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Categories: Desserts, Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond"Alison absolutely rocks the wedding cake world. I expected a pretty cake, and walked into a BEAUTIFUL, whimsical cake that had all of our…" read more »
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in the 'neighborhood hot spot' category... i have come here dozens, if not 100, times. it's one of those places that barely needs a review. it's a candy store, essentially, with some swanky-cool tapioca drinks. i prefer the "real fruit" ones. they have 4-5 flavors that are made from real fruit - of which, i always get either the mango or the pina colada.... the pina colada actually does taste like pina colada. real pineapple and some shaved coconut. good stuff. i don't live on tapioca balls though, so i ask for light-boba-balls...
i've only had the ice cream once or twice, but i have taken some pints to go home. the Lychee and Taro flavors are awesome. and, if you like chinese candy or those tea and soy sauce soaked hard boiled eggs, they have a lot of both of those. one wall has your standard american candy and the other has all the chili-powder mango and all those asian candies that us white folks can't quite understand. also has the benefit of being right across the street from Green Apple bookstore which is the perfect spot to browse around with your Pina Colada tapioca drink in hand.
OMG! How much money have I wasted at this place?!
For about a year, I came here everyday after class. I would get their spicy salt and pepper chicken and a tapioca drink - either Almond Jelly or Lychee Coconut. I came here so often I visually memorized their menu. But they re-wrote their menu recently so everytime I want to get a drink, I have to stand there for several minutes trying to find the one I want.
Their spicy salt and pepper chicken are the best. Chicken not overcooked; flavored but not to the point where I need to drink a whole gallon of water afterwards. The tapiocas are the best in town. Other places just don't compare - either too watery or too sweet. I don't know how they make it but they must be putting some special powder in or something. Everytime I'm near here, my tummy makes my feet just walk right in. It's a drug!
Calling all taro lovers! To me, this place is the taro capital of San Francisco.
For years I've been coming here to get my taro fix with tireless rounds of fresh creamy taro boba and comforting hot taro with grass jelly and red beans depending on my mood. Lately, I realized that I will eventually succumb to their Marco Polo gelati so I finally made a visit and got a double scoop of taro and red bean for dessert. Paul K was the first to tell me about Marco Polo and the taste did not disappoint. My modest portions of taro and red bean gelati were dense, creamy, and really hit the spot.
Comparing them to ice cream, the texture holds together a lot better than Bi-Rite with a taste less milky than Mitchell's. As for a comparison with other places that are more similar, I still think Sophie's Crepes have the better red bean gelato while Gelateria Naia may still be better overall. However, let's keep in mind that none of these places carry taro flavor and there aren't too many that can claim taro supremacy in so many different ways. All they need now is to carry a taro spare ribs Taiwanese lunch box with a tea egg--Yes, I dare to dream!
Service was friendly, personable and responsive like always. They were quick to respond to my requests and also went out of their way to wipe down a clean table before I took a seat. Months ago I saw a lengthy thread in LA with people asking about taro and where to get it. Well, it's all right here and it's very good.
What more can I say? I brought some out of town visitors to Sweet Delite tonight and they were… Read more »
Very decent HK dessert spot in the Richmond. I had my very first Pudding Milk Tea here... It was FANTASTIC!!!!! Cheap and quick too.
Sweet Delite has been one of my must-visit spots ever since my days of living in SF about 7 years ago. Although I'm always tempted by the Marco Polo lychee gelato, I usually go with the pina colada tapioca drink. It was a bit on the sweet side this time around, but I still liked being able to taste real fruit, instead of the bottles of syrup that most boba places serve. The rows of candy and preserves are always tempting, too. I think their prices went up for the boba...$3.99 for 16 oz pina colada. Ggrrr...oh well. Another plus - the nice people who own the place! Always cheerful and friendly.
After moving to the Inner Richmond, I've become quite addicted to bubble tea with the array of shops around. I must say this place is my favorite because they don't taste so artifical/powdery. Try the banana and taro bubble tea! :)
A friend and I stopped by here during a Clement Street dessert crawl and were amazed with the variety of desserts here. We split a huge shaved ice dish with copious amounts of condensed milk, red beans, and fruits, and it was delicious! We washed it down with watermelon boba drinks that were so fresh and tasted just like real watermelon! I would definitely recommend coming here.
