Sweetheart Cafe
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When you're looking for a late-night snack or boba, Sweetheart Cafe is the place to go! They have the best popcorn chicken in the area: juicy, crispy chicken filled to the top of a brown paper bag. I always finish half the bag on my walk back home! Their boba is solid as well; my go-to order is their Thai Tea. The service is quick and fast, especially if you order through SnackPass. The best part is that it is open super late!
I love their popcorn chicken. Prices have gone up a bit. $10 for popcorn chicken, but I still love it. They do it well here, big chunks of chicken fried to perfection, juicy and not oily. You order on a touch screen and you get a text when your order is ready. A great option for appetizers when you are waiting for food next door. I always stop by if I am around Berkeley for popcorn chicken here. Boba drinks are not as good as they use to be. But the snacks have remained solid.
Food - called in to order the popcorn chicken. took about ten mins. IT'S SO FREAKING GOOD! chicken was moist and it wasn't too oily. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEIR POPCORN CHICKEN! It was $8.10 so a bit pricy IMO. Service - about a ten min from the time I ordered via phone. Ambiance - small, cute little shop. Hole in the wall. Kinda cramped and I didn't see any seating but delicious.
Got the extra spicy popcorn. Sooo spicy and yummy! The portions are veryy generous. Order and pay on tablet. Small little mom and pop; def support!!
This Sweetheart Cafe location is right outside of the Durant Food Court / Durant Square. This is a very busy and popular late night spot, especially for the locals and students because most of these restaurants/shops stay open late. Parking is pretty hard here, especially on weekends and weeknights - everyone is double parked down the whole street on both sides, which leaves the single middle lane for cars to get through, which more often than not gets backed up. I still do not understand why this is one of the only few boba shops that requires a 'Berkeley Disposable Cup Charge' because most of the shops in the city of Berkeley do not have that fee. I used to come here at least biweekly, if not every week for those late night boba cravings, especially after a late night gym workout, since they are the only boba spot in the vicinity that opens late night, until 2 AM / 3 AM (depending on the day). The service is so bad here - it gets worse on every one of my visits. Although I feel like the service was always nonexistent, as I would just order ahead of time and quickly pick up my order when it is ready, at least I would not get attitude or bad service - ever since the younger employees started to work here during the late night shifts, I would always have some sort of issue / problem with either my drink or order and I would get an attitude, a scowl, and / or rude comment from one of them. The last couple of times that I ordered from here, I would either get the Jasmine Green Milk Tea with boba or the Sweetheart Black Milk Tea with boba and they would mess it up by adding too much sugar / sweetness or not forgetting to add any at all or adding too much or too little ice, so my drink is either all ice and turns watery quickly or tastes warm, so the ice and sugar / sweetness levels are not that consistent. If it is too sweet or if there is too much ice, I usually just deal with it, but when there is no sugar at all or not enough sugar or too little ice, I would nicely ask them to fix it, which I feel is pretty considerate, as it is easier to add ice / sugar than to have to remake the drink with less ice / sugar. Anyway, when you try to ask these particular employees (usually the same 2 - 3 younger ones) to fix it, they would always have some sort of annoyed demeanor or attitude towards you and when you get the drink back, the seal is all messily torn like they could care less - half there / half gone, instead of nicely ripped/taken off completely with a dome lid snapped on top. After they fix it by adding more sugar / sweetness or ice and I taste it, it usually tastes like a sugar bomb or way too watered down, but at that point, I usually just take the L and drink it. During my last visit, I was debating if I wanted to deal with attitude and possibly a messed up drink on that particular night, but I was not in the mood, so I decided to cancel my order - the app said I had to call them to cancel and gave me their number, which I called several calls with no luck. Unfortunately, I had no choice, but to go inside and it was the same trio working - I was told they do not have a phone line, even though they have a number listed on the ordering app, online, Yelp, etc., and that I had to contact Snackpass. I told them it has not even been 2 minutes, since I ordered and I spent those 2 minutes calling them, as Snackpass stated that was the only way to cancel the order. They tried stating that they cannot cancel my order on their end because it does not let them and that they already made my drink, and that I have to contact Snackpass - which I stated yet again that Snackpass said I had to call / contact them and they kept trying to tell me they do not have a phone line. Anyway, after going in circles, one of them in the trio finally *magically* cancelled the order on their screen behind the counter after they kept stating they could not. After this last encounter with these employees - I had it with their attitude and poor / unprofessional service, especially for drinks that are not consistent and made correctly. I will not be back to this particular location when I can just go to Boba Ninja around the corner for my late night boba fix (they are not open as late, but still fairly late - 1:30 AM / 2:30 AM, depending on the day) and the employees working there at least make you feel welcomed.
