Izola, founded in 2020 by Jeffrey Brown and Jenny Chen, currently operates a high-volume bakery-restaurant at 1429 Island Avenue in downtown San Diego’s East Village. The business has confirmed it is moving forward with the build-out of a roughly 5,000-square-foot dough factory in City Heights that will serve as a centralized production hub for future locations.
According to ownership, pastry teams at the City Heights facility will mix, shape, and freeze pre-baked dough items, which will then be shipped to individual Izola bakeries to be proofed and baked on site using programmable ovens. The model is intended to allow Izola to scale while maintaining consistency and freshness across locations.
In parallel, Brown and Chen say they are negotiating to open a second Izola bakery in Coastal North County in mid-2026. While a specific site has not been announced, the North County shop would initially be supplied by the downtown East Village location until the City Heights facility becomes operational.
Izola’s expansion plans come following the forced closure of its first brick-and-mortar location, which underscored how quickly the bakery had outgrown its original operating framework. After launching during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Izola became a viral sensation by selling croissants and sourdough from a loft above Brown’s former photo studio near 13th and G streets, lowering pastries to customers via rope to comply with social-distancing rules. The unconventional model, combined with high-quality laminated pastries, fueled explosive demand.
As pandemic restrictions eased, Izola converted the former studio into a café space that quickly became one of downtown San Diego’s most sought-after food destinations. In June 2022, Yelp named Izola the No. 1 bakery in the United States.
Behind the scenes, however, the business was operating under a Class B Cottage Food Operation permit, a license intended for extremely small-scale home-based food businesses. That permit limited Izola to one non-family employee and a maximum of $50,000 in annual revenue, thresholds the bakery was exceeding many times over.
By late 2023, Izola employed more than 30 people and was generating roughly $150,000 per month in revenue. County regulators required the business to either dramatically scale back or suspend operations and upgrade its facilities to meet commercial permitting standards. In October 2023, Izola announced it was temporarily closing, citing the need to renovate its kitchen, secure a new food permit, and apply for a Type 41 beer and wine license.
“It is with an incredibly heavy heart that effective immediately, IZOLA will be temporarily closed,” the company wrote at the time. “We’ve outgrown our Cottage Food license and must complete a planned renovation before we’re able to reopen again.”
The closure, which extended through the end of the year, forced Izola to pause operations while navigating renovations, permitting approvals, and staffing disruptions. Ownership acknowledged that many aspects of the process were outside the company’s control and that delays could materially impact revenue. Izola ultimately reopened in mid-2024 at its current Island Avenue location, featuring a basement prep kitchen designed to accommodate its volume and regulatory requirements.
Izola’s long-term expansion strategy, including the City Heights dough factory, has required substantial capital. To help finance that growth, the company turned to Mainvest, a community investment platform that allowed local supporters to invest through revenue-sharing agreements.
Through Mainvest, Izola raised more than $1.6 million, pitching an ambitious plan that included a zero-emission dough factory, additional retail locations, and broader distribution. Ownership has since stated that the total cost of the City Heights production facility and associated expansion could reach approximately $7.5 million.
That financing plan was complicated in mid-2024 when Mainvest announced it would cease operations entirely. The platform shut down in June 2024, leaving businesses like Izola responsible for continuing repayment obligations directly to investors under the original agreements, without Mainvest acting as an intermediary.
Izola has not publicly detailed how the platform’s closure altered its financing structure, but ownership has continued advancing the City Heights project and scouting new retail locations.
Despite rising food and labor costs, Izola reports continued strong demand at its East Village bakery, where the majority of business is dine-in. The company has leaned into rotating sweet and savory croissants that change every six to eight weeks, including internationally inspired offerings such as bibimbap croissants, wine-poached pear croissants, carnitas-filled pastries, and other experimental formats that push beyond traditional bakery fare.
Brown has said the goal is not rapid overexpansion, but a controlled model that preserves consistency, citing global restaurant brands like Din Tai Fung as inspiration for how centralized production can support multiple locations without sacrificing quality.
