Absolutely loved this parfait The matcha soft serve was rich, creamy, and not overly sweet. Paired with the hojicha layer underneath, the flavor balance was surprisingly smooth and comforting. The texture from the jelly and crispy rice puffs made every bite interesting. Also... this thing is HUGE One of the prettiest desserts I've had around Convoy lately. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Maiko Jelly Parfait - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

Came here ok a Friday evening for an art night with my good friend. Ordered a hot matcha with whipped cream. It tasted decent, albeit not hot more like luke warm. Atmosphere is chill and I really love the music that they play. It's trap music. Good stuff! Service is average. Takes about 10-15 for your order--at least it did for mine. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

A pretty cool, straightforward matcha cafe in Kearny Mesa next to Brothers Mexican and Chaba Thai Kitchen. When you enter, you're hit with the cool A/C, medium-loud contemporary playlist, and a usually vacant interior filled with small tables. You order at the kiosks in the front right of the store next to the counter. It's pretty much self-service matcha. I've only had the matcha latte and the matcha tea. Both are really tasty, smooth, and reasonably earthy. The matcha latte is best iced with 50% sweetness and whole milk. Super refreshing without being overly sweet or masking the flavor profile of the matcha took much. For some, the self-service aspect of this place might be a turnoff, but for me it's kind of a nice reprieve from your typical monotonous service-worker interactions. Overall, really good matcha latte and matcha tea, a bit pricey (but that's matcha in 2026), and pleasant atmosphere. read more

See all

04/22/2026 I was here three days ago, and today I brought my niece after our lunch date celebrating her birthday. Yes, I am crazy about their matcha! Creamy delicious!!! read more

See all

Great Macha in town[especially tiramisu macha] Great environment for hang out and for meeting read more

This place is my new favorite matcha spot! The space is shared with the ramen shop next door and it's also a great area to study. There are self order kiosks at the front which I appreciate since I like to take my time to order. I got the strawberry matcha latte and it was delicious! I normally get 50% sweet less ice and this was perfect. Matcha is a nice green and tastes great. Will definitely come back again :) read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

Service was very fast on a Sunday. The banana matcha latte was so good! Pretty expensive $10 with tax. Liked that you can customize the sweetness. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Banana Pudding Matcha Latte - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

The drinks were extremely delicious! No complaints from me! Service was good and timely I highly recommend. Definitely some of the better matcha I've had. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

A cute cafe for a wide variety of matcha and hojicha desserts. The matcha and hojicha powder they use tastes authentic and high quality, and you can't go wrong with their lattes. If you're looking for a more decadent dessert that can be shared, the soft serve and parfaits are perfect! The ube soft serve was light and not too sweet, but still had a lot of ube flavor. The store uses a self serve kiosk to order, and our order was brought out quickly. They also offer a variety of prepped goods, such as coconut pudding, ice cream pints, and cookies. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Ube soft serve - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

Matcha Cafe Maiko (MCM) stopped the carousel of Asian dessert places that occupied this suite in the Mercury Village Shopping Center of Kearny Mesa when it opened several years ago. It's the OG location in the San Diego area as there are now more branches of this chain across the county. When it first debuted, there were enough tables for about two dozen customers. Now that the owners have opened the left wall to share the adjacent space with a do-it-yourself ramen concept, the seating capacity has increased by 50% Before matcha products became a viral sensation, MCM was where you came to enjoy green tea creations. A menu sheet was posted on a stand outside the entrance. What's interesting was that those prices were obsolete as the menu screen behind the service counter showed an increase of at least $0.75 per item. The staff should reconcile the differences and not display a sheet that is no longer applicable. Two self-service ordering tablets were to the right of the service counter. The business was short-handed so they didn't have any workers staffing the counter. All of them were in the back kitchen assembling orders as they rolled in from the kiosks. The menu had numerous serving styles... soft serve, parfait, bubble waffle, tea, latte, cheese foam, float, fruit, frappe, soda. Strawberry Matcha Lattes were the rage, but lately I have seen Banana Pudding as a new twist. The Banana Pudding Matcha Latte with regular milk, less ice, and 100% sweetness was my order. The item was prepared fairly quickly which was the good news. For $9.75, it didn't have the intense matcha taste as I had hoped because the banana pudding obscured the green tea flavor. They advertise the use of first harvest, single origin, ceremonial, A1 organic matcha. How much of that is marketing, especially the ceremonial part when no such grading standard exists? Google it, if you don't believe me. For this visit to MCM, I gave a three star rating for my drink. read more

