Chai-Yo Sweets & Treats
Categories: Desserts, Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: Nob Hill1335 Polk St
(between Austin St & Pine St)
San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 771-2562
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Outdoor Seating: No
212 reviews
Neighborhood: Cole Valley
"Sorry, Gil, but I love this place. It's got your San Francisco-crepery essentials: chalkboard menus, savory and sweet crepes, woodsy…" read more »
24 Reviews for Chai-Yo Sweets & Treats
The brownie sundae consisted of Mitchell's ice cream ( your choice of vanilla or chocolate ) , nuts , a cherry , petite brownies from Safeway or Costco , and those wafer roll cookie thingys from Walgreens . It was good , but kind of a rip off at $5.95 . The ladyfingers were ehhh .. maybe I just don't like ladyfingers . The mango pudding wasn't really good .. I don't like the texture ; it doesn't really taste much like pudding . The pudding also wasn't sweet enough . I haven't tried their drinks yet but from what I see , they're made of powder . Btw , they serve thai food next door .. the place is interconnected . How cool hehe .
Yes, it's true. Their Almond Milk Tea is better than any others I've had. (I've had about three others, so there ya go..) Like, seriously, it's "pretty good!" I'm sure Darin liked his drink as well, after having to brave my navigating around shady SF streets in the Tenderloin while listening to that "What the fuck is this?" station because I so conveniently left my CDs in my friend's car.
Anyways, come here and get yo-self something to drink. I still needs to try their food.
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Recently I had dinner and dessert with a cute, sharp, and witty guy.
Okay, I lied, he's TOTALLY FUCKING ADORABLE, and his unawareness of this fact only makes him sexier 'cause you know nothing turns Mama off more than a self-involved pretty boy with entitlement issues. In fact, he's hotter than most of the folks in my life -- well, except you dear reader, and I'm not just saying that because I crave your approval, by the way please tell me I'm sexy or else I'm gonna cry and play my tiny violin and you'll have to wipe the tears from my face with your fist. To give you an idea of just how fucking hot he is, picture Beyonce plumbing John Krasinski's dirty spot with a strap-on while Noam Chomsky whispers sweet nothings like NEOCON CONSPIRACY! WAR PROFITEERING! CHENEY'S AN ASSHOLE! GENERATIVE GRAMMAR! in your ear, then multiply the sexiness by 1,000,000 and BOOM! that's him!
Anyway, after stuffing ourselves with a variety of delectable faux meats at the veg cult snack shack a.k.a. Golden Era, we dropped by Chai-yo for dessert. As we sipped on our drinks (in my case, it was an expertly-mixed honeydew melon slush boba drink and he drank -- in his words -- the "best almond milk tea ever") and had a whimsical albeit desultory conversation (language acquisition, family, vegetarianism, hot boys), the flourescent lights from the refrigeration unit lit our faces and I pictured myself brushing his voluminous hair and thought how wonderful it was to have a real, visceral conversation with a living Ganymede.
Oh, nothing happened. That is correct. Next time, I'll order a Roofie boba tea.** WAIT, WHAT?!?
**I'm kidding. But I will have the Spanish Fly slush, kthxbai.
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They used to sell Khanom Sod Sai, a yummy Thai dessert that street vendors sell in Thailand. There's a brown filling consisting of shredded coconut inside a white pudding of sticky rice with a topping of coconut cream and rice flour. It is then wrapped in a banana leaf and put in a steamer for about ten minutes. However, they stopped selling it and now I'm sad.
Also, the staff are cold and disinterested in their customers. There aren't enough tables and they make it really clear that they don't want you sticking around after a certain hour because they REALLY want to close shop and leave.
My girlfriend and I decided to try this place out tonight for a quick dessert run. we opted for the brownie sundae with strawberry ice cream and also the mango pudding. The brownie sundae was very good. the chocolate filled wafer straws were a very nice touch. my only note would be to eat if fairly quickly, towards the end the brownies stated to freeze and get hard in the ice cream. the mango pudding, although much more jello than pudding like, was very enjoyable and refreshing. overall i would say it was a good experience, the price was not bad and the staff was friendly.
When I'm in the mood for a quick bite I call Chai-Yo and order Pad Thai to go with a side of pepper flakes to sprinkle over the dish. I've also tried their curries and they are very tasty too. I've been here a dozen or so times and only once did I have bad service and I made it a point to tell one of the managers on duty (I think it was one of the owners). Since then I've never had such rude treatment from that same server who still works there. I like this place and will return for their Pad Thai.
Want to see a magic trick? Just walk through the doors of Chai-Yo Sweets, and you will become invisible to the staff.
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We wandered down here after the Guiness-fest at O'Reilly's, and there were quite a few people in here so we ventured in.
