Two of San Diego's most recognizable dessert brands picked La Mesa for their next locations. Stella Jean's Ice Cream and Pop Pie Co. are opening side-by-side at 8243 and 8247 La Mesa Boulevard this summer, right in the center of La Mesa Village's walkable downtown strip.
That's the ninth Stella Jean's location. The seventh Pop Pie. And out of every neighborhood in San Diego County, they chose this one. If you've been watching what's been happening on La Mesa Boulevard over the last two years, that shouldn't surprise you. But it's still a big deal.
What's Coming to 8243 and 8247 La Mesa Boulevard
The two storefronts span about 1,300 square feet each. They're replacing Village Pet Salon and Act II, which relocated a few blocks down the street in 2024. Real estate firm Location Matters brokered the deal, and founder Steven Torres told San Diego Magazine that his team had been scouting La Mesa for several years before the right pair of spaces came available.
Stella Jean's will be a dedicated scoop shop. If you haven't tried their ice cream at one of their other eight locations around San Diego, the flavors rotate seasonally and lean creative. Ube. Black sesame. Horchata. Seasonal fruit sorbets. It fills a genuine gap in La Mesa. You can count the number of dedicated ice cream shops in the city on one hand, and none of them carry the kind of following that Stella Jean's has built.
Pop Pie Co. is the pie-and-coffee side. Savory pot pies, sweet fruit pies, and a full coffee bar. Torres said the La Mesa location will carry the same core menu as their other spots, with the coffee program playing a bigger role than usual. It's not a sit-down restaurant. It's a grab-and-go and small-table concept that works best in neighborhoods where people walk. And La Mesa Village is a walking neighborhood.
Why La Mesa Village, and Why Now
The proximity to the La Mesa Village Farmers Market was a factor. The market runs every Friday on La Mesa Boulevard and pulls over 90 vendors and thousands of visitors. It's a 5,300-monthly-search keyword when you combine both search variations. That's real foot traffic that shows up every single week. And it's exactly the kind of foot traffic that ice cream and pie depend on.
But the bigger story is the pattern. La Mesa Village has been on a slow, steady build. Aromi Italian Cuisine opened in 2023 from the Carbonaro's team. Hacienda Cazadores took over the old Por Favor space with a Sonoran Mexican concept backed by the same Alba Restaurant Group that runs Farmer's Table. Sobremesa brought Latin American food to the Lake Murray side of town in December 2025. And now two nationally-known dessert brands are planting flags on the boulevard.
I grew up in La Mesa. When I was a kid, the Village was mostly antique shops and a couple of restaurants. That's not what it is anymore. The restaurants and food concepts that are moving in aren't taking a chance on an unproven neighborhood. They're investing in one that's already working.
What It Means for the Boulevard
Stella Jean's and Pop Pie will sit within easy walking distance of Brew Coffee Spot, Public Square, Limoncello, and Riviera Supper Club. That's a real dining and dessert corridor forming between 4th Street and Spring Street. You can have dinner at Mario's De La Mesa, walk two blocks for ice cream, and grab a coffee at Pop Pie before heading home. That's a Friday night in the Village, and it used to require driving to three different parts of San Diego to pull off.
No exact opening date has been announced yet. "Summer 2026" is the window both brands are targeting. The summer Classic Car Show season (every Thursday night June through August) will overlap with the opening, which isn't an accident. That's peak foot traffic on La Mesa Boulevard.
Follow the La Mesa community page for updates as construction wraps, and browse all La Mesa dining to see what's already open.