See all

I'm honestly jealous that they don't have this closer to me. This is the most perfect spot to hang out with friends or even have a casual date. I love that you can get matcha soft serve here and that there's a fridge with bottled matcha lattes to enjoy on the go. Unfortunately there isn't much of an opportunity to experience the customer service because the ordering experience is so digital. The self-service kiosk was straight forward and user-friendly though, but there were so many options and I can see a line building up quickly if someone takes too long deciding between them. I was impressed by the wall of ramen packets organized by countries. I had no clue there were so many types of instant ramen. Guests are also able to add toppings, I only wish there was an option to have broth instead of water to elevate the experience. I also noticed they served alcohol which was surprising. I'm sure pairing that with the ramen is the perfect late night meal with friends. This spot seems big group friendly since it is so spacious. Next time I'm in the area I'm going to make it a point to come back! read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Ramen wall - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

I've had Matcha Maiko back in OC so this is not my first time, but it is my first time trying the items we ordered. Pros: - Consistent. For the price that you pay for, it's a good amount of dessert. We ordered ube/green tea in a cone, and banana matcha drink. - Self order kiosk for convenience. The place was small but clean. Apparently the matcha foam on matcha is their best one, so I'll try ordering that next time. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

I love matcha maiko, I think it's my favorite place to get matcha in SD by far and I'm super happy that they have a double matcha option now! This location is kind of combined with the ramen store next door so there's plenty of seating and you can enjoy your drink with some ramen if you want. The service is normally always pretty quick and the workers are very nice. This place never disappoints! read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Double Matcha - matcha latte + matcha foam - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

This is one of my go to matcha spots. Consistently good, never too slow to be served, conveniently located. Good matcha; I always get the matcha soft serve on top of the matcha latte. the bubble waffles are good too. There is a large parking lot with plenty of parking; a rarity in Convoy. There is another location in Mira Mesa I go to as well. read more

I finally understand the Matcha Craze !! This is my first time treating myself to matcha latte in a while so for me it was a very pleasant experience! When you walk in, the first thing I noticed is there's around 6-8 total tables. Three larger tables for big families up to 6 seats and around 3-4 smaller tables with two seats. The space is a bit small and can be hectic on a busy day like when I came on a Saturday morning. I assume during the weekdays it's quiet and a great place to catch up with friends or family! It's also connected to the ramen shop so you can grab a bite to eat if you're hungry too. The ordering is straight forward with two kiosks to the front right of the store. There's plenty of photos and menu descriptions to pick out flavors you want. The only downside is there's no staff up front since they are in the back making drinks (I assume it's because I came on a super busy weekend). Though it was busy, got my drink within 10 min wait even though it said the wait time of 20-25 min! (I would recommend just ordering online first for pickup-faster that way) I ordered the banana pudding matcha latte with 100% balanced sweetness and normal milk. Hands down one of the best matcha lattes I've hand! I can't wait to try other lattes offered here. Right away I noticed how smooth the matcha was blended and doesn't have that weird grainy texture or grass flavor. I don't prefer matcha because of this! Also, their banana pudding cream top was outstanding and packed with fresh banana flavor (not the artificial banana flavor). It's not too sweet for me and I loved how banana forward it was. If you aren't a sweet drink person, recommend 50% sweetness when ordering. I would 100% come back to try their matcha soft serves or other lattes! Stay tuned! Parking: 8/10 busy and can get filled up but easy to find or park Ambiance: 7/10 packed, smaller than expected but still able to find a seat and clean! Shares spot with instant Ramen shop next door. Food/Drink: 10/10 delicious and not too sweet! Will be back to try more. Service: 8/10 no one I spoke with but easy to order via kiosk and got my drink right away! read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Banana Pudding Matcha Latte - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

