New Santa Ana | Tag Archives: Bruce Marsh

DTSA’s Little Sparrow cafe has closed for now and will become BlackBox

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Editor Posted in Alcohol, Business, Food, Restaurants, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Do you remember the Little Sparrow cafe in DTSA? They were opened just a few years ago in 2013, by Bruce Marsh and his wife, Naseem Aflakian, who live in Floral Park. At the time Marsh did not appear to have much experience in the restaurant business.

Apparently Marsh and his wife have closed the Little Sparrow and are going to keep it but change it to something they are calling BlackBox, according to their website.

Here are excerpts from the message Marsh posted on their website about their transition: Continue reading→

Mayor Pulido will honor the Little Sparrow Café at the next City Council meeting

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Editor Posted in Civic Affairs, Entertainment, Miguel Pulido, Restaurants, Santa Ana 5 Comments

City of Santa Ana, Downtown Orange County

Community Alert: Mayor Pulido Honors the Highly Acclaimed Little Sparrow Café

Mayor Miguel Pulido will present the owners of the Little Sparrow Café with the Exceptional Service Award for their outstanding contributions to the City of Santa Ana at Tuesday’s City Council Meeting.

Armed with a dream to create a better food culture in Orange County, Bruce Marsh and his wife, Santa Ana native, Naseem Aflakian, partnered with Jenny Le to open the “Little Sparrow Cafe,” a French inspired bistro in Downtown Santa Ana in May 2013. Despite having no formal training in the restaurant business, they converted a vacant café space on Main and Third into an award winning culinary hotspot. Continue reading→

The new Little Sparrow cafe wants to be a bar, but needs a permit

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Editor Posted in Alcohol, Bars, Business, Restaurants, Santa Ana 14 Comments

Naseem Aflakian and Bruce Marsh of Santa Ana’s exclusive Floral Park neighborhood are looking to open an American Bistro called the “Little Sparrow,” that will “serve great bakery items for breakfast, crafted sandwiches for lunch, and candlelight dinners along with cocktails,” according to the Eat In OC Blog.

Aflakian and Marsh have raised over $25,000 for this venture via something called Kickstart, which appears to be an online funding mechanism. You can click here to see who has invested in their restaurant. Continue reading→