For now, Izola’s focus remains on executing its next two major steps: completing the City Heights dough factory and finalizing a North County location. Whether additional markets follow will depend on how successfully the bakery balances growth, capital costs, and the regulatory realities that once forced it to shut its doors.
Izola Artisan Bakery is currently open daily at 1429 Island Avenue in downtown San Diego. For more information, visit izolabakery.com.
In parallel, Brown and Chen say they are negotiating to open a second Izola bakery in Coastal North County in mid-2026. While a specific site has not been announced, the North County shop would initially be supplied by the downtown East Village location until the City Heights facility becomes operational.
Izola’s expansion plans come following the forced closure of its first brick-and-mortar location, which underscored how quickly the bakery had outgrown its original operating framework. After launching during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Izola became a viral sensation by selling croissants and sourdough from a loft above Brown’s former photo studio near 13th and G streets, lowering pastries to customers via rope to comply with social-distancing rules. The unconventional model, combined with high-quality laminated pastries, fueled explosive demand.
As pandemic restrictions eased, Izola converted the former studio into a café space that quickly became one of downtown San Diego’s most sought-after food destinations. In June 2022, Yelp named Izola the No. 1 bakery in the United States.
Behind the scenes, however, the business was operating under a Class B Cottage Food Operation permit, a license intended for extremely small-scale home-based food businesses. That permit limited Izola to one non-family employee and a maximum of $50,000 in annual revenue, thresholds the bakery was exceeding many times over.
By late 2023, Izola employed more than 30 people and was generating roughly $150,000 per month in revenue. County regulators required the business to either dramatically scale back or suspend operations and upgrade its facilities to meet commercial permitting standards. In October 2023, Izola announced it was temporarily closing, citing the need to renovate its kitchen, secure a new food permit, and apply for a Type 41 beer and wine license.
“It is with an incredibly heavy heart that effective immediately, IZOLA will be temporarily closed,” the company wrote at the time. “We’ve outgrown our Cottage Food license and must complete a planned renovation before we’re able to reopen again.”
The closure, which extended through the end of the year, forced Izola to pause operations while navigating renovations, permitting approvals, and staffing disruptions. Ownership acknowledged that many aspects of the process were outside the company’s control and that delays could materially impact revenue. Izola ultimately reopened in mid-2024 at its current Island Avenue location, featuring a basement prep kitchen designed to accommodate its volume and regulatory requirements.
Izola’s long-term expansion strategy, including the City Heights dough factory, has required substantial capital. To help finance that growth, the company turned to Mainvest, a community investment platform that allowed local supporters to invest through revenue-sharing agreements.
Through Mainvest, Izola raised more than $1.6 million, pitching an ambitious plan that included a zero-emission dough factory, additional retail locations, and broader distribution. Ownership has since stated that the total cost of the City Heights production facility and associated expansion could reach approximately $7.5 million.
That financing plan was complicated in mid-2024 when Mainvest announced it would cease operations entirely. The platform shut down in June 2024, leaving businesses like Izola responsible for continuing repayment obligations directly to investors under the original agreements, without Mainvest acting as an intermediary.
Izola has not publicly detailed how the platform’s closure altered its financing structure, but ownership has continued advancing the City Heights project and scouting new retail locations.
Despite rising food and labor costs, Izola reports continued strong demand at its East Village bakery, where the majority of business is dine-in. The company has leaned into rotating sweet and savory croissants that change every six to eight weeks, including internationally inspired offerings such as bibimbap croissants, wine-poached pear croissants, carnitas-filled pastries, and other experimental formats that push beyond traditional bakery fare.
Brown has said the goal is not rapid overexpansion, but a controlled model that preserves consistency, citing global restaurant brands like Din Tai Fung as inspiration for how centralized production can support multiple locations without sacrificing quality.
For now, Izola’s focus remains on executing its next two major steps: completing the City Heights dough factory and finalizing a North County location. Whether additional markets follow will depend on how successfully the bakery balances growth, capital costs, and the regulatory realities that once forced it to shut its doors.
Izola Artisan Bakery is currently open daily at 1429 Island Avenue in downtown San Diego. For more information, visit izolabakery.com.
Originally published on January 22, 2026.