Banana pudding matcha soft serve was sooo good! The matcha flavor was strong and delicious but it could've used more banana pudding to be balanced read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

I use to love the matcha here, my usual would be the ube matcha cold foam. Then the owner raise the price from an 8 dollar drink to a 9 dollar drink due to wanting to give high quality matcha... but the new matcha doesn't taste very good, and during the early roll out you can tell when they would switch back-and-forth to the old ingredient and the new ingredient but the price would still be 9 bucks. They also change their cups, it's annoying to open the lid compared to the old cup. My recent experience and observations with this establishment is that the owner sounds cheap and is trying to increase profit by making things worst. Update/reply I understand that, I even acknowledged it on the og post. I'm just expressing that some customers don't want to use a straw and the old cup was much more user friendly than the new ones, if someone wants to pull the tab back, it'll get a little messy with the new cups. As for the higher quality ingredients in matcha, I think it would be preferred to have matcha be 8 bucks rather than 9 since it is franchise establishment. I appreciate your staff, they do a wonderful job and handle difficult customers very well. But I feel that they don't get enough support from management. Matcha ppl seem stressed and the ramen side looks like it's hanging on its last legs. I really did like this establishment, the vibe is more lively than the Escondido location, but I feel like the changes and the vision is going deviating from what it once was. read more

MATCHA CAFE MAIKO @ CLAIREMONT Parking is available out in their plaza. It can be very busy because it is shared with other restaurants and stores. I have been to the Escondido location, so I was really excited to try this spot that is just right at Claremont. The line wasn't super long, but it was really packed. stepping in there was no workers in the front. It was just a bunch of kiosk that you would just order on your own so that was just a little bit off for lack of customer service. however, I decided to get the strawberry Matcha and I did 50% sugar and light ice and my boyfriend decided to get the Matcha and Dole whip. The total was about $15. The Matcha was about seven dollars and the doll whip was $6.50. The items came out very quickly and it was incredible. I feel like every single time I do come to get Matcha this place has one of the most highest in premium matcha. it is super authentic and has a really strong Matcha flavour so I definitely recommend getting like an extra flavouring the way that I got strawberry. The place is also split up in between another Ramen spot right next, so are able to go on the other side and sit down. Overall, I'll definitely stop by this place. I love the ambiance here and the environment. It is very clean! read more

See all

Upon walking in, you place your order at the kiosk on Snackpass. We got the Matcha and Ube soft serve with two mochi balls. When it came out, the matcha soft serve on top was melting quickly, but it was still delicious. They do give a good amount which we appreciated. The ube tastes coconuty, and went well with the matcha. The mochi balls were chewy but don't have much flavor, so you can skip on that topping. If you are craving a matcha soft serve, their quality is great and we would come back again! Matcha Soft Serve - 9/10 Ube Soft Serve - 8/10 Mochi Balls - 7/10 read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Matcha & Ube Soft Serve - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

Haven't been here in a minute so we decided to stop by for some desserts earlier. The banana pudding was good: creamy, not too sweet, and had a nice graham cracker crunch. But the portion was really small for the price. I thought it'd be in a 16 oz cup, but it was more like a 10 or 11 oz cup. The matcha strawberry drink was bold, earthy, and you can actually taste the matcha flavor. I was hoping to get the matcha soft serve too, but they were sold out... bummer. The irony of a matcha cafe being out of matcha haha. The shop is cute but pretty small with limited seating. A little pricey overall, but the quality is solid. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

