Little Lion Cafe

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Little Lion Cafe

Little Lion Cafe is a café located in San Diego's beautiful Ocean Beach, right next to the Sunset Cliffs. The restaurant offers Mother's Day brunch reservations as well as a pick-up option featuring their famous Bubbles Basket and Antipasti platter for 4-6 people. In addition, they offer take-home dinner menus for a memorable weekend meal. Enjoy delicious food with stunning views!
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Recent social media posts

09/23/2026

News + Menus!

Dear Friends,

Most of you, I’m sure, are pretty hip, so you already know what I’m about to tell you. But bear with me for a bit because I think this is pretty cool. For about 20 years now, there has been a popular drink from Italy known as the Hugo Spritz. It’s made with prosecco and elderflower liqueur. Google isn’t telling me why it’s named Hugo, but it’s a name that makes us smile because of our Hugo, a sweet young man who used to work at Little Lion. All the cool kids drink Hugo Spritzes now, which I guess is why I didn’t know about it, but you probably do.

You might have noticed that Little Lion offers a drink called the Claudette Spritz. It’s slightly different from the original Hugo, but it’s very close, kind of like siblings. So it just made sense to name the Little Lion spritz after Claudette, because she is Hugo’s sister.

Cute, huh.

But I suppose I should point out that Claudette is also THAT Claudette. Our homegrown celebrity chef, our badass Top Chef winner, our dear friend with a heart of oro, Claudette Zepeda.

We were lucky to attend a private gathering where Claudette had us all enthralled with stories of how her recently published cookbook, Cooking the Borderlands, came to be. (Even if you don’t cook, you should go buy this book. It’s so much more than a collection of recipes. It is the story of our border region, the story of the food that is the heart of our part of the world, the story of a border girl who grew up to beautifully showcase the food of her culture on the international stage. It is also just bonkersly beautiful to look at. You can pick up your copy from our friends at the wonderful Roseville Books.)

Continues in comments.

09/17/2026

News & Menus!

Dear Friends,

Let’s get this on the table right away. We are not anti-tourists. We love tourists. We have so much fun learning where everyone is from. Really now, where would we all be in this town without tourists? Tourism is, after all, the second largest sector in the San Diego economy, just behind the military. All those people from Arizona are helping us to keep the lights on.

All that being said, it’s nice to have a little breather. It’s nice to have a little more room in between the tables. And it’s nice to be able to focus on our friends and neighbors for a while before the holidays move in. So, besties, this is your time to come hang out at Little Lion.

And for all of my fellow introverts out there who might not always feel like coming in, you can always order the Friday Take Home Dinner (important note: Anne-Marie is making meatballs this week) or the Monday Meal Service.

If you’re in the Little Lion Wine Club, you’ll know that Deirdre has released the latest edition (Italian this time). These will be the wines featured at the next wine dinner. Stay tuned for the date and keep your reservation finger ready.

That’s our news for this week. Hope to see you all soon.

Gratefully yours,
The Little Lions
(and Mom)

09/08/2026

News + Menus…

Dear Friends,

Heads up. After a couple of weeks of short letters because of [gestures widely] life, we’re going to be a little chatty today. So if you’re just here for the menus (fair, I get it) proceed on over to the menu section now. You eagle-eyed regulars may notice that the Aperitivo menu is slightly different—Anne-Marie cooks with the seasons, even if it feels like endless summer around these parts.

Now, on to the subject for the day: chain restaurants. I just spent 5 days in a mid-sized city in a western state. Everything was either new and shiny, or it was still under construction. Even on the shortest drives, I would pass by large swaths of house farms that spread out into what used to be a high desert prairie. I googled it—this town was, in fact, the fastest growing spot in its state and oh boy was that ever obvious.

My hotel, which could not have been more than 6 or 7 years old, was on the edge of all this activity, so it was a bit more established. There must have been about 20 restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. (I’m using “walking” here loosely because the area seemed to be designed only for cars.) Every single one of those restaurants was a national chain. It reminded me of that Sylvester Stallone movie from the ‘90s, Demolition Man. He awakens in the future and is shocked to learn that every single restaurant is a Taco Bell. Sandra Bullock explains that that’s because “Taco Bell was the only restaurant to survive the franchise war of 2032.” This town made me feel like we were in the early skirmishes of this war.