Oh and did I mention that they have ice cream?! And it's a candy store too!
Great place for AUTHENTIC tapioca/Boba. I've lived in SF til I was 18 until I left for college. Every time I go back, or my out-of-city friends come, I ALWAYS make a stop here.
Family owned, ran by Taiwanese people. Super nice and Friendly.
If you like Taro, the root, they offer a smoothie made of REAL taro. My person favorite, but not many enjoy this.
Other Drinks I've had and loved:
-Taro (powder, so its purple) blend
-Coconut and Red bean
-Honeydew
-Milk Tea (always good)
-Watermelon juice
all with Tapioca/Boba of course
I've only had the milk teas and ice kachan here. Never had the food or candies, etc. I think it's just ok. The old lady is nice, but their ice kachan is small, everything looks so messy and unorganized and there are paper signs e-very-where. Bins of candies everywhere I don't know how long they've been sitting there. I don't know, I just feel this place was prolly a nice storefront when it started but now it's just a messy shop. Dessert shops in Taiwan are even much tidier than this nowadays.
They make their own tea eggs.
It needs a revamp. But at least the people that work here are nice.
Sweet Delight offers THE BEST TAPIOCA! Period. I was first introduced to boba drinks 12 years ago and since then, I've been scouting around the SF Bay Area for THE best tasting tapioca drinks. By far, they are the most authentic (owners are from Taiwan) joint--they were even praised by Don Bleu in the morning (Star 101.3) and they've also won numerous awards! Bianca and Johnny are super nice and friendly...I've known them since 1997 and I've seen their twins grow up throughout the years. Johnny's mother also works there in the a.m. and though she is older and doesn't speak much English, she always delivers GREAT customer service with a smile =)
I love this place!!!
They got to be the best place to get a tapioca drink in SF!!!
When I needed a candy fix I would come to this place just down the street. The candy did seem a little suspicious, sometimes stale perhaps it had been sitting there for awhile. But if I was craving candy this was definately the only place around within walking distance. I wish I had tried the boba drinks!
OMG - the scent of the hard boiled eggs cooking in hot tea at the counter greets me as I walk in and suddenly I feel like I am home. I literally feel like taking off my shoes at the door and walking deeper into this treasure trove of Asian and American candy, ice cream, and my favorite by whatever name you want to call it: bubble tea, boba, or tapioca drink!
I asked for an iced ginger honey drink to celebrate the sunshine - real sunshine that inspired me to walk Clement street in my tank top - I swear it was that warm ::laughing::. I think all the ladies who man the counter are sweet even though we have a language barrier, I find they speak the universal language I am well versed in - a smile.
Grandma (I wish she were my 'grama') anyway, sweet grandma was concerned I did not have my "buy 10 get 1 free" card, so she marked off my drink and my daughters and handed it to me with a smile and said "ok, come again closer to one free!" Awww, I love her!
Sweet Delite is a great little shop to get your favorite Asian Starbugs fix. Much better to support a great mom and pop shop! Thanks Sweet Delite for satisfying my love of ginger honey drink and for brightening my day everytime I pop in!
Chocolate covered gummy bears: check
Holland mints: check
What a miracle to have this within 3 blocks of my house!! Oh, and it's super cheap!
They have a ton of other candies and dried sweets and it looks like a lot of really good Boba options as well, but I'm not so into that...I'm just here for the candy.
this has become the number one spot for me to pick up tea eggs.
I have to say this place tops off wonderful foods on Irving. I'm sorry and yes wonderful foods is a family friend but this place does it for me.
Their milk tea, now I'm not too keen about it.
Other than that, they have the usual array of dried goods and sweets, and they also have ice cream and of course they have a Durian kind too.
Every time I'm in the area, I come here. I get their papaya milk boba without the boba cause I don' t like it. It's SO good! They use real, fresh papaya and it's so light and refreshing. The only catch is that sometimes they don't blend it enough and I've gotten huge chunks of ice in my drinks. But it's still good. Actually, if you wait for the drink to melt a little, it gets a thinner and is so much easier to drink. I don't know.. I like it.
