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.

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.

Delicious ice cream flavors! I love the banana flavor. It tasted like real banana and not…read moreartificial laffy taffy banana. Black sesame was good but a bit too sweet. Small cup sizes but it's pretty sweet so a small cup was enough. We noticed that they put up an out of order sign on the bathroom door even though it was working fine...

Review #1,093 Posted on 7.23.26…read more I had read on here this spot had a rep for having Filipino inspired flavors and wanted to surprise my wife and daughter with a little treat after some local burritos before we went to see Ella Mai while in town in the City on Saturday the 18th. You walk in and grab a number right away to get in line for your order. They probably had 10 people working at the counter helping people get their orders fulfilled, it's that packed here. The ice cream was very good. We all 3 got double scoops, each of us getting the ube, and then 1 other flavor. The ube is a must, super awesome flavor of ice cream, I also tried the coffee toffee crunch, which was excellent. I'd for sure will return here for ice cream in the future, highly recommend.

If you're into frozen milk, this certainly is a place to enjoy it!…read moreThe cornucopia of flavors is staggering. I believe they've been around since 1953. I myself have been going in there since 1984. I'm not really into much dairy, a little cheese from time to time and the occasional child's scoop. But as far as ice cream, you scream, there's no place better on the planet. I'm sure! I mean, avocado ice cream? Shut up, hand me a spoon! Take home a large handpacked portion and forgo a small order. You see, a child's cup of coconut is $5.50 but a 1/2 gallon is $15. You see my point? Simply ask for a sample taste of anything you want for free and then run home and share a tub with friends, and family. My wife sent me in there for the DURIAN which to me smells and tastes like gasoline but it's a slice of Nirvana to her! Two heaping bowls, and she's still raving about it! Fuel for her soul. Parking could be very frustrating and it's always busy. There's one of those pull a number things like at a deli to keep the crowd controlled. Make sure to grab one when you walk in the door or you may set yourself back a handful of customers. But if you're getting a tub to go, there's a special line for that, like a quick service register. Maybe grab a box of cones too to save on dirty dishes back at the crib!

Best ice cream in SF. Bar None. Highly recommend this lovely little super high quality gelato shop…read more I've eaten gelato all over Italy and this place matches the best ice cream in Milan and Florence. Great staff too! Will be taking friends and family here soon!

Philmore Creamery is classic gelato and sorbet done right. I have come by twice already and each…read moretime the flavors I got were fabulous. The line can get long but they move fairly fast. They have a policy where each person can only try three flavors, in the interest of keeping the line moving. The inside is a bit cramped with some seating inside and a refrigerated cabinet with ice cream based treats, as well as a cute spot for "dog parking" by the door. I really like their giant ice cream figurine outside. The first time I visited, I tried their dark chocolate sorbet and mascarpone gelato. This combination was absolutely HEAVENLY. The chocolate was rich and not too sweet, and the mascarpone tasted exactly like a tiramisu. I am always amazed by how they can get chocolate sorbet to taste just as good as chocolate gelato, as there isn't any milk. The second time, I tried their matcha blackberry ice cream and strawberry sorbet. The matcha was smooth and strong, and paired beautifully with the two summer flavors. The strawberry sorbet is limited to only a few weeks and it's so, so good, like summer in a cup!! This is one of my fave spots in the city for classic flavors with perfect execution. I can't wait to try their coffee and pistachio flavors!

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!

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!

I've been trying to hit more ice cream spots in the city, so what's better to try than…read moreSwensen's--an absolute classic! I got the Sticky Chewy Chocolate which I really liked! It was very rich (tasted very fudgey) and dense, which is exactly how I like my ice cream. The service was also good and I got to try a couple different flavors since it was my first time. I'll definitely be back at some point!