E.S.B. Cafe

Where Herb & Sea is working the room with bone marrow and chandeliers, E.S.B. Cafe is working a window — and somehow pulling just as much loyalty from the neighborhood. That's the whole point. This is a one-person operation where Yessi takes your order, makes your drink, and bakes the banana bread herself. That direct line between the person who cares about the coffee and the person handing it to you is rarer than it sounds, and you feel it immediately.

The menu leans into homemade flavors that you won't find at the chains lining the 5 corridor. The Mazapán cold brew — yes, mazapán, the Mexican peanut candy — is genuinely inventive and genuinely delicious, the kind of drink that makes you text someone about it before you've finished the cup. The horchata latte has the same energy: familiar enough to trust, distinct enough to remember. For a coast town that runs on breakfast and caffeine, this is the move if you want something that didn't come out of a flavor pump.

The baked goods are worth the stop on their own. Fresh banana bread, made in-house, is the kind of thing that disappears fast — get there early if you're serious about it.

Practically speaking: this is a stand, not a sit-down spot, so adjust your expectations accordingly. It's right off the interstate, which makes it a legitimate contender for your pre-San Diego or post-beach pit stop. Waits are short because service is fast and personal. Prices are fair — reviewers specifically called out the value, which in this part of the coast means something.

For Encinitas locals who've cycled through every coffee option on the boulevard, E.S.B. is the one that keeps pulling people back — not because of the aesthetic, but because Yessi actually remembers how you take it.