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MAKE Cafe receives liquor license for Normal Heights location

MAKE Cafe receives liquor license for Normal Heights location

Built World San Diego, CA local

Nonprofit job-training café moves closer to opening its permanent restaurant

August 20th, 2026: Liquor license issued to MAKE Cafe

Overview

Updated 54 minutes ago

California issued a liquor license to MAKE Cafe at its future home on Felton Street in San Diego's Normal Heights neighborhood. The permit, type 41, covers beer and wine sales at an eating place.

The license is a key step for the nonprofit MAKE Projects, which trains refugee and immigrant women in hospitality. The café is set to be a permanent replacement for the organization's pop-up locations.

Why it matters

This license moves a job-training café closer to opening, giving refugee and immigrant women a permanent place to build careers.

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Key Indicators

48
Dining room seats
The new café features a 48-seat dining room.

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People Involved

Organizations Involved

Timeline

1 event Latest: August 20th, 2026 · 3 weeks ago
  1. Liquor license issued to MAKE Cafe

    Latest Regulatory approval

    California's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control activated a type 41 license for beer and wine sales at 4712 Felton Street.

Scenarios

1

MAKE Cafe opens to the public by end of 2026

Likely Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Local restaurant trade media and MAKE Projects' capital campaign updates

Construction finishes on schedule, final inspections pass, and the café begins regular Thursday-through-Sunday service. The license is one of the last hurdles; opening depends on completing the 900-square-foot kitchen and 48-seat dining room.

2

Opening delayed into early 2027

Possible Resolves by Q1 2027

Discussed by: WhatNow San Diego (construction coverage)

Construction overruns, supply-chain issues, or local inspections push the opening past year-end. The license remains valid, but the café's debut slips into the first quarter of 2027.

3

Permanent café project cancelled

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: No credible spokespeople; considered remote

Unexpected financing failure or organizational crisis causes MAKE Projects to abandon the Felton Street location. The liquor license would lapse and the nonprofit would revert to pop-up events.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1988-1992

Homeboy Bakery (1988)

Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles nonprofit founded by Father Greg Boyle, started a bakery and café to employ former gang members. The operation eventually grew into a chain of social enterprise businesses.

Then

Provided immediate jobs and skills training for at-risk youth.

Now

Demonstrated that mission-driven restaurants can sustain themselves while serving marginalized populations.

Why this matters now

Like Homeboy, MAKE Projects uses a commercial kitchen to train workers with employment barriers. The license is a milestone in scaling this model from pop-up to permanent.

2019

La Cocina's Marketplace (San Francisco, 2019)

La Cocina, a nonprofit incubator for low-income immigrant food entrepreneurs, opened a permanent marketplace in San Francisco's Mission District, giving program graduates brick-and-mortar stalls.

Then

Ten food businesses gained stable retail spaces.

Now

Created a replicable model for moving micro-entrepreneurs out of unregulated pop-ups into permitted commercial sites.

Why this matters now

MAKE Cafe follows the same arc: using a license to legitimize a training kitchen and provide permanent employment for refugee and immigrant women.

Sources

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