Winchells

I had the maple bar which was so-so. But the breakfast sandwiches are amazing!! You get a huge bagel packed with eggs, bacon and cheese for only $6! This is definitely my new spot for breakfast sandwiches. Really a great spot for a quick bite to eat near the Harbor. Friendly fast service as well. Also love that they're open 24 hours 🍩🥯

I’m not a writer but this is my love letter to Winchell's Coffee shop. What is the telos of a coffee shop? I wasted what felt like 15 perfectly good minutes researching cafes I could bunker down in in San Diego. I looked at ratings and compared menus and prices. Because with the advent of rating technology, people (like me) somehow feel entitled to 5 star experience every time or they feel like they’ve been robbed. I’m currently situated in a corner at Winchell’s. I’m looking across the street at the hip coffee place - Better Buzzed Coffee (BBC)- that I had stepped into when I first embarked on my search for a coffee haven. It’s almost 5 stars. It’s gorgeous from the outside and when you step inside the hipness of it all practically punches you in the face. But the novelty wears off quickly when I realize it’s far too crowded, and the music blares overhead through cheap speakers making my head spin. I want out. Diametrically opposed to the BBC is Winchell’s. It’s the sadder, older brother of coffee establishments in this neighborhood. The weathered Eeyore to the bouncy Tigger. The lesser known (and loved) sibling. And yet as soon as I step inside, I find the feeling I’ve been searching for all day. The air is cool and donut-y, it’s quiet except for the chatter of employees in the back and heaving of the machines, and all of this assures me that I can finally rest for the next few hours in this coffee sanctuary. Sure, the wait was long and the donut is stale. But I got to watch the doggy in the tattoo parlor next door. A cute boy walked past the window and we made eye contact for slightly too long (delusional? maybe). No one is in here except for me and I can finally stop sucking in my belly after being around people all day. No one at a Winchell’s is going to judge me for getting a donut even though I look like I shouldn’t or for lacking a sense of fashion. Why am I writing such a long review for an ordinary coffee shack? It’s my love letter to moments like these. And while BBC stares seductively at me from across the street, I know that I chose right. Because sometimes you don’t want hotter or cooler, you just want predictable and reliable. The Winchell’s donut is reliably stale. It’s reliably empty and understaffed. It’s reliably imperfect. But I’m reliably imperfect. Winchell’s understands me in a way BBC can’t, you know? So that’s why my rating of Winchell’s is 5/5.