I went here years ago when I was on a mission to try every pearl tea shop in the Bay Area. I no longer remember the specifics but I do remember making a mental note to myself to never come here again. I also felt bad that I dragged my in-laws here for their first (and last) pearl tea experience. I'm saying this because my drink was awful - way too sweet. The first time, my drink was okay. The second time it was awful, so I'm guessing I had black milk tea the first time and red bean tapioca the second time. I read the other reviews - some say the drink is too sweet, others say it's not as sweet, so the sweetness level probably varies considerably depending on the drink you order.
I usually get the black milk tea, red bean or green tea with tapioca pearls. Actually, those are the only three varieties that I order 99% of the time (I tried roasted barley tea at Tea Era).
I like the bins of candy but you can find those at Wonderful Foods, Sweet House and some of the other pearl tea establishments. I can't be more specific because I promised myself that I would not buy another pearl tea here. They've been around for 12 years now, so someone must like their pearl tea.
I'm a San Francisco native that grew up just around the corner from this place and have been a patron for over a decade. The owners are Taiwanese (as am I) and the Taiwanese bubble tea and snacks are pretty authentic. My favorite is the lychee-flavored green milk tea with bubbles. The Marco Polo gelato (lychee and mango flavored) are amazing too.
If I could drink every drink in this store without barfing I would! This is the best place to get tapioca drinks. In my opinion. I went there with my mom serveral times and had fun picking out the unique flavors of all their drinks. I've been going to this place before it got popular. I'm glad people are going to this mom&pop buisness. I LOVE YOU SWEET DELITE !even if I can't fit my jeans after having my taro tapioca. hehe! =D
Four characters, xi gua niu nai, or two words, watermelon milk...both done right at Sweet Delite.
I tend to be more of a traditionalist for many things, and while there are many fancy fancy boba drinks available, I tend to gravitate towards green milk tea boba (zhen zhu nai lu). Another simple pleasure is xi gua niu nai. A less popular non-boba drink here in the U.S., but one that was so refreshing, and one of my favorites on the streets of Taipei.
Sweet Delite uses fresh watermelon, and this drink hits the spot when the weather warms a bit, like when it reaches the upper sixties here in SF. This place is old school. I recommend having the owner, an older gentleman, fix the drink. He makes a good drink. More broadly, this place is very consistent with the quality of ingredients, including the zhen zhu or boba.
For those looking for a simple fresh drink, without the bells and whistles, then you may what to give this a try. Three and half stars.
First off....WOW! I can't believe I didn't find this place sooner!!!!!
Im a big fan of boba and I've must have tried every damn Tapioca place out there imaginable. Before this I've always been content with Wonderful Foods and tolerated the ocational Quicklys and Tapioca Express. WELL NO MORE!!!!!!!!!
First off upon entering this store, I felt like a kid in a candy shop again. You are litterally surrounded by all kinds of sugar filled sweets to indulge those naughty little taste buds. Listening to the adult side of me for once in my life, I attempted to ignore all those delectable goodies and proceeded straight to the counter were me and my friend were greeted by this very friendly asian lady.
We proceeded to place our orders and she made it right on the spot with..*gasp*.....fresh ingredients! No more powders!!! :O
I ordered the Passion Fruit with pearls and she ordered some coconut concoction or other. What was really funny was that after making my friend's drink, the lady still had a little bit left in the blender so she offered to hold my friend's drink while she drank up some of it so that the lady could pour the remainder into her cup. Wow......thats service :)
We sat around for a little bit in the store just chatting away. It was rather quiet for a Tues (around 5ish) which was pleasantly surprising. (+1 star for no lines!)
Price is a little on the higher end for tapioca, but well worth the investment! Thank you previous reviewers for helping me find my new tapioca joint! My sweet tooth thanks you!
My favorite Boba place in the Richmond and that is saying a lot! This is the real deal and it tastes that way. Milk teas actually have that sweet and milky taste and the fruit drinks taste like fruit was used! (I know this sounds super elementary, but once you have tried these you will get it.) The tapioca pearls are also just perfectly cooked so they are not too soft or chewy and almost hard.