Continues in comments…

08/19/2026

News + Menus

Dear Friends,

Most kids in San Diego are back in school, but summer is still hanging on at Little Lion, so no need to put the espadrilles away just yet. We still have special summery snacks on offer from 3:00-5:00 on Thursdays through Saturdays. Anne-Marie has also added a special Aperitivo Hour(s) menu for that time. Our sweet friend Katie snapped this picture at her recent afternoon visit to the café. It’s a special time to come in. It’s not busy and the sunset-watching traffic hasn’t started yet. And you can be home with time to watch a whole movie, if that’s your thing, without falling asleep on the couch before the good parts.

Speaking of espadrilles (as one does), the wines for the upcoming Wine Dinner will be coming from the south of France and Anne-Marie has designed the menu accordingly. More details (the menu and wine notes) will be out soon, but you can reserve your spot now. The dinner will be on September 6 at 6:00; $150 per person, $125 for wine club members. As you know, these are intimate dinners (read: the limited seats fill up fast) so reserving sooner rather than later is always a good idea.

That’s our news for this week. We hope to see you all soon.

Gratefully yours,
The Little Lions
(and Mom)

08/13/2026

Menus & News!!!

A tourist came in on Saturday night after sunset. He stood at the front counter and looked a little perplexed. He said to Monica, “I’m a little confused. I googled you and got the impression that you were a coffee shop.” He gestured to everyone who was seated in the dining room having complete dinners and then sheepishly asked, “can I just get a cup of coffee?” Of course Monica took great care of him and he was able to get his latte with a vanilla shot and be on his way.

I found that a little amusing, because usually I hear that people think that Little Lion is just a restaurant, with no real coffee service. But, I can see why people get confused. Just look at all the menus that are included here. It’s hard to keep track of all the ways Anne-Marie has found to accommodate all the ways that people might want to eat and drink in this far flung corner of OB.

Our theme for today, however, is kids. For one thing, Anne-Marie is tweaking the kids menu that is new for Friday night. We’ve got the crayons and coloring sheets covered, but she’s working on other aspects of the experience. So if you have little ones in your world, be sure to come in and have dinner with them. Especially with school back in session, you’ll be worn out by Friday so let the Little Lions do the cooking for you.

And second, speaking of the new school year, yesterday, right after drop off for the first day, the restaurant was filled with mothers who had come together to mark the occasion. Fortunately, it coincided with one of our roving Mimosa Mondays. Congrats, Moms. You made it through summer.

And last but not least, we have a very special kid to introduce you to—Anne-Marie’s son Griffin, Little Lion’s newest busboy. I have to admit his grandfather (who happens to be the one training him) and I and his mother and aunties weren’t sure how he was going to do, but he took to it like a duck to water. Could it be in his blood? He is, after all, the fifth generation of this family to put on an apron and get to work.

And if I said that I don’t get a little choked up thinking about that and looking at his picture, I’d be growing Pinocchio’s nose for sure.

This just in: the next wine dinner will be on Sunday, September 6, so save that date. The actual reservation link will be up soon. We’ll remind you, don’t worry. The wines will be from southern France. $150 per person, $125 for current wine club members. More info on this to come.

And that’s our news for this week. We hope to see you all soon!

Gratefully yours,
The Little Lions
(and Mom)

08/08/2026

Would it even be “back-to-school” without mimosas?! That’s what we thought. 🤓

Stop by Monday for a $9 mimosa and some delicious food!

08/05/2026

News & Menus!

Dear Friends,

I’m in a sticky spot. I want to tell you all about the wine dinner that Little Lion just had on Sunday, but I don’t want you to feel left out if you couldn’t make it, because hoo boy it was really special and you really should have been there. I just know that some day in the future we’re going to be sitting around a table reminiscing and someone is going to say, “remember when we used to have wine dinners in the alley,” and we’re all going to sigh wistfully, and then someone else will say, “that was so much fun.”

Because it was fun. And something a little different from what Anne-Marie and the Little Lions usually do. I hope that everyone who came felt like it was going to Anne-Marie’s house for dinner—if she just happened to have a sommelier staying at her house and Deirdre and Guilia came by to pour the wine.

