Matcha Cafe Maiko is a matcha specialty shop that first opened in Hawaii and currently has multiple…read morelocations across multiple states including California (two Los Angeles locations in Monterey Park and Rowland Heights), Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Michigan, New Jersey, and Arizona. For this location, the shop is located inside the Kinokuniya Mall in Japantown in San Francisco. [Parking]: There are two parking garages - The Main Garage (1610 Geary Boulevard) and The Fillmore Annex Garage (1650 Fillmore Street). Parking rate = $5 per hour from 12 PM to 6 PM and $3 per hour outside of those hours. I got lucky and was able to find metered parking spots near the intersection of Buchanan St and Sutter St (free on Sunday). [Atmosphere]: Matcha Cafe Maiko is located on the first level of Kinokuniya Mall. This is mostly a takeout only spot with no indoor tables and limited chairs available. [Menu]: Most visitors come here for the matcha soft-serve ice cream. The shop also offers the Golden Sho-Gun 24K gold soft-serve ice cream. Other items include sundaes, parfaits, lattes, cream foam lattes, and teas. *** Soft Serve Ice Cream (Matcha, Cone - $6.95): Amazing ice cream - creamy and dense with a strong matcha flavor. *** This is a fantastic matcha ice cream shop - two big thumbs up. P.S. - If you are already at the shop, this is also a good opportunity to check out other shops in Kinokuniya Mall and the adjacent Japan Center Malls.

Came here yesterday (Friday) a little before 2pm. There was no line. We ordered on the tablet…read morelocated near the entrance. I ordered a Matcha Cheese Foam. I upsized to a large, got half sugar, and subbed oat milk. The drink was really good. The matcha was strong, which I liked, and the cheese foam added a nice creaminess. Overall, solid matcha.

Matcha/sesame: Great combo of soft serve to end the night…read more Nuttiness of the sesame with the bitterness of matcha. Both are not sweet. Ordering is on the kiosk, comes out in less than 5 minutes. Well lit interior space with 2 staff members working. Utensils are self service. Seating is available across from the store.

I had been looking forward to coming back here for a while, but this recent visit was a total…read moredisappointment. The shop is always packed, but they have completely eliminated customer service by forcing everyone to order through a kiosk. Worse, the soft serve isn't as good as it used to be. The matcha flavor was incredibly weak, and the black sesame was way too grainy, weak and lacked any depth. The biggest issue was a major hygiene and professionalism fail. Despite using order numbers, the employee at the counter ignored them and handed my ice cream to two other customers. When they realized the mistake and said it wasn't theirs, the employee just took the ice cream back and handed it right to me--with zero apology. Passing along food that other people have already handled is completely unhygienic. Japantown has way too many amazing dessert spots to waste your time and money here. I won't be back.

Incredible concept with ice cream and crepes, and to top it off, your food is handed to you looking…read morelike a cute character from one of the shops in Japantown. Delicious desserts served in a uniquely creative way has made this a must-have when we visit San Francisco!

I was stuffed after dinner, but as we all know, dessert goes into a completely different stomach!…read more Another bonus was that there was no line when I arrived, so I quickly decided on the Daifuku Special. It came with a matcha-flavored crepe, matcha ice cream, caramel sauce, and, best of all, daifuku. I opted to skip the bananas since I wasn't really in the mood for fruit with my dessert. I just wish the crepe skin itself was a bit crispier. I requested it but I don't think their method of making the crepe makes it possible. At $12 plus tax it felt like a fun indulgence and a sweet way to end the evening.

Ice cream shops are all over the city, but this one was the best…read more It's located catty-corner to Dolores Mission Park, that has beautiful views of the city and the water and nice public bathrooms! Bi-Rite has a myriad of flavors, from classics (mint n chip and cookies n cream) to unique creations (balsamic strawberry, black sesame, and coffee toffee). The small size was around $6 and includes two flavors. They offer tasters, on real metal spoons, so you can try the unique flavors before committing. The servers were so friendly and must have the patience of saints -- there are too many good flavors to choose from!!! I had the honey lavender and the crème brûlée. Both were 10/10! The honey lavender was so unique and the crème brûlée had little chips of hardened caramelized sugar like the actual dessert. Easily one of my favorite ice cream shops and a strong competitor against my favorite, Caffè Panna!

Delicious! There was a decent line but it moved fast. Got the tiramisu and black sesame flavors,…read moreboth delicious. There's some benches outside but we ate ours walking through the park.