They have a wide and unique range of matcha drinks and desserts. My friend was wowed by the puffle cone dessert she ordered. You have to order via kiosk though, and I don't like it when restaurants expect me to be their employee. read more

This is the only dedicated matcha place i really found on Yelp while visiting SD so literally came here every day my first trip and once on my last trip! I enjoy getting the banana cream matcha, it is delicious. They also offer kokomelo and bread, the spicy curry bread was okay, and bf ate the hokkaido cream so didnt get to taste, and the kokonut he said is more firm/gelatinous than tong sui/cocomelo. Overall happy they have a matcha place i can go to!! read more

See all

I ordered a soft serve in a cup with a cone, but my cone was really burnt and stale, it was disappointing. I tried masking it with the ice cream to make it better, but it didn't help much. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Soft Serve - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

Came here on a weekday afternoon around 4ish.. a fair amount of customers coming and going, but plenty of tables to accommodate at the time of our visit. We ordered from one of the 3 kiosks and waited just a few minutes for our order. We got several things.. ube/vanilla soft serve - super flavorful, rich, and creamy. Bubble waffle with more soft serve!- the bubble waffle was yummy! Crisp on the edges, still a little thick in the "bubble" but moist and chewy. My friend got their chocolate matcha latte.. she's obsessed with matcha and loved it. They have several items prepackaged and available for purchase .. I took home their bottled hojicha latte to try letter. Clean overall with a comfortable chill kind of atmosphere. Looks like they will be sharing the space next door which will have self serve ramen! read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

This place is always so good. Today was the first time in years that I was disappointed with the quality of the drinks. It was very chaotic and busy in there since their expansion. We ordered two drinks and clarified before placing the order. The cashier gives us the wrong items and we tried to explain to him that is was wrong yet we just walked out because it wasn't worth it. We wanted a refund but we never got the chance to because they were so unhelpful. This place really went down hill. The matcha didn't even taste the same. It's very light and even when I got half sweet they filled the whole cup up basically with mango puree / jam. It's not the correct drink btw. Don waste your time spending $20 on two drinks. Go across the street to Labora. Way better drinks. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Mango Matcha - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

I stopped by here after work to study and I'm glad I did! Matcha Cafe Maiko is a cute matcha-centric shop that offers a variety of drinks, soft serve, and snacks. I had the pleasure of meeting one of the co-owners, John, who I noticed was helping at the cashier, working on setting up the ramen-side of the shop, and talking with customers. He was very friendly and personable, and I really appreciate when owners are involved like this! It gave the place a nice local, community feel and I felt very welcomed as a visitor. *Matcha Soft Serve: Rich, creamy, and full of matcha flavor! I had been craving this (hence my visit) and I'm glad it didn't disappoint. The serving is big enough to share, though I finished mine while working in the cafe. I added a shiratama mochi ball, but at $0.80 for one piece, I might skip the add-on next time. *Banana Pudding Matcha Latte: Loved this one! I asked John what their most popular (and unique!) drink was, and he said this is original to this location, and they're the only Matcha Cafe Maiko to carry it. As a banana pudding fan, I felt lucky to try it! I've seen people recreate this in reels, so it was fun to finally have the real thing. The bananas and pudding were fresh and creamy, and I really liked the texture from the wafer crumbles. *Studyability: There's a bathroom in the back, free Wi-Fi, and a few outlets. I was able to work here for a couple of hours. Light music plays in the background and the ambiance is nice. There's a steady stream of people but it wasn't overwhelming during this mid-afternoon weekday. Parking wasn't an issue for me, and I like that they close rather late. Note: Ramen Station: The owners are opening an instant ramen station next door. There's no wall in between, so I ordered my matcha and then studied on the ramen side. As someone who loves both dinner and dessert, I think it's a smart idea to draw people in for both! Unfortunately, it was closed when I visited, but I wish them the best and hope to try it one day. This is one of my favorites while visiting the area, it's good for studying, a casual date, or introducing your family to matcha! read more