Not to worry if you missed this one. They will be doing more of them. Anne-Marie already has some ideas. So watch for announcements here and on Instagram for the next date.

The other hoo-boy-that-is-special thing that happened this week is the video that San Diego Magazine posted on Instagram. In it, Troy Johnson tells the story of Anne-Marie’s Belgian great-grandmother—for whom Anne-Marie is named, btw—and how she wanted to be a chef before that was a career option for women in those days. It also tells the story of how Anne-Marie has wanted to be a chef since she was 4 years old. (Pretty sure it was even before that; she practically came out of the womb with a whisk in her hand.) I do hope that link works for you. If you’re not already on Instagram, it’s worth signing up for an account to see it.

The last thing to tell you about from this week isn’t so much special—it’s just sweet. A young woman passed out at Little Lion on Saturday morning. (This darn heat can go away any time now.) The staff dropped everything and came to her aid. She came to and was fine, except for being a bit embarrassed by all the attention. Once she was better, she thanked everyone for helping her, and then said, “well, if I were to write a review of your place, I’d be sure to mention that it’s a nice place to pass out in.” Now that is high praise.

Our menu options keep growing. Don’t forget that we now have a kids’ menu on Friday nights. We even have crayons and coloring sheets that Anne-Marie’s daughter Winona made. Yes, this is an all-hands-on deck family operation around here, even if you’re only 9 years old. The Aperitivo Hour(s) on Thursday through Saturday is gaining some fans, so be sure to check that out.

That’s our news for this week. Friendly reminder that Little Lion has house made pastries out every day and everyone on the front-of-house staff has deep barista experience. Our coffee beans come from the beloved Cafe Moto. So if breakfast or lunch doesn’t fit into your schedule, you can always pop in for a great cup of coffee and something sweet.

Hope to see you all soon!

Gratefully yours,
The Little Lions
(and Mom)

07/22/2026

News + Menus!

Dear Friends,

Anne-Marie’s grandfather Don wrote a monthly newsletter for the Belgian Lion for many years. He called it “The Roar.” It was a real labor of love. Don wrote it on his first-edition Macintosh computer, with input from grandmother Arlene. I was working as a textbook editor at the time, so I did the proofing and some light editing—after it had been printed on Don’s fancy dot matrix printer, which we all marveled at when he first bought it. I was paid with a glass or two of really good wine, which I drank while I read the newsletter at their kitchen table. Nice work if you can get it!

And even though I’ve been sending this weekly Little Lion missive for quite some time now, I’d pretty much forgotten about “The Roar,” until this week when Larry, a longtime friend and customer, told Jim that he’d saved every single one and still referred to them from time to time.

Friends. To say that I was gobsmacked to hear that someone still had them would be an enormous understatement. I was floored.

I remembered that I’d once seen a binder labeled Newsletters at Don and Arlene’s house, so I went over to get it. My plan had been to peruse it and pass on some of its pearls of wisdom in today’s newsletter.

Well. That was a good plan, but impossible to execute, because the minute I opened the binder the waterworks started and I didn’t think there was any way I could get it together enough to find something pertinent to share today.

I must’ve had a little angel sitting on my shoulder (most likely Arlene) because as I was closing the binder, I saw that the page I’d opened to was the newsletter from this date in 1989. July 21st happens to be Belgian Independence Day, and Don and Arlene made a special dinner to commemorate the day.

That’s all I can say about all of that for now. I’m flooded with memories and I have to go find some more tissues. I remember that dinner very well—two of Jim’s sisters and I dressed in the Belgian flag colors. (I was yellow, Michele was red, and Dona was black.) That feels like a million years ago, which is weird, because it also feels like a few days ago.

I will probably have more to say about The Roar’s contents in the coming weeks. Maybe I’ll try to incorporate some of Don’s topics. The man could make a trip to Chinos Vegetable Stand sound like something out of a movie.

Special note about this week’s Friday Take Home Dinner: Anne-Marie designed it so you could take it with you to the Point Loma Summer Concert. Just let them know when you pick it up that you need utensils and napkins.

And that’s our news for this week. See you all soon.