***3.5 Stars*** This is what you'd call the quintessential Berkeley establishment. A tiny milk tea shop serving up all of the deep fried goodies late into the night. Located right of off Durant and Telegraph, super close to the UC Berkeley campus. A UC Berkeley student's dream. But wait... it ain't just for Berkeley students. This is a great spot to grab a milk tea and some snacks. I was in the area and wanted to grab something quick but light. Insert Sweetheart Cafe. Saw that they had my beloved Avocado smoothie on their menu, and I went in for the kill. This place has all KINDS of deep fried snacks on the menu. French fries, onion rings, fish balls, spring rolls, corn dogs, popcorn chicken. You name it. I decided to order the deep fried butterfly shrimp. I should note that they charge a fee if you're purchasing anything with a card under $15. The avocado smoothie was creamy and thick with just the right amount of sweetness. It had a very mild avocado flavor, similar to one that uses powder instead of fresh avocado. But with a place like this, I wasn't expecting too much. It was still really tasty. The deep fried shrimp were surprisingly good too considering that they probably just fry it in the same oil as they do all of their other fried stuff. Again, not a huge deal for me. What kind of ticked me was that these shrimps were coconut shrimp. I do like coconut shrimp, but these have a different flavor than regular deep fried shrimp. No where on the menu does it state that these have coconut on them. My thing is, what if I had a coconut allergy? They really need to disclose this. On top of that, they gave me the absolute worst sauce to eat with these; buttermilk ranch dressing. Um... whaaat? I was already in the car going back home, so I didn't bother to go back to ask for sweet and sour sauce. But make sure that you check your items and ask them for the sauces that you need before you leave. For something fast and quick, it's not too bad. Just don't expect anything extraordinary. For a cheap fix, this place will hit the spot though.
When those Friday night boba cravings hit, you have to give in. I'm still on my mango boba kick, so I ordered small Mango with whole milk and 25% sweetness + boba. They also sell spicy popcorn chicken, so it's a no-brainer to throw that on your order lol. I did try to call in the order but no one answered the phone lol. Ah well, I ended up placing the order on the kiosk right outside. My order was ready in 15 minutes, so pretty quick for a Friday night. Parking is crazy, but to be expected near campus. Double park and hope for the best lol. The Boba hit the spot! 25% is the move as you don't fall into the sugar coma.The spicy popcorn chicken was surprisingly good for a boba spot! The portion size was massive, so I split with a friend. A little heat on the spicy scale but nothing extreme. Would totally order again.
Stopped by here for a late night snack and some boba and was really pleasantly surprised! Aaron at the counter was super fun and very accommodating. Popcorn chicken was SO BIG and crunchy and juicy! 10/10 would come again - I already know I will get cravings for this! I got the medium spicy and it was really great, but I think I might go back for more spicy next time. The portion was also very generous. Also had the strawberry smoothie with boba and I have to say that the boba still tasted fresh and delicious even with it being later in the evening! Very chewy and soft, and it complimented the strawberry smoothie so well. They top the smoothie with whip cream but the smoothie itself tasted like a yogurt base and gave it a vibe of mango lassi but for strawberry flavor - also very good and highly recommend!! Overall: great food and drinks, even better service. I'll definitely be back for more and think everyone else should too: support local businesses during COVID!
I've been to this place quite a few times. I don't think it's a great place to go for bubble tea since every time I try to adjust sugars the guy says it's not possible or just says "it's not good sweet." I find it kind of odd that he doesn't respect my requests for sugar adjustments but maybe he has had bad experiences with customers asking for a refund or changing their drinks. I wouldn't do that, but everyone is different. Then the other day I ordered a bubble tea with grass jelly. I was really disappointed and disgusted to see that the grass jelly have this odd discoloration and also a weird texture (it wasn't jelly-like but more of it just sort of melted). I wasn't sure if it was moldy but I think that was the worst I've had because it didn't taste right. I had to throw the drink away. If I did come back here, I just wouldn't get the tea with grass jelly again (just boba or aloe).
