Surfing Bear Sandwich

The sandwiches here are great! The breads are baked fresh EVERY MORNING! The ambience inside is very friendly and great for friends and family. I recommend this place to anyone who is in the area of Mission Beach. It is worth the price as their sandwiches are so good and big in portion. They have amazing smoothies, too, and a big size of açaí bowl.

Got a chipotle chicken sandwich and was not disappointed. I was unsure at first if it would be worth the $9 but honestly it was so loaded with chicken, bacon, avocado, and everything else I would happily pay $9 for it again. Easily could have made two meals out of it. Taste was fantastic. Service was pleasant and quick. Probably one of the better value spots on the block if you wanna fill up on something healthy without breaking the bank!

First of all, WTF Rubicon-Frickin'-Deli? (CAFE MAREA took over the Rubicon Deli location, and - thankfully - Rubicon's HFC-free soda fountain.) Either this is a super-tough neighborhood to run a successful quality restaurant in, or some restaurant owners need to broaden their business & MARKETING skills. This neighborhood unfortunately seems to swallow some 5-star eateries alive. First, Che Calavera (Calaveras) Argentinian Food, which had some of the best food at the entire beach area was only able to stay open for a year, and now RUBICON DELI, makers of the best sandwich in San Diego, can't keep their darn doors open? (I know that RUBICON has other locations, but c'mon, man!!) Thankfully, Miss B's, Saskas & Guava Beach (all amazing 5-star restaurants) all seem to be standing strong (all in the immediate area). And now, for this CAFE MAREA spot... Meh. I've had one of their "The Basic" breakfast sandwiches. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't PHENOMenal, like a Rubicon sandwich. Decent bagel, decent egg, decent cheese, decent (but not incredible) bacon. It was better than any of the garbage non-vegan breakfasts down the road near Belmont Park, but it was a little dinky. I mention "non-vegan" because NoW Cafe near Belmont Park has some vegan breakfast toasts & acai bowls that are OFF... THE... FRICKIN'... CHAIN. I've also ordered one of CAFE MAREA'S ITALIAN SANDWICHES. My complaint is with what CAFE MAREA is doing with their pricing. "Soft" opening... "hard" opening... My girlfriend seems to care about soft or hard, but I don't know the difference... As far as I'm concerned, if you're taking my money & giving me something in exchange for it, then you are OPEN... FOR... BUSINESS. "The Basic" breakfast sandwich started at $7. That's fair. I'll pay it. I'll take my Mi scooter from South Mission up a few times a week to grab one for breakfast, and maybe order one for delivery, once in a while... at that FAIR $7 price, even though - considering its size - I'll be hungry for lunch, not long after. It's cool. It's seven bucks. Now, Nick (Owner, CAFE MAREA) raised the price of that same item to $8, and now to $9 on delivery services (for which I, as the customer, still have to pay a separate delivery fee and a separate tip to the driver). When I called to inquire about the price increase, Nick attributed it to his adding avocado (Yuck!! Why not add seagull poop instead?) & cream cheese to the sandwich, but he says I'll still have to pay $8/$9, even if I order it without the avo-nasty-cado. Nick also told me "that's what everyone does" (charging higher prices for food via delivery than if the SAME EXACT FOOD, SAME EXACT PORTION is ordered IN STORE). I told Nick that he's wrong. And he is. - Miss B's Breakfast Sandwich, in store: $14 - Miss B's Breakfast Sandwich, Uber Eats: $14 - Miss B's Breakfast Burrito, in store: $15 - Miss B's Breakfast Burrito, Uber Eats: $15 - Guava Beach BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, in store: $12 - Guava Beach BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, Uber Eats: $12 That's NOT what "everyone else does". It's what YOU are doing, Nick. Well, Mike S, you're being unfair... the items you listed are up to $7 more expensive than Nick's breakfast sandwich! Yeah, they're also PHENOMenal and large enough portions to fill me - a big boy - up until dinner time. Rubicon Deli also... I used to be able to eat half of their large sandwiches for lunch, and the other half would be my dinner. That's definitely NOT going to happen with the small size of these CAFE MAREA bagel sandwiches. Some people might call me crazy for flipping out over a $2 price increase (and that's their right), but - to me - the $2 price increase is indicative of a problem... it represents more than "just two bucks". My problem is with restaurant owners coming into MY neighborhood and trying to exploit the tourists with overly-expensive, mediocre food, especially small portions of it! When the price of an item has increased by 30% in less than 60 days of business, for ANY reason, I see a red flag. Google character limit exceeded. See the rest of my review on Yelp!