Cbar has slipped into its new role in Carlsbad Village with almost suspicious ease, reshaping the former Chocolate Bar space on State Street into a cozy 75-seat bistro where espresso, chefy small plates and a serious wine stash all share the spotlight. Owner Toni Spilsbury and Executive Chef Jarle Saupstad have pivoted the concept to a scratch-made, globally influenced menu built to play nicely with a growing bottle list, plus a structured wine club and boutique shop that try to serve locals and destination diners at the same time.
Spilsbury told The San Diego Union-Tribune that her goal was for people to feel like they could settle in, whether they were grabbing a quick latte or lingering over a flight of reds. She took over the lease for the former Chocolate Bar of Carlsbad in December 2024 and reopened in June 2025 after renovations, according to the paper. The idea, she said, was to create one flexible space that could handle morning coffee runs, casual lunches and wine-centered dinners without feeling like three different restaurants.
Chef Jarle Saupstad, who previously ran Smoke and Salt in Leucadia and has decades of kitchen experience behind him, joined around Christmas and has been steering the menu toward Mediterranean and European-leaning small plates, The Coast News Group reports. The outlet notes that certified sommelier Mike Cusey came on as a partner late last year, widening the bottle shop selection and helping to frame Cbar as something that can be both a neighborhood hangout and a destination for wine nerds.
What's On The Menu
His plates lean into bright, shareable dishes and handmade pastas. The paper points to items like a spring pea and mushroom cavatelli with house-made pasta, smoked bacon and pecorino, and wagyu sliders on house-baked buns, all built to land right in the sweet spot for wine pairing. The Union-Tribune also notes that the bottle shop now carries labels in the low hundreds, which gives the kitchen a broad global palette to match against.
Wine Program And Club C
The sommelier-driven bottle shop and membership program, known as Club C, offers monthly curated pickups, priority tastings and an 11 percent retail discount, according to Cbar. Members receive two sommelier selected bottles every month, plus priority access to pairing dinners, special tastings and waived corkage at the bar. The club is pitched as a way to introduce drinkers to smaller producers alongside more familiar names, while also giving regulars a built in reason to stop by for recurring events.
All-Day Service, Events And Live Music
Cbar runs a full coffee program in the morning, then slowly shifts into wine mode with evening tastings, pairing dinners and live music on weekends. The restaurant's Valentine's tasting dinner even made its way onto KPBS's event calendar, a hint that word is traveling beyond just Village foot traffic. For local diners, the combination of intimate pairing dinners and low key music nights has helped Cbar stand out in a crowded Carlsbad Village lineup. The team leans into a slower pace that encourages guests to hang out instead of racing through a quick lunch and bolting.
The bar posts current hours, menus and reservation details on its website, and it continues to host private events and winemaker dinners throughout the month. For the latest information on bookings, hours and offerings, visit Cbar.
