Aztec Owned: Mochichis

At their Encinitas shop, Beth and Jordan Kass greet the morning with fresh mochi donuts and a steady stream of regulars—and make the hard work look easy.

By Felicity Desuasido

LONG BEFORE THE SUN RISES, THE BAKER AT Mochichis powers up the kitchen for a new day. Soon owner Beth Kass (’03) drops off her two children at school and rushes into the shop, preparing ube Oreo, churro and creme brulee donuts. Regulars start to line up just before 9 a.m., ready to pick up their orders from their local, family-owned donut shop.

Mochichis is Beth’s dream business. She first tried a mochi donut—a unique, chewy treat made with mochi, a Japanese rice-based delicacy—on a family vacation. She fell in love with the donuts. Inspired, she and her husband, Jordan (’02), opened the Encinitas location in 2024, drawing from lessons she learned at San Diego State University.

“SDSU was a learning ground to try things and fail in a safe way,” says Beth, who was involved in a student alumni organization. “Without that experience, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity, or even the faith in myself, to start something. In college, I saw on a smaller scale that your ideas really can come to life.”

The Mochichis atmosphere embodies Southern California, where Beth and Jordan grew up. Mochichis stickers cover the walls, and sunlight illuminates plants lining the windows. Menu items also include donut sundaes and popular drinks like brown sugar milk with boba, strawberry matcha lattes and horchata slushes. Donuts are even served on skateboard decks, paying homage to the area’s skate culture.

To make everything come together, the behind-the-scenes work is never-ending. Every morning, Beth and Jordan bake backup donuts, ensure drink ingredients are ready and double-check that the kitchen preparation is complete.

“It’s like a dance,” Beth says. “I’m in here right away, checking on how the numbers are, checking on how the labor is, making sure inventory is up to date.”

They look back at when they first opened and see how far they’ve come. On the soft opening, their donut fryer short-circuited and quit working. On another occasion, Jordan knocked over a piece of expensive kitchen equipment, which cracked and broke. However, even when things go sideways, the couple’s resilience always prevails.

“It’s either sink or swim, and sinking is not an option, so you just work,” Jordan says. “You just swim.”

Before Mochichis, Beth and Jordan had civilian positions at Naval Station Rota in Spain, a joint U.S.–Spanish naval base near the Strait of Gibraltar. Beth was a strategy and future requirements director and an installation business manager, and Jordan was an asset management branch head. They were also members of Operation Allies Welcome, an initiative that supported Afghan nationals following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“We have taken on very difficult, long projects, long hours, in our previous careers, and that prepared me for nothing when running a restaurant,” Beth says. 

While they never expected to go from military careers to donuts, their experiences at SDSU aligned with the skills needed to start a business.

Check out Mochichis!

1452 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas
760-274-6111
www.mochichis.com