Marlee Becker is living her dream of being a restaurateur.
But it was a long time coming.
She worked next door at Dirty Birds for 11 years, where she was a server and bartender before working her way up to general manager.
Finally, she got her shot at running her own restaurant. “We saw this space and thought that would be a really great place for a cafe,” said Becker of Drift Cafe at 4652 Mission Blvd., which has been open since May 2021.
Drift Cafe’s new space had previously been a surf shop, a brewery tasting room, and a cinnamon roll place. “Everyone actually joked with me, when I signed a lease here, they said, ‘That location is cursed.’ I said, ‘That’s not nice, I just think nobody wanted to put in the time to do it.’”
Added Becker, “I wanted to work for myself. You know, the American dream.”
Pointing out she is “not good with authority” preferring instead to “be the authority,” Becker noted, “With that comes a lot of work. But I’m not afraid of a little hard work.”
Becker is in good company in the retail neighborhood on Mission Boulevard with the likes of Surf Taco, which has been in operation for more than 30 years right across the street. “Lots of staples on this kind of block,” she added. “I feel like Mission Boulevard is just a good spot. And since I was familiar with the location for so long, I knew it would have good foot traffic and be where I needed to be.”
The menu at Drift Cafe is as varied as the clientele offering both breakfast and lunch items. The menu of the coffee cafe offers all-day food including a pesto scramble, seasonal bircher overnight oats, eggs and toast, quiche slices, a vegan burrito, a grilled cheese sandwich, a Baja burrito, a soup of the day, a breakfast sandwich, a breakfast plate, French toast, carne asada street tacos, an acai bowl, breakfast bowls, muffins, croissants, fruit salad, and avocado toast.
“Everything is homemade,” concluded Becker of her menu.
The beverage menu is also extensive featuring smoothies, kombucha, apple juice, lattes, iced teas, cappuccinos, cortados, mochas, hot chocolate, and espresso.
Becker added Drift Cafe is available too as an event space. “We rent it out in the evenings,” she said, adding they have a couple of tables outside as well as indoor seating. “Eventually I’d like to open it up so it’s more indoor-outdoor,” Becker noted about her future plans adding, “All in due time.”
Noting she’s had this cafe concept since 2012, Becker wanted her new business space to be “beachy but not too beachy.”
Pointing out that people and water can both drift, Becker noted the name seemed appropriate. And she has décor inside to match, with a huge mural painted by one of her friends on a back wall along with a huge photo of driftwood taken by another friend.
“I did all the design and décor by myself,” noted Becker. “We actually raised the floor six inches. I painted all of the walls myself. My husband built the sign outside. And all my plants came from my best friends as a present. It’s a community space: I really enjoy it.”
DRIFT CAFE
Where: 4652 Mission Blvd
Hours: 6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. daily.
Contact: 858-263-4298.
