The Mental Bar — a coffee, tea and wellness shop — hopes to leave a lasting and positive impact in San Diego's Encanto neighborhood.
"First, we want to cater to your health. Then, we want to give you a quality product. Then, we want to make the experience enjoyable and memorable," Tommy Walker, co-owner of The Mental Bar, said.
The business is located on Imperial Avenue and opened in 2022. The idea of The Mental Bar came after a lot of thought and previous experiences, Tommy explained.
"Our first idea came when we had our café, which was in Paradise Hills. We realized how much community came together over just a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, so with that, we said, 'Let's put in the middle of a coffee desert somewhere where you don't see coffee," Tommy said.
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The owners say they serve more than 400 people every week. Mixed in with the routine cup of coffee are vibrant events open to the community.
"We had one art show that we had recently that was all women, so it was four women, and they all presented their art. The next one is going to be our youth art show, and other things we have are book signings," Daneyel Walker, co-owner of The Mental Bar, said.
Artwork from local artists is displayed on the walls, along with quotes from celebrities and the local communities that make up Southeast San Diego.
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The Walkers have big goals for the community.
"We would love to just see it grow. Little Italy and Hillcrest and Barrio Logan have these beautiful booming communities. We would love to see our community be something similar to that," Daneyel said.