See all

Currently under some construction with a DIY Ramen bar coming underway is the best that I can describe it right now. I love Matcha Maiko for the bold matcha desserts but especially the drinks. They've been around for quite some time but nothing much has changed except for the new additional space being shared and some self order kiosks. Ordering is easy, and due to high volume of customers I almost always experience a long wait for my drinks. Prices have gone up insanely within the past few years as a Banana Cream Matcha Latte is almost $9! The cups also have changed and I almost feel as if they are more skinnier than their old ones. The consistency of the drinks, however, is still the same and the quality remains high, so I'm glad they have kept up with it. They've started to also sell their matcha powder, so I will be purchasing when I am out of mines. Overall, Matcha Maiko will continue to be my choice of matcha here that's both convenient and consistent. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Matcha Kuromitsu Kinako Latte, Banana Pudding Matcha Latte (right) - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

Banana Matcha Soft Serve (9.5/10): I loved how strong the matcha flavor in the matcha soft serve was; it was a little bit too bitter. The bitterness was slightly canceled out by the sweetness of the banana pudding, which made the whole dessert so much better. They don't use real bananas in the pudding (it was just an artificial banana flavored pudding), but they added real bananas and Nilla wafers to top the soft serve. I enjoyed this soft serve a lot, as many places do not normally add banana pudding on top of their matcha soft serves!! I would definitely come back to get this if they're still serving this. Banana Matcha Latte (7/10): The matcha latte was slightly too bitter, and it really wasn't anything special about it. The banana cream is the same thing that they use for the soft serve. The banana cream was pretty good, but everything else was pretty basic. Overall Thoughts: When you arrive, you can order at the kiosk in front. There are some tables and chairs that you can sit at to enjoy your desserts or drinks. The service is decently timely for the amount of customers that were in the store. The store is connected to another Ramen store, which was cool. I would probably come back solely for the banana matcha soft serve, and I would love to try the other soft serve flavors! read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Banana Matcha Soft Serve - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

First off, this spot has an amazing Banana pudding Matcha. The best part is, there's banana pudding in it along with sliced bananas, just so de-li-cious! They have two kiosks to place your order. It can be time consuming because customers who aren't sure about what they want will read through every detail. The line got somewhat long. It's a small place inside however, it's split with a serve your own ramen station restaurant. I'm not sure if they are affiliated but there's seating on that side too. Can't wait to go back for more! read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Banana Pudding Matcha Latte - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

I forgot I had been to a Matcha Cafe Maiko before, but it was the Escondido location. This time I tried an iced matcha dalgona latte with soy milk and boba. It was a very good drink. To be honest, I'd skip the boba next time because I think it's better off enjoying the drink without the interruption of boba coming up the straw. Also, I love boba so I think i drank it too fast wanting more boba. The service is very unsociable. I know kiosk ordering is a thing, but I literally didn't talk to anyone! No one said hello to me, no one said thank you to me. With the cost of the drink ($10), and the only service being making me a drink, the experience is all the drink and not the store. It actually made me interested in buying matcha green tea to whisk myself at home. read more

See all

Ecstatic to find out that there was a Maiko Cafe Matcha in San Diego, so we stopped by here thinking we were going to have the same amazing experience we've always had at the Rowland Heights location. Wrong!! There are 3 self-odering kiosks they want you to use to place your order. It took 25 whole minutes for our orders to come out, even if there eere only 5 people ahead of us. Service is non-existent. You will only encounter the staff when they call your number and hand you your order. There is no rewards punch card (at least we weren't offered one, if that did exist at this location). When our orders finally came out, i thought to myself what in tarnation is this?!?! The matcha-ube soft serve was not swirled/fused. The matcha was on top of the ube. The Maiko special was the same... matcha on top of the ube. Is this normal at this location? I was not impressed w the service nor the presentation of the soft serve. The long wait here was disappointing, to say the least... not sure if hiring more people would help. I love the product and quality of the matcha, just a bummer that this experience did not align w the Rowland Heights location :( read more