I think I have talked myself into a Boba for tomorrow. I deserve it after this super time-consuming and draining review...;)
Sweet sweet lady that works here and they not only have tapioca drinks but they also serve hot bowls of noodles and candies too. Since it's located in Clement, parking is hard to find. We still managed to get parking a block away.
After reading the reviews for the hot custard drink, I knew I had to come here even though I was super full from a late lunch at Pho Garden.
It wasn't the first time since I've been here though. I've been coming here since I was young and always got the strawberry tapioca or honeydew tapioca.
Today, I tried the hot custard drink ($3). Although I love sweets, the drink was WAY too sweet for me.. I only took a couple small sips and couldn't drink it any more.. It's like eating a couple spoonfuls of sugars! We went home and decided to add some water to it to see if it would be less sweet. Didn't work, it was STILL really sweet.
Maybe I'll stick with the strawberry tapioca instead...
GREAT shaved ice! taiwanese style.
Its #54 on the menu. Its $3.95 and for 30 cents you can add the condensed milk, which you would be insane if you didnt.
The ice texture was very fine. I got pineapple, lychee, and grass jelly. They had all sorts of stuff- you just have to ask.
I like their chewy balls.
This place feels like home... I am a big fan of Jasmine Milk Green. Now I am on a mission to search for the best in town ( a reason to drink more!) Their Milk tea is pretty much homemade, like how we usually tried to make it ourselves at home, but of course they have better tea leaf, better milk and better sense for proportions. I loved it! I even bit on some tea leaf while drinking.. ahhh so good...:) What a shame that I've been around this area for a year now and I just knew that I could find Marco Polo Gelato in hereeee.... arghhh! btw the milk tea is $2.75.. second most expensive I've got so far.
In my opinion, this place has the best tapioca drinks in the city... and that's saying something. I always stop by for a drink when I'm in the neighborhood. As it's been very hot lately, I've been getting their watermelon tapioca and OMG, delicious. They mix freshly cut watermelon chunks plus some banana slices and ice and there you have it - a simple, refreshing, and tasty drink. No sugary syrups, additives, coloring, and other junk you might get at other places. Just clean and simple and fresh. The little boba pearls are great too. Not too rubbery, not too soft, but just the right combination of chewiness goodness.
So if you're ever near 6th and Clement, be sure to check this place out!
I will give this place credit for being one of the first tapioca spots in the city.
Tapioca:
Times are changing, though... there's some competition- hence the 3 stars. The tapioca is pretty soft, but the drinks taste a little too powdery for me.
Candy:
They do have a great candy selection.
The people that work here are extremely sweet though!
The owner seems just like a candy store owner should--a cheerful, benevolent dispenser of sweets who hums along with the radio. I love that he uses real fruit to make a lot of his bubble drinks, instead of artificial powder flavoring. Their selection of dried plum, ginger and mango candies is really extensive and high quality. You might think that every salted plum is like the next, but not so! Their plums have a lot of meat on them, and seem less processed than the bagged grocery plums. Stumbling across this place made me feel like a kid again.
I had never tried Jackfruit before, so when I saw that they had a jackfruit drink I had to go for it. I really liked it and am eager to go back and try some other new fruits in tapioca drink form. There were actually chunks of fruit in the drink too, so even though it took the friendly couple a while to make the drink, it was worth it.
Also, the boyfriend (a big fan of almond milk tea) said it was the first almond milk tea he's ever had that tasted like almonds. Now that doesn't say much for the other places trying to make almond flavored drinks but it also says a lot about this place.
the only best shaved ice place that i know of in SF.
With your shaved ice these should be your must have toppings: condensed milk, sweet bean, almond jelly and lychee.
korean's call this pat-bing-soo.
Great Drinks & Desserts. (Updated Below)
Honey almond pudding with boba #92 - really good and I hear the only place that makes it. What makes this place great is that it's family owned.
I also had the rice ball and red bean soup which was really good and I'd recommend getting it.