Solid place that I always frequent for late night snacks. My personal favorites are the popcorn chicken and the various assortments of milk teas that students love Sweetheart for. Service is usually always quick (order ahead on the weekends though, as it can get pretty busy) and the owners are nice and friendly. Always had positive experiences, and this place is a Berkeley classic.
I know that a lot of Berkeley students greatly treasure this place because "back in their freshmen years, boba is like $1 and a popcorn chicken + milk tea combo is $5." Long story short, this is a true Berkeley classic. Well, inflation messed up this place so badly that nowadays, for presumably the same quality boba and popcorn chicken (based on my friend's opinion), it is more than twice as expensive as a few years back. So, for the quality and boba, this place is now a rip off, even after the Pokemon Go discounts. The plus is that this is one of the rare places that still take Pokemon Go discounts, and as a level 24 player, it is a pretty nice 15% discount. However, at almost $4.50 (before tax) for this small of a boba drink, I could go to almost any other boba place and get something similar or better. The boba here is way too sweet, and the almond milk tea drink I got still looks like it is prepared from powder. I am severely disappointed by how this drink turned out. The only plus I see is that the boba is so soft and large like a mochi consistency rather than the mushy consistency, something that is quite on par with One Zo's boba itself. I opted for popcorn chicken that is non-spicy because I was not feeling the spiciness at that time. There is slightly more popcorn chicken in Boba Ninja than this place, though the popcorn chicken here is worth trying at least once. While there are some pieces that are quite dry, most pieces that appear dry are actually pretty crispy, which is a plus. There is also great flavor to the popcorn chicken, but there is quite an amount of MSG put into it.
Honestly the best Boba I have had. And I live in San Francisco. Whenever I frequent Berkeley, I make sure to pass by this place! I have a frequent buyer card and I have filled it up. Again, and I don't even live here! Only downfall? I have noticed the cafe to be closed at random times even when it was supposed to be open without notice!! And I came all that way! read more
16 years ago
God, I can't get enough of these tapioca drinks! I've been coming here for years. This is the only place I EVER get tapioca drinks from! My favs are honeydew, piña colada, coconut milk, watermelon and mango milk. Most of the time (for the fruity drink), you can taste the fresh fruit, sometimes it's a little artificial. Either way, still delish! The tapioca balls are soooooo yummy and chewy. I think that's what I crave the most! Prices vary around $2.75 - $4.25 for drinks. I want to try some of their fried food bc I always see ppl with their brown oil-stained bags of goodies, but I usually come here AFTER dinner as a treat. If I'm on a sweet binge, I go next door to get some donut holes, which are also absolutely my fav donut holes ever! read more
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In my 4 years at Berkeley, I've been to Sweetheart Cafe many times. It's a good place for some quick late night boba for sure! They do have a lot of competition now locally but they've held their own. If you're looking for a boba place for your all nighter, this is the place to be. We also decided to try the burgers today since we were leaving soon and surprisingly...it's actually pretty good! Not the best burger in Berkeley but definitely not a bad burger. read more
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"MMmmmm tentacles....," as my friend Helen says when we go here I like the fried squid here. It's really greasy and tentacl-y but it's so good and cruncy. I usually get icked out when I eat a whole body of mollusk like thing but for some reason, the dangling tentacles don't bother me that much here. It's pretty peppery and you can add more spices to make it extra delicious. It's not gourmet calamari but it's a very decent to-go snack. It might look like a battered clump o sea creature but it's good. Just don't look at it. read more
15 years ago
Even though I walked right passed it, I didn't even know this place existed until we saw other people with boba drinks & asked where they got them from. It's located right outside that little alley of food, but I guess nothing caught my eye. I ordered a regular milk tea with lychee jelly. You can't go wrong with a milk tea. It wasn't the best boba drink I've ever had, but it definitely satisfied my craving :) +1 star for their quick service. I've heard great things about their Cookies & Creme. I think I need to try that if I'm ever back at Sweetheart Cafe. read more
12 years ago
Came here for the first time after my lunch. I ordered their watermelon freeze w/ boba. It was delicious and blended perfectly! I wish their pearls were a bit softer but overall experience was great! *large size: $4.99 read more
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13 years ago
