Safari Coffee Roasters

You can smell the beans from the parking lot. Safari Coffee in Escondido is small, cramped, and run by an owner named Marc who roasts on-site and recognizes longtime regulars by sight. The storefront has a couple of tables and not much room to spread out. The decor is solid and the music is good. None of that matters, because nobody is settling in. There's no wifi. No public restroom. Almost no seating. The shop is built around the beans and the espresso bar, and the rest of the room is just where you stand while you wait for your drink. The dirty chai is what people order first, often before they've even looked at the menu. Dancing Bear is the house bean line, and home espresso machine owners come in for fresh bags weekly. White elephant cold coffee has its small loyal fan club. The mudslide moves on hot days. House-made cookies and breads round out the counter, sitting next to whatever Marc happens to have baked that morning. Talk to him if he's there. The bean recommendations are part of the service, and he'll happily tell you what's just come off the roaster and what's about to be replaced. A few things to know before you go. Don't show up before eight in the morning expecting the door to be open, because more than one early visitor has found it still locked at that hour. Don't bring a laptop. Don't plan to stay. Come for the beans, talk to Marc, drink your coffee, and go. That's how the regulars do it, and it's how the shop has stayed itself for as long as it has. If you wanted a third-place sit-down cafe, this isn't that. If you wanted a roaster who cares about every bag he sells, you found one.