Stella Public House is more of a full service restaurant serving modern Italian fare. You can literally see from one side of the restaurant to the other lounge since they are connected.
Halycon’s brunch is basic but just enough. There is the classic chicken fried waffles, breakfast burrito, smoked salmon, fruit waffles, omelettes, salads and more.
I chose the breakfast burrito which comes with farm fresh eggs, potatoes and your choice of sausage or bacon, and cheddar. I opted for the bacon and added avo and pico (BEST CHOICE EVER!). It came out looking real pretty, but most importantly REALLY tasty. The burrito was a great size and it was complemented by black beans in a cute little skillet. The beans was amazing, and it had a smoky taste to it I could not put my hands on so I asked the server. He told me they were cooked in… wait for it… bacon fat! No wonder… anything bacon means goodness. I definitely enjoyed those.
The Nutella waffles with bananas and strawberries was pretty darn good as well. It was simple but tasty, and a pretty thing to look at. Oops, devoured.
They do have mimosas (sorry, not bottomless) at $ 4 a glass or $ 12 a carafe. The Carafe is the way to go for a group. It poured about 5 – 6 glasses.
Service was good, ambiance was good and they have nice couches and tables to sit at. ‘
Parking should be no problem. You are in the village of some unfortunate homeless people, but hey don’t mess with them and they will respect you too.
Cheers!

Pretty restaurant, great drinks, tasty food, friendly service.
The atmosphere is fresh, clean and modern, helped by the décor and the breeze streaming in from the patio.
Our server was attentive and our sandwiches were fresh, tasty and big enough for leftovers. If we’re in the neighborhood again, we’ll be sure to stop in!

Great new addition to East Village in Downtown. I’ve been trying to hit up the different coffee shops around SD (mainly for studying purposes), and this one is probably one of my favorites. I rated this just based on atmosphere and overall experience; I didn’t try the coffee or food.
I came here on a Thursday afternoon to get some work done. PERFECT environment! The open air breeze from the patio on a nice San Diego day felt tooooo nice, and the view of East Village with the Coronado Bridge in the background was amazing. Everyone seemed like they were each there for their own reason: grab a cup of coffee, catch up with a friend or two, eat, study (wifi is pretty fast too, unlike a lot of other coffee shops). Oh, and I tried the strawberry smoothie and it was decent. It’s no Jamba Juice so I wasn’t expecting a lot.
I’ll definitely come back here either to study or just chill. Maybe I’ll come back for their happy hour (3−7pm!) hehe.

A cool looking place with an art deco, mid century, palm-​springs-​y style.
Arrived here after a late-​lunch /​early-​dinner in East Village and ordered dessert and a couple of coffees — mine was a single-​origin pour over. I asked the server what was the origin of the coffee beans they were pouring today, not an unfair nor a trick question. He looked at me like I was speaking Arabic. I clarified, w-​h-​e-​r-​e w-​a-​s t-​h-​e c-​o-​f-​f-​e-​e g-​r-​o-​w-​n?
He went and checked, and the answer he came back with was San Antonio, Texas. Now, a coffee purist (or any Starbucks barista) would know this can’t be true — unless last months rainstorms were worse than I thought and Texas floated south about 1000 miles. This is because the countries that grow coffee beans are all within 1,000 miles of the equator.
I didn’t want to give him an aneurysm, so I just let it go and waited for my «San Antonio» special. It was actually pretty good — better than what you would get in most restaurants.
Anyway, soon our dessert arrived. Not from the server, but from the people that were sitting 2 tables behind us?!? What were they doing with our dessert? And how much time had elapsed since they last washed their hands???
Our interest in dessert waned.
It could have just been a geographically challenged day at Halcyon. Or was being idyllically happy and peaceful (which is by definition «halcyon») caused by perhaps «external influences»? It was about 20 past 4.
Hopefully they harness some of their potential and be who they can be.

Came here for breakfast with my friends. I ordered the peanut butter hot chocolate but unfortunately they ran out of peanut butter so they made me a Nutella hot chocolate instead. I ordered the breakfast burrito and made a lot of changes to the order to fit my liking and they did not disappoint on that front. I ordered it with bacon and sausage, no potatoes, and basil. I didn’t particularly care for the salsa. In my opinion, it was too sweet. The burrito came with a side order of black beans.
The bathroom stalls were awkwardly small. Wasn’t too happy about that. Took a little long for the food to come out after ordering.