See all

We stopped here for drinks and also grabbed a banana pudding because we couldn't resist. I like the kiosks where you can order because you can see all of the options and make customizations. Every drink and item is customizable but there's a fee for everything. Overall, I'd say it's too expensive for what you get. I got a matcha and added ube but the liquids didn't really blend together at all so it was half a drink of matcha and half of ube but more expensive than just getting 1 drink. The red bean flavor didn't mix at all either and had an odd texture for a drink. The banana pudding was awesome though. The interior was fine. I can't really comment on the staff since we didn't interact with them due to the kiosk. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Drinks were too expensive and the add-on flavors didn't blend at all - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

The banana pudding latte is so good! I did get it half sweet and I'm very glad I did because I do not like too sweet. Be ready for legit banana flavor lol.. but tastes super fresh! my usual is the strawberry Matcha and I also get that one half sweet as well. That one has always been a favorite for me and I've even got in my coworkers hooked! read more

See all

Delicious! Best matcha flavor in town. They use ceremonial grade matcha! They have self ordering stations and plenty of options from beverages with boba add ons, ice cream floats, soft serve ice cream, etc. There are a good amount of table inside for seating. 10/10 banana pudding matcha latte 10/10 ube cold foam matcha latte 10/10 matcha latte with ube icecream read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

Cutest little matcha moment ever. The staff is also so sweet. I'm picky with matcha, but this place? So good it became the first matcha my husband has ever liked. I handed him my cup and he literally went, "Wait... this is kinda fire." Now he keeps asking if we can go back, so clearly we're obsessed read more

If I'm being honest, the matcha scene in San Diego is not too hot. A looooot of cafes miss the mark on quality, color, consistency, & overall taste. Yet, they charge $7+ for basically milk. However, this one did not disappoint!! I ordered the strawberry matcha ($7.50), which is kind of a good deal for the size you get! This def satisfied my strawberry matcha craving! I would suggest getting half sweet, for the "not too sweet" community. Loved that it wasn't overly milky, great balance of flavors, no clumps, & not too sweet! *If you mobile order, your drink will be placed in the fridge on the right side of the cafe. read more

See all

We got the: - regular matcha latte (6/10) - matcha frappe (4/10) Personally was not a huge fan of this location due to the powdery and chalkiness of the matcha. The latte had a nice earthy tone but it was still very astringent after many sips. The frappe had a very artificial sweetener taste that both my mom and I could not keep drinking. I've been to other locations and I don't remember it being as powdery. read more

Matcha Cafe Maiko - Coffee & Tea Near Me - San Diego, California

If you are a matcha lover, this place is definitely for you! I got the regular matcha, and my sister tried the one with ube. They were ohh sooo good! Plus they are ceremonnial grade from Japan so you'll get the good quality for sure! The shop is also cutely decorated. If you're feeling like eating ramen, it is connected to their instant ramen shop. Service was quick and we got our orders right away. My sister and I also bought the bubble waffle and the adorable animal cookies! Would definitely come back here again to try the other stuff off their menu. read more

See all

I really wanted to love this location because the Mira Mesa one is amazing, but the Clairemont branch just does not hit the same. The cheese foam here is not as thick, the cups are smaller, and the whole drink just feels like a weaker version of what it should be. I even tried giving it another chance and went twice before finally giving up and walking over to Labora across the street instead. The last time I ordered I paid extra for cheese foam and they gave me the tiniest amount. I actually had to ask them to add more because it was barely there. It is disappointing because Mira Mesa sets the bar so high and I really wanted this one to be my new go to. Until they fix their foam situation I will stick with the other location. read more

I'll always go back to this place. Is everything on their menu perfect? No - their Oreo matcha frappe was not good at all. But the things they do well are so good that it makes up for it. Their banana pudding soft serve with matcha and ube is an amazing creation. The soft serve of both flavors is extremely high quality. There's a ton of seating inside and the orders come out super quick! read more

See all