Intermezzo Espresso

If you’re coming for wifi… don’t. After making my food purchase, figured out the wifi wasn’t even working. They blamed it on the weather, and as I was leaving I could see the owner surfing his private internet connection. Staff is really cool though.

Absolutely love this place. That have really great breakfast burritos. They use a smaller tortilla that your usual burrito so if you’re not looking to eat a massive burrito it’s a good choice to go with for breakfast. Their breakfast plate is really good as well and for lunch I highly recommend their Caesar salad wrap. Service is always awesome. I great alternative to support your local business rather than going to Starbucks around the corner :)

Just finished the breakfast plate, a (very) small cup of OJ from concentrate, Mexican mocha which only comes as a large — 14 bucks.
Food was not good. Prepared some time earlier and heated up to a touch above room temperature. Bacon quite thin. Potatoes from a package. Eggs reminiscent of powder. The toast was promising but a bit more on the well-​done side for my taste. Luckily I was famished
Mocha was soso, just tastes like a lot of cocoa and cinnamon.
Service was par.
Wanted to try something new, saw four stars, but its just another mediocre San Diego eatery. Would have 3 stars but the food really disappointed

I love love love this place! They have breakfast and lunch plates, not just coffee shop food. The menu items are healthy, well priced ($ 6 breakfast, $ 7 lunch) and regular sized. Also, the coffee is fantastic and the staff is on top of it even with all their tasks!
I came in with a Starbucks cup and received not even a bad look. I don’t think the owner was here, but no one was upset that I preferred a peppermint mocha :)

Nice place to have a breakfast. But not really something you’d want to intentionally visit. I just found this nearest to a place where I just had an exam so I just wanted to try.

Alright so this café is tucked in the corner but def worth trying to find. I feel like a lot of people go to the Starbucks on the other side because they don’t know about this place. Honestly, this is the best café ever if you’re looking for that everyday coffee shop feel. They have great food too! Try their brownies or lemon bars!!! Or don’t because you will get hooked! I work right across the street so on Friday’s I treat myself to their breakfast burritos! Oh my god seriously the best ever and it doesn’t feel greasy or anything.
Try this one!!!

A nice alternative to Starbucks. Staff is nice, free wifi, and comfortable seating area.

I love this place! I only Unilocal about Unilocal worthy places. Went on a recent trip to San Diego and happened upon this great café. I had the veggie sandwich which was fresh and soo tasty! Long time family owned business which I love. A long list of food and drinks to order. Starbucks has nothing on this place!

I love supporting the small coffee shops, but this one is just OK for me. It’s annoying that there aren’t many small coffee shops in the Mission Valley area. In any case, this is one in the area and it’s just OK.
I visited twice and I do appreciate their breakfast and lunch menu but it’s a little expensive. I’ve had the egg and cheese with no meat on a croissant and it was over $ 5! They charged me the same price as with meat (really, not even a small price break for a non meat sandwich). Also, a small coffee is over $ 2! The sandwich itself wasn’t that good. I’ve also had a plain bagel here which is standard They do have a good selection of coffees, espresso drinks and smoothies.
All in all it’s an OK place and it works if you want to support a local business, but I’ve been to better local coffee shops, too bad they’re not in the area.

This morning I had 40 minutes before work, and I didn’t want to eat my breakfast alone at a restaurant or in my car so I decided to go to a café. As I pulled up to Starbucks I saw this little cute café and I got nostalgic about my own days as a barista in a local coffee shop back home, so I decided to stop in. When I walked in I realized they have a fully functional kitchen so I ordered a burrito and a mocha. Because the only good mochas ever come out of local small cafes I was not only served a great mocha but also my burrito was delicious. If u want to try a good café that will not disappoint definitely check out intermezzo. I will be returning soon!

The owner is a complete jerk! He yelled at my business partner and I because I had a Starbucks cup with me. My partner had consumed several cups of coffee there before I arrived with my iced tea from Starbucks. This guy came out of his office like a caged lion, he was yelling, screaming and swinging his arms like a mad man. Let’s just say that I will never step foot in there again. This guy was out of his mind! He could have approached us in a different manner and we completely would have understood his reasoning, but he didn’t even let us talk.
Please don’t go there! The coffee is subpar and the owner doesn’t deserve our money.