No need to drive to Marco Polo Italian ice cream at 1447 Taraval Street San Francisco, CA, 94116 as they have it here.
I am so trying the shaved ice next time I go. I wonder how it stacks up to the places in LA. I'll let you know.
UPDATE
Shaved ice was ok. I am not use to the way they have it in a plastic container. I am also use to having a larger selection of toppings.
One star for false advertising. Your signs scream $0.89 for a cup of froyo, but no where does it say it's only valid on original. I was given the evil eye when I asked for vanilla and protested the higher charge. Jerks.
Extra star for above mentioned froyo being $0.89. And having lids.
I should have ordered the larger size. I had a fresh strawberry banana tapioca here this afternoon, and it was quite refreshing.
I liked that the tapioca balls stayed soft underneath the icy cold fruit juice blend and the fact that the whole drink wasn't as sweet as tapioca drinks I've tried elsewhere. The consistency, however, could have been better had it been a bit thicker.
The hard working staff just buzzes along in a very tight workspace to churn out drink after delicious-looking drink. Judging by the steady traffic of customers on a Saturday afternoon you won't need me to tell you this place is popular.
OMG I really like this place cuz they have candy on the right side and bubble drink on the left. It's like, totally cool how you and your friends can go in and no matter how many friends you have you can't all try the same one.
I like the honey dew, that's maybe my favorite. Then strawberry is really good. Sometimes there's the guy who will stamp your card twice. He's super nice.
I am defintely gonna go back.
Sweet Delite is the perfect end to the greasy dim sum you eat along the way on Clement Street. The honeydew with pearls is really great. Also the strawberry and bananas fruit drinks are good too. Cantelope is also popular. This place is also very cheap so it's a great way to end a stroll down Clement.
There's also shaved ice which is a nice treat on a hot day... of course I wouldn't say that San Francisco really has hot days that warrant shaved ice.
The candy is pretty neat, it's very asian and sugary. Can't go wrong with huge amounts of sugar.
Cute little candy and pearl tea store that also offers Marco Polo ice cream. Came here to try their pearl tea based on their strong Yelp ratings but their pearl tea deserves only 3 stars at most. Having been spoiled by the likes of Fanasia and Tea Era in the South Bay, this place does not even compare. And there's nothing worse to an avid pearl tea/boba tea drinker than seeing the guy put spoons of Coffeemate fake cream powder into your drink - yuck. The final product was drinkable and pearls were okay, but not the best pearl tea around.
Bottom line: Wish Fantasia would open a branch in SF area. Sweet Delite - you don't cut it for pearl tea but I'll come back for your Marco Polo ice cream.
For weeks I thought SWEET DELITE was closed because I caught wind that the OTHER Inner Richmond tapioca tea place on Clement named SWEET DELIGHT went out of business.
Sweet Delite...Sweet Delight? How did I mess that up!
I mean CLEARLY Sweet Delite must be more authentic and awesome due to the fact that they misspell the name of their delite-ful store. No wonder those other posers went out of business!
Thank God I can still get my 30 varieties of dried plum candies, my Matrix/Terminator/Blade figurines, and my fresh mango tapioca tea (which I still maintain is one of the best bubble teas in the city).
And thank God I held onto that "Buy 10, Get 1 free" stamp card!
-1 star because it still smells like tea boiled eggs
Good boba drinks here. Lots of candy to choose from.
Personally, the savory faire is better. Love the soy sauce marinated eggs. There is also Taiwanese beef noodle soup and that gelatinous ba wan here. Haven't tried them yet - but I will return.
The lady at the counter was really nice and went out of her way to help us pick a drink. Rahnel wanted an iced coffee ( I think it's a NY thing) and the lady promised her that if she tried it mixed with their coffee tea also, she wouldn't regret it. I had a sip and it was amazing, and I am not a big coffee fan myself.
I had a mango shake with the big tapioca pearls. I really just love the pearls. Just give me a little shake and lots of pearls and I am a happy camper. Lots of candy and ice cream here, not the neatest place but it has that warm small store feel.
And after trying the tapioca drinks at other places, this one is by far my favorite place for tapioca drinks in the city so far. :)
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