Gratefully yours,
The Little Lions
(and Mom)

07/15/2026

News & Menus!

Dear Friends,

Some might say it’s lazy to take a screenshot of an Instagram post and put it in your newsletter, and some might have a point. But, let me tell you how fun it is to see Little Lion show up in the wild like this, especially when it’s by someone we don’t even know. I mean, it’s not like this is from Anne-Marie’s favorite teacher at St. Didacus who is proud of what her former student has accomplished. This is from worthitbyarce and I swear, we have no idea who that is! So, thank you, worthitbyarce, for the tip of the hat.

I also contend that it just makes sense to repost such beautiful photography, especially when the Communications Department (me) could never pull off such a shot. And how about that tag line: tiny place, HUGE impression! I might buy some business cards and stationery (remember those, they’re on this old weird substance called paper) just so I could put that line on it.

Little Lion
Tiny Place, Huge Impression

I’m so happy you liked your breakfast, worthitbyarce. But just like I could never pick a favorite child, I have to point out to you that you now must try a Little Lion dinner. I can’t explain it, nor do I have any idea why this should be so, but dinner at Little Lion has a completely different vibe from the day time. Not better. Just different. Our part of OB/Point Loma pretty much rolls up the sidewalks after 6:00 (or at least after sunset in the summer) but there’s a tiny little hive of activity in our little cinderblock building. I hope you all give it a try if you haven’t already.

What else is happening in the kitchen? Anne-Marie is on a baking tear. Holy moly, the flour is flying in her back corner of the kitchen. I highly recommend you call upon your inner Scandinavian and come in mid-afternoon for a cup of coffee and a sweet treat. The Swedes call it Fika. Next to Erling Haaland, that is one of the best things to come out of the Nordics. Try it! (Of course, you can have one of Anne-Marie’s pastries any time of day. There’s no clock when it comes to cake. Hey. I might put that on the stationery too.)

Gratefully yours,
The Little Lions
(and Mom)

07/04/2026

Happy 4th of July! Be safe, and we’ll see you tomorrow at 8am!

07/01/2026

Very big and special happy birthday to the woman who writes our newsletter, also known as Mom! We would be lost with out her!

06/30/2026

News & Menus!

Dear Friends,

No time to be chit chatty today because, to be honest, the Little Lion Communications Department is already functioning solely on Holiday Brain.

Here’s what you need to know:
Little Lion will be closed on July 4th.
Friday’s Take Home Dinner includes many Food for the Fourth favorites. Feel free to stock up for the big day, as all of these items will hold well.
The Take Home Dinner also includes a beautiful flag cake to share with your friends and family.

That’s our very limited but important news for this week. If we don’t see you before the 4th, have a great holiday.

Gratefully yours,
The Little Lions

(and Mom)

Address

1424 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard
San Diego, CA
92107

If you are planning to visit a café on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego, there are several ways to get there.

Using public transportation, you can take the bus or trolley and get off at the nearest stop. From there, you would need to walk for a few minutes to reach your destination.

Alternatively, if you are driving, it is recommended to use a GPS or map to navigate your way. There may be availability of street parking or paid parking lots nearby the café location.

Remember to obey traffic laws and be aware of pedestrians while driving.

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 2pm
Wednesday	9am - 2pm
Thursday	9am - 2pm
Friday	9am - 2pm
Saturday	9am - 2pm
Sunday	9am - 2pm

Website

http://Thelittlelioncafe.com/

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What people say

Little Lion Cafe, located on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in San Diego, is a must-visit cafe for anyone looking for a delicious meal in a beautiful setting. The cafe is situated next to the world-famous Sunset Cliffs, providing breathtaking views while you enjoy your meal. Little Lion Cafe offers a variety of dishes that are sure to satisfy any palate. Their handmade gnocchi and Anne-Marie's Famous Meatballs are highly recommended and are sure to leave you wanting more. In addition to their regular menu, Little Lion Cafe also offers a Monday Meal Service with amazing ingredients in each dish. The cafe recently announced their Le Petit Vibe summer series, which will be held from 4:00 to 8:00 pm starting next Thursday, June 8th. Reservations and walk-ins are welcome! With its delicious food and stunning location, Little Lion Cafe is definitely worth a visit.