I really wanted to like this place because I prefer frequent local business, rather than big corporate money-​makers like Starbucks. With that said, the coffee (I had an iced vanilla latte), was mediocre at best. I also had a croissant and was saddened at how dry it was – almost as if it were day-​old, but I was here at 10:00 AM.
If Starbucks (which I try to avoid) happens to have a long line, I may consider coming back – but otherwise I think I will not return. Sorry :(

Update: it an attempt to appease me (the girl saw I had not touched my sandwich and asked how everything was, and I told her) they brought a breakfast burrito, claiming «they’re real good.»
Long story short, it was meh. Stuffed with room temp potatoes (filler) and maybe 1 slice of bacon, if that… seriously?! Not to mention that it was not much longer than my finger… wtf? Well, at least they tried… still, no more eats for me. Starbucks is just down the way and 100% better. Rather support mom & pop, so I’ll still get coffee here but no more food :(

Price $$
Quality: 3.5 stars
Service: 4 stars
Value: 3.5 stars
Portions: average
Based on a cup of latte and a bakery item, this place is an ok coffee/​breakfast/​lunch café. Wanted to try a different place rather than Starbucks. There must be something at this place that people like because people were constantly coming in.

Unique place to get a nice espresso beverage or a smoothie. They had advertised a special on a green smoothie which included green tea and kale. I decided to give it a shot, since I needed to get my cleansing routine jumpstarted. While I waited for my drink, I noticed this place seemed very accommodating with its design. My experience felt like I was a guest in someone’s home. I noticed warm color accents and seats with nice padded cushions as a token of welcome. It was nice to know that this place was not swamped with people trying to suck up the wi-​fi signal strength (hint hint: Starbucks). My drink tasted very fresh and I felt as if my body felt energized to continue through the day.

Stopped in today on our way to the beach and got to meet Ken (the owner) who was absolutely fantastic! Stood and chatted with him for a few minutes as I sipped on my yummy Mexican Mocha! Although I didn’t get any food, there was a ton of delicious sounding options. Breakfast burritos, jalapeño popper grilled cheese, spinach mushroom quiche!
I would highly recommend skipping over the Starbucks on the corner and stopping at Intermezzo instead!

I have been coming here for many years, and IC deserves 5 stars. I used to eat the delicious scones, but switched to scrambled egg and English muffin to lose weight. Now, I always have the homemade oatmeal for breakfast, with a double soy latte. The baristas are friendly and know that I like the rest of the hot soy milk and foam poured over my oatmeal. For lunch I always have the veggie burger. The bread, muffins and scones are baked right here, so they are always fresh. Skip the nearby Starbucks and go to IC for better coffee and food. Hey, I own stock in SB but I’m not a huge fan except when I’m on the road. IC is family owned, and friendly.

Went in here to get an iced tea. I was just thirsty. I saw on their menu that they had passion fruit iced tea. I got a large which costs me only $ 2.45. Great deal for a large passion fruit iced tea. It was good. She put a good amount of ice.
Too bad I did not try any of the food items on the menu. I did not want to spoil my appetite. They had a wide variety of sandwiches and drinks. The also had dessert if you happen to crave something sweet. Maybe next time I will sample something from the menu.
This place is good for breakfast and brunch. Right after I got my passion fruit iced tea, they were closing in about 15 minutes. I think they close around 2 pm. I think I came in the nick of time before they closed. There was seating inside as well as outside this place. Very cool place to just hang out. I will have to come back for the food items.

In want (not need) of my daily coffee, and decided to search for a coffee place that was outside of the normal chain stores.
Intermezzo came up in my Unilocal search — which I remembered passing by this place on numerous occasions, but was «afraid» to step outside the chain-​lures of Starbucks and CoffeeBean. *silly me, I know*
To the point, I’m so glad that I stepped out of the chain-​comfort-​zone syndrome.
Intermezzo has:
— friendly service
— competitive pricing
— a variety of tempting pastries/​desserts to satisfy most any cravings
— a nice menu board that displays scrumptious breakfast and lunch foods — which breakfast is served all day (¡score!)
— from what I can see, a small listing of coffee (and tea) specialties to choose from; but no doubt you are free to request of them to make your usual that’s not on the menu (if they will or not, is another story)
Coffee chosen:
I chose just a Caffé Mocha — and wow it was the BEST cm that I’ve ever had… not at all boring in taste. I’m not sure what kind of espresso beans (or mocha powder mix) they use, but wow…
Pastry chosen:
Pumpkin muffin — Not my norm choice, but once again so glad I had stepped out of my blueberry muffin/​scone comfort zone. It was soooo GOOD. It didn’t have that store-​commercial-​processed taste or texture to it. They use real pumpkin flesh/​ingredients. .and the nutmeg and other spices stood out. the texture is amazing. If I were at home I would’ve put the muffin wrapper to my teeth to scrape off the remaining yummy bits.
To wrap up this way-​too-​long-​of-​a-​review, I’ll end this to say «Heeellooo mom ‘n pop Intermezzo, and good by Star’ and ‘Bean.»

I would give their sandwiches and drinks an A+
However, the desserts are hit or miss in regards to their freshness.