From its origins as an offshoot of Pannikin Copper, Coffee and Cookery, cottage-turned-restaurant Brockton Villa has now spent 35 years in La Jolla. And with the current owner\u2019s daughter now on staff, the business has also spanned three generations.<\/p>\n
From a shop and a garage to a 10-store chain<\/p>\n
In 1968, the Pannikin chain originated with a storefront at 1296 Prospect St., supported by the business\u2019s first coffee-roasting plant in a garage near The Cave Store. Owner Bob Sinclair oversaw the business from its humble beginnings to becoming a chain of 10 cafes.<\/p>\n
One of the locations he selected for an additional location was a \u201chistoric, but somewhat dilapidated property\u201d at 1235 Coast Blvd., one of the first cottages above La Jolla Cove. Built by San Diego physician Dr. Joseph Rodes, the property was occupied by residents from the late 1890s to the 1940s.<\/p>\n
Rather than converting the cottage into another cafe, Sinclair opted to make it into a full-on restaurant. This new endeavor \u2014 initially called Pannikin\u2019s Brockton Villa \u2014 opened in 1991.<\/p>\n
With the expansion, a second generation of Sinclair\u2019s family was soon brought into the fold.<\/p>\n
Sinclair\u2019s stepdaughter, Megan Heine, started contributing to the Pannikin chain at just 11 years old. She worked her way up through the business, ascending from lower-level staff positions to being named general manager of the larger Pannikin chain.<\/p>\n
But once Pannikin\u2019s Brockton Villa opened its doors, she felt a tug towards being a restaurateur.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was spending a little bit of time at each of our locations and once we opened Brockton, I just fell in love with it,\u201d Heine said. \u201cIt just became clear to me that I wanted to spend more time there and focus more of my time as an owner being on site.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 1994, she decided to make the next step in making the business her own.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents, being the way they were, were not the type of parents who said \u2018OK, you could have it,\u2019\u201d Heine recalled. \u201cI bought it from them, officially resigned my position at Pannikin and started operating Brockton as the sole owner \u2026 and never looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the \u201890s to today<\/p>\n
After taking ownership of Brockton Villa, Heine fully immersed herself in the restaurant world. She dropped the Pannikin name from the eatery, and the remaining Pannikin coffee business was sold to outside interests in 1997.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ownership of a restaurant is 24\/7,\u201d Heine said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit different from a cafe, but I had grown up in that food industry \u2026even though I was at a pretty young age coming into an ownership role \u2026 I had so much experience growing up in that industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added, \u201cHaving worked up through every position in our company from a very young age, I had gotten very passionate about the whole business, entertaining and the hospitality that came with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brockton Villa wasn\u2019t Heine\u2019s last restaurant endeavor, either, as she and her husband Dave opened Beaumont\u2019s Neighborhood Eatery at 5662 La Jolla Blvd in 2005.<\/p>\n
As Heine focused on Brockton Villa, her brother Torrey Lee also started a business of his own.<\/p>\n
Lee founded Cafe Moto, whose flagship location is in Barrio Logan. But it was at Pannikin where he first cut his teeth in the business ownership world, learning to build cabinets, paint drywall, handle electrical issues and build their shops and stores.<\/p>\n
An entrepreneurial spirit within the family, Lee says, had a strong influence on his life and career. In particular, he says he was encouraged to \u201cjust build it\u201d and \u201cjust do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Megan,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LJL-L-BROCKTON-VILLA-THIRD-GEN-02.jpeg\")
Megan, Peyton and Dave Heine celebrate Beaumont\u2019s Neighborhood Eatery\u2019s 20 year anniversary in 2025 alongside Gavin McManes (middle, back), who worked there for a decade. Megan, Peyton and Dave are all involved with Brockton Villa Restaurant as well. (Provided by Megan Heine)
\nThe next generation<\/p>\n
Continuing with the family tradition of entrepreneurialship, Megan\u2019s 25-year old daughter, Peyton, has worked \u201con and off\u201d at Brockton Villa for five years. At first, Peyton said, her involvement was a product of their family needing help during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI jumped on as a busser and I always knew that I wanted to learn from the ground up. So I\u2019ve really done every job there, from bussing to food-running, managing, serving, bartending,\u201d Peyton said.<\/p>\n
![\"Brockton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LJL-L-BROCKTON-VILLA-THIRD-GEN-01.jpg\")
Brockton Villa\u2019s 35 year anniversary graphics were created by Peyton Heine. This design and others were featured on branded mugs, shirts and hats. (Peyton Heine)<\/p>\n
\u201cBrockton Villa really reminds me of my grandparents, who (have) now passed away,\u201d Peyton said. \u201cI will always have this connection to La Jolla and my family through this restaurant. So it\u2019s really natural and easy to go into that role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Peyton focuses primarily on waitressing, with some management work. On the side, her father is teaching her the \u201chandyman\u201d side of things, from sanding and painting to power washing.<\/p>\n
How exactly Brockton Villa plays a part in her future remains to be seen. But her involvement carries on what is now a three-generation legacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not pressuring her but she definitely has hospitality in her heart and is very passionate about the business,\u201d Megan said. \u201cShe loves Brockton Villa for many reasons, so there\u2019s our third generation right there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From its origins as an offshoot of Pannikin Copper, Coffee and Cookery, cottage-turned-restaurant Brockton Villa has now spent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[7,930,5184,9224,6953,74,84,76,75],"class_list":["post-410987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-california","tag-la-jolla","tag-la-jolla-light","tag-la-jolla-light-business","tag-la-jolla-shores","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}