Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Going back to Mystic Mocha for the muffins

A longtime neighborhood favorite known for distinctive pastries

Vegan blueberry cherry muffin and chocolate chip cookie balls
Vegan blueberry cherry muffin and chocolate chip cookie balls

Once upon a time I lived in University Heights, less than a block from the truncated corner where Mission Avenue crosses Alabama Street at an odd angle. That’s how I came to know about Mystic Mocha. The triangular café sits on a street that’s useful to people who live in the neighborhood, so it’s easy to miss. Since I left the neighborhood, I’ve nearly forgotten about it myself.

Place

Mystic Mocha

2105 Mission Avenue, San Diego

But there it stood, mostly as I remembered. It’s been painted bright orange with large, green window frames and a simple tile pattern running across the top like a decorative headband. The place has more charm than square footage, but the narrow space fits more customers than you’d think. My favorite upgrade regards the outdoor seating. There’s gads of it now, both bistro and picnic tables, occasionally umbrellaed for shade.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A case of strawberry cherry ginger muffins

It wasn’t really nostalgia that brought me back a couple recent mornings, but pastries. There’s a full menu of hot breakfast dishes, but when I lived close by, I would visit Mystic Mocha mainly for the muffins. In a great way, this place goes a little nuts with their muffins. A lot of coffee shops offer a muffin variety, but they tend to serve the same options day in, day out. Likely blueberry, bran, maybe chocolate chip for the kids. But here you never know what kind of muffins the bakers would have out, arranged on a display platter. They change it up darn near every day, depending on seasonal ingredients, or whim, and often as not they’d be intriguing enough to sell out. There might be caramel apple, peach blueberry pecan, or sweet potato coconut. Strawberry chocolate chip could be a winner every day, but then we might miss out on the joy of blueberry raspberry chocolate.

Scones and cookies added to the Mystic repertoire.

Returning now, the first thing I notice is the muffins now sit behind a glass case. Some had been replaced by scones and cookies. The muffin creativity clearly carried over to the walnut fig scones. And to the almost spherical chocolate chip, peanut butter, and walnut cookies. The muffins are smaller than I recall, but still unique. I picked out a cherry and candied ginger and, as I have many times before, enjoyed the novelty and the experience.

Candied ginger and cherry muffin in a triangle shaped coffee shop

There are vegan muffins now (if there were then, I’m sure my brain filtered them out). I try one loaded with blueberries and cherries, and don’t regret the difference. Likewise with the gluten-free cookies. Oh yeah, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to order cookies? I tried regular and gluten-free versions, and for a minute there, I forgot which was which.

In short, I left asking myself the same question as all those years ago. What will they bake next?

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Vegan blueberry cherry muffin and chocolate chip cookie balls
Vegan blueberry cherry muffin and chocolate chip cookie balls

Once upon a time I lived in University Heights, less than a block from the truncated corner where Mission Avenue crosses Alabama Street at an odd angle. That’s how I came to know about Mystic Mocha. The triangular café sits on a street that’s useful to people who live in the neighborhood, so it’s easy to miss. Since I left the neighborhood, I’ve nearly forgotten about it myself.

Place

Mystic Mocha

2105 Mission Avenue, San Diego

But there it stood, mostly as I remembered. It’s been painted bright orange with large, green window frames and a simple tile pattern running across the top like a decorative headband. The place has more charm than square footage, but the narrow space fits more customers than you’d think. My favorite upgrade regards the outdoor seating. There’s gads of it now, both bistro and picnic tables, occasionally umbrellaed for shade.

Sponsored
Sponsored
A case of strawberry cherry ginger muffins

It wasn’t really nostalgia that brought me back a couple recent mornings, but pastries. There’s a full menu of hot breakfast dishes, but when I lived close by, I would visit Mystic Mocha mainly for the muffins. In a great way, this place goes a little nuts with their muffins. A lot of coffee shops offer a muffin variety, but they tend to serve the same options day in, day out. Likely blueberry, bran, maybe chocolate chip for the kids. But here you never know what kind of muffins the bakers would have out, arranged on a display platter. They change it up darn near every day, depending on seasonal ingredients, or whim, and often as not they’d be intriguing enough to sell out. There might be caramel apple, peach blueberry pecan, or sweet potato coconut. Strawberry chocolate chip could be a winner every day, but then we might miss out on the joy of blueberry raspberry chocolate.

Scones and cookies added to the Mystic repertoire.

Returning now, the first thing I notice is the muffins now sit behind a glass case. Some had been replaced by scones and cookies. The muffin creativity clearly carried over to the walnut fig scones. And to the almost spherical chocolate chip, peanut butter, and walnut cookies. The muffins are smaller than I recall, but still unique. I picked out a cherry and candied ginger and, as I have many times before, enjoyed the novelty and the experience.

Candied ginger and cherry muffin in a triangle shaped coffee shop

There are vegan muffins now (if there were then, I’m sure my brain filtered them out). I try one loaded with blueberries and cherries, and don’t regret the difference. Likewise with the gluten-free cookies. Oh yeah, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to order cookies? I tried regular and gluten-free versions, and for a minute there, I forgot which was which.

In short, I left asking myself the same question as all those years ago. What will they bake next?

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.