New Café Brings Food and Community to UC San Diego’s Franklin Antonio Hall

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UC San Diego’s newest cafe is now open in Franklin Antonio Hall. Crafted @ Minerva’s Cafe brings coffee, boba tea and fresh, organic food with a focus on sustainability to the new Franklin Antonio Hall. Crafted @ Minerva’s Cafe will also offer a happy hour selection of beer and wine in their indoor dining area and outdoor patio. The cafe offers sweeping views of campus’ eucalyptus grove, coastal chaparral and canyons, and San Diego’s mountains to the East. 

The cafe, and the Charles Lee Powell Foundation Terrace that surrounds it, will serve as an essential socializing and eating spot at the heart of the dynamic innovation ecosystems in Franklin Antonio Hall. 

Through both architectural design and building programming, Franklin Antonio Hall maximizes the circulation of people and ideas; and Crafted @ Minerva’s Cafe is a key element in the overall Franklin Antonio Hall project. The cafe will provide a venue for faculty, students and staff from across campus, as well as visitors from around the world, to meet, eat, and chat as they exchange ideas in a venue that celebrates inclusive innovation. 

Crafted @ Minerva’s Cafe offers dine in, take out and catering for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with online ordering. The cafe serves up fresh, organic California classics like breakfast burritos, salads, sandwiches, bowls, wraps, and burgers. The cafe also has several boba tea options, as well as an extensive coffee and espresso menu  sourced from San Diego-based Westbean Coffee Roasters. A selection of beer and wine will be available during happy hour. The full menu is available here.

The cafe is a family-run, independent restaurant. Owners Erik Kent, Tracy Kent and Junior Mendoza also own and operate Pacific Cafe and Catering in the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute building at UC San Diego. Pacific Cafe has been serving up coffee, smoothies, and breakfast, lunch and dinner options since 2016. Cumulatively, the ownership team has been in the restaurant industry in San Diego for 30 years. 

The 1,900 square-foot cafe is open 7am to 8pm Monday through Saturday, and closed on Sunday. Triton Cash is accepted.

For the community, by the community

The name Minerva is a tribute to the Roman goddess for wisdom and community. The reference honors a group of 10 women technology ambassadors and leaders who joined together to contribute to the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering as part of a fundraising effort needed to make Franklin Antonio Hall a reality. The idea to bring together 10 women leaders in technology and STEM fields for collective philanthropic impact was the vision of Martha Dennis, a long-time friend of UC San Diego and member of Dean’s advisory councils at both the Jacobs School of Engineering and the Rady School of Management.

The group of women includes Jacobs School and UC San Diego graduates and a Jacobs School faculty emerita. Nearly all are first-time donors. Many were inspired by Dennis, and credit her with making an impact on their professional growth. What unites them is their deep desire to support student success and diversity, and to inspire others to give. 

"I'm so excited that these 10 women leaders decided to join together to support this project that will help build an inclusive community," said Dennis, a telecom engineer, entrepreneur and CEO who was on the original Linkabit team that kickstarted the San Diego telecommunications industry.

Crafted @ Minerva’s Cafe was made possible with support from Martha Dennis, Ambassador Diana L. Dougan, Arlene Harris, Yvonne Hildebrand, Kristi Jaska, Peggy Johnson, Vera Kripalani, Anna Scipione, Jan Talbot and Susan Tousi.

“I’m honored to personally thank this incredible group of women whose vision and generosity made this wonderful space possible,” said Albert P. Pisano, Dean of the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering and Special Adviser to the Chancellor. “Franklin Antonio Hall is designed and programmed to maximize the circulation of people and ideas, and for this – coffee, food and conversation are critical. I look forward to conversation and collegiality at Crafted @ Minerva’s Cafe.”