Hands down the best ice cream on the market. There's a reason it's number one on Yelp. Don't take…read moreit from me, go find out yourself! https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/san-francisco-creamery-named-no-1-on-yelp-national-list/amp/

We arrived to a packed house and waited for almost 1 hour. Right before our number got called by…read moreJesus, we watched him wipe his nose with his hand then shove his thumb and pointer finger in his nostrils. He did not wash his hands and called our number. We were so grossed out. I politely asked him if he wouldn''t mind washing his hands before serving us. We were going to buy 3 pints and they hand pack them, and since they don't wear gloves, the least he could do is use some soap and water after sticking 2 fingers up his nose. He agreed to but took his sweet time. Then he put on some gloves and again, took his time and was paying attention to other conversations instead of service us. The whole ordering took a good 15 min because he was extremely slow, ignoring us most of the time and taking forever to pack the pints. All because I asked that his wash his nasty hands. I'm sorry but when you serve food, your hands should be clean and your fingers should not be jammed in your nose right before serving someone. So gross.

Amazing gelato, I tried the chocolate hazelnut and it was delicious. The customer service was…read moregreat, friendly, and happy to be there. The location was nice and felt cozy.

Excellent gelato and simply one of the top three I have had in the Bay Area…read more Tried a bunch of flavors and decided on getting a large cup with giandula, pistachio, and mint blackberry. The texture was velvety and flavors were so deep and clean. The pistachio flavor was by far the best I have tasted. They claim they only sell the gelato the same day they make it and the freshness is what gives the excellent texture. Service was friendly and we enjoyed it a lot. Thank you!

THE BEST CREPES!!!!!!! No joke, best crepes ever. From east…read morecoast to west, this is the absolute, hands down, best crepe spot. Nestled in the heart of Japan town's shopping center, right next to the bookstore- Sophie's crepes is. Very small bistro seating is available, but this place gets pretty busy. They have an extensive menu of both simple and layered flavors. The crepes here are thin and crispy, and come in a very cute crepe holder when served. I always get the strawberries and banana with Nutella, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The crepe won't last long, you'll eat it right up. My partner opts for a strawberry and whipped cream option, with raspberry jam- simple in comparison to my order. Sophie's is always our starting point in Japan town, and once you've placed your order, you cannot revise it. Make sure you hold onto your number, you'll need to provide it when your number is called. Enjoy, a must try in SF; even if you just go to Japan town for this one thing, trust me, it's worth it.

how does this place have 4 stars? the strawberry nutella crepe my friend and i got was so awful!…read more -- the crepe was not soft at all, there was barely any nutella, it was overloaded w strawberries... i mean if the whole point of purchasing is to get the thin fluffy crepe, they failed. everything else we could have just put together ourselves and it probably would have turned out better than this. ice cream was decent though, and service was quick. located in an overly crowded mall in japantown. good luck finding seating. we wanted to try the belly crepe place in the other mall across the street but it was closed so we settled for this one, sadly!

Came here on a sunny afternoon and it was unusually warm in town. Decided to swing by Swensens for…read morea delicious scoop. I have to warn you, if you are going to walk here, prepare for really steep hills! Your calves will be screaming. In a good way most likely! There's also a bus that drops you off closeby. No worries, guys. But the scoops are generous here. Staff are also very friendly. I got a scoop of their Mint Chip on a cone and it was super delicious. Creamy and minty on a perfect afternoon. They do accept cards here, so don't be shy, grab a cone...or two!

It's never too cold for ice cream. At least it wasn't when we were getting Swensen's!…read more The night before we had driven past and there was a line out the door! Their curb was completely filled with people, so it deterred us from going. But after our dinner, we were seriously craving a sweet treat. They keep the doors open, so you can walk in and the delicious smell of ice cream wafts on to the street. And would you believe--no line! I walked right up to the counter and placed my order! Now, I always love niche flavors and they had plenty of them to choose from! I could've spent time going through and sampling some (which they offer), but I decided on their banana ice cream in a waffle cone. It was spectacular gimme 14 of them. The banana ice cream was creamy and didn't give off that artificial taste that some ice creams tend to have. And the waffle cone was the right move! Highly recommend to get it with whatever ice cream flavor you end up choosing. It was crispy and perfectly sweet! I now understand the line. Definitely a must visit for a sweet treat to end your night!