The service was prompt, the pad thai was super tasty, and we indulged in a special dessert from next door and were not disappointed. We met some lovely folks in town from Australia who let us taste their salmon and we let them taste our panang beef (also incredibly wonderful).
I'm surprised by the other reviews, I absolutely loved the food.
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I love their green tea ice cream (One of the best I have tasted) - I'm Japanese and I grew up eating green tea ice cream all the time. I have tasted at least 100s of green tea ice cream.
I like their coconuts ice cream too!
I don't like their connected restaurant as much though...
Their bubble tea was very disappointing. The tapioca itself was overcooked or must have been sitting around too long. It wasn't solid and chewy, but flavorless, and deteriorating rather like toilet paper in water. Certainly not worth the $4+ that paid for it.
Service wasn't too hot either. On an empty evening night even, there's only two or three people at the counter, and their English is hard to understand. They also are a bit on the cold side.
Sweet shops are usually good for groups and kids, but this one's really too small for that stuff. Only a handful of tables for two or three occupy the cramped space. If you've brought a party or a buncha kids, it's best to get it to go.
They're connected to the Chai-Yo thai restaurant next door, which appears equally small and more dimly lit. Maybe their restaurant is more successful than their sweet shop.
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The green tea gelato was so green I couldn't resist it, and I am glad that I didn't. Perfect after a spicy, salty Polk Street meal.
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They have a separate dessert section which has a couple of tables next to the main restaurant. Service was fantastic and courteous. They have an assortment of Thai and Western desserts in the deli case, and can also make your typical Asian-style fruit juices and tapioca ball drinks. But order the stuff that is on the menu instead and needs to be prepared fresh. I had the FBI (Fried Banana and Ice Cream) which was probably the best I've ever had. The fried banana was in little tater-tot balls and deep fried to perfection. My friend had the roti, which was tasty and sweet...
Get the Red Bull from Thailand. It's got more than wings, and a lot more than the Austrian version.....that's for the kids.
Yay for bubble drinks! But I go here for the best spicy crispy sesame fish treats I've ever had and I've had a bunch.
update: they no longer sell the best freaking spicy crispy sesame fish treats on the planet. The desserts are still quite good.
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Get your boba here. It's not as sweet as the bubble milk teas I've tasted from Quickly. The green milk tea is great. It's a cute lil area connected with the Chai-Yo Thai restaurant--a perfect stopover for sweets after your hearty Thai meal next door.
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Nob Hill? More like Polk Gulch..... this cozy eatery offers a multicolored assortment of curries and Thai noodle dishes. Try the golden bags or 'angel wings' with crispy basil on top..... pretty good stuff. Presentation is in favor of portion size here as I ate two dishes here and was still hungry......... but thats just me.
Best of all you can go next door to their ice cream shop 'area' and cop some Mitchells.
One of my fav bubble-tea places. Tapioca is always great, not to hard, sweet and tasty. The black milk tea is great! I head here when I want a guaranteed good Bubble tea. They also have a "buy 10 tapioca drinks get one free" card that is great.
This is a fantastic bubble tea place, and here is why.
The milk tea is sweet, but not overpowered with sugar. There is a hint of chocolate or vanilla at times in the back taste though it is not added. Must be like fine wine... However, the fruit flavored drinks have a tendency to be quite sweet. So, be careful when you get off the beaten path.
The pearls are made well; a chewy center with the soft outer ring for your enjoyment.
If you like bubble tea, try this place.
it's in walking distance from my place, so i'll occassionally swing by to get my fix for sweet stuff.
uber yum yum!
us: party of 6 wild and crazy 'adults'
seated v. quickly.
i was boring and got the thai iced tea...others got the frou frou beverages...i was violently green with envy - almost as green as the hombre's honeydew slushy.
enjoyed some crispy spring rolls, the golden bags were ordered on a dare (i said 'adults' didn't i?) and were declared delish.
i had the crab fried rice - also boring - what the hell was wrong with me? crab fried rice was very tasty, but pretty bland. the crab tasted fresh though - always a good sign.
for dessert i had the apple pie a la mode...the pie was weird and flat and tasted like the 'pie' you get at burger king.
want to go back for more tastiness!
Chocolate cake here is so yummy. Haven't tried everything yet so minus one star.
chai-yo sweets satisfies my bottomless cravings for tapioca (boba) drinks and gelato.
my addictions:
-chocolate chai drink
-milk tea tapioca
-strawberry + banana smoothie with tapioca
-thai ice tea gelato
-thai ice tea gelato
-green tea ice cream
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As Rachel Ray would say, "YUM-O". Okay, I am kidding, but the gelato is sure good.
I am addicted to the taro milk tea (tapioca "bubble" tea). Service can be a bit slow though.
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