Not a huge fan of their milk tea. But I recently discovered their Watermelon Freeze with Pearl, which is delicious and healthy at the same time! If you're on a get skinny diet, ask for no sugar! $3.25 w tax. Their Lychee Slushie and drink are also good for those with a sweet tooth. Atmosphere: not much seating. read more
13 years ago
Honey milk tea w boba from sweetheart cafe is my new favorite!!! it's like hongkong milk tea.. Why only 4 stars? because I ordered popcorn chicken once and i only tasted the dough. So everytime I come back, i just order their milk tea... read more
8 years ago
8 years ago
I love the popcorn chicken here! I didn't have time to make anything for my last potluck. Stopped in and was out the door in 10 min with 6 orders, and it was a hit! read more
9 years ago
Sweet Heart Café vs Boba Ninja...Two milk tea and snacks places so close to each with such similar menus...which is better? Well for now I will only rate them on snacks bc I didn't buy two drinks but I did buy snacks from both sides since I was really craving for some savory foods. Here's what I got from Sweet Heart Cafe (SHC): Popcorn chicken Crispy pepper squid Here's what I got from Boba Ninja (BN): Popcorn chicken Fried squid Fried chicken wings Verdict: BN wins Details: you'll see in the pic that there are two platters of popcorn chicken... which looks more appetizing? If you guessed that the dark looking chunks are from SHC you're correct! Taste wise, I think they're both tasty but texture wise the SHC chicken isn't crispy... well it was for a split moment once it comes out of the fryer but bc it's in the brown bag, if you don't consume it within less than 5 minutes, well... it's mush. The BN on the other hand remained crispy. Also it looks more like popcorn chicken than the SHC.. Fried squid: This one is going to be a controversial one but in the end, the winner is still easily predicted. So the SHC ran out of the head (i.e the tentacles) part and only had the body. Thinking "wait, there's only the body left??" The shop just barely opened up in one hour and there's no tentacles left? Also, I thought when people bought fried squid, I thought I was seeing whole baby squid/ octopus in the pics (reason why I noted octopus was because since I haven't tried the fried little things at the place, I wasn't sure if they're using one or the other)... anywho, i decided to go ahead and order the body bc I was thinking that they must've prepped all the squids the same way, with the same seasoning, and the same crispiness. Well, that went wrong... way wrong... wasn't crispy, was rubbery, the flavoring wasn't that pronounced... heck, I didn't know what I ended up eating. BN had fried squid and tentacles only too! Crispy and the flavoring reminded me of salt and pepper calamari back in sj which I loved and everyone in local Bay Area loved. I didn't buy the chicken wings at SHC because it seems no one paid any heed to it (ignorance = cooks won't look into putting any effort in making that food good) but there were words about the wings at BN being good too. This holds true... also crispy on the exterior while super moist in the center.. very fragrant.... For those who claim about the hassle of not having enough spice for the Boba Ninja, simple answer, just pour the spice powder into the bigger paper bag, then dump the popcorn chicken or fried squid in, shake it up and voila!!! I poured mine in the bigger bag and bought it home to mix in later. Overall the food was better with Boba Ninja. I only had the avocado smoothie at BN and find it pretty good... but then I need to buy drinks from SHC to compare... who knows... there might be an upset and SHC might win with drinks Oh yea, service wise, both were great and nice... although if you buy lots of food from the BN, they'll charge you extra for plastic bag to put all your food in read more
13 years ago
Food - 3 Service - 4 Atmosphere - 3 Typically around college towns you can find cheap and affordable food joints that are only inexpensive because the trade off is either the quality of the food or the cleanliness of the location. Sweethearts is a typical example of this. Being in Berkeley for now my fourth year, I have been in and around this area a lot. Your typical review will expound about how great and close by this boba milk tea location is, but that's probably just due to the hype or the non exposure to other places that a lot of freshmen get. To be honest, the milk tea here is sub par. It has a thai like flavor to it that comes with probably the mixture of the powder that you can blatantly see in the back room, and so the quality of the milk tea comes and goes with each reviewer. The chairs and tables are all sticky and outdated with holes in them, and so you're not going to find any meaningful conversations here. I would just come here if you're looking for a quick pick me up to go, but nothing more. Besides the overpriced food here, the boba is at a reasonable rate (compared to the recent inflation of milk tea) and you'll find it to be bustling late friday night. You can't say much about the service, although it is fast (due to the use of powder) so I'll give it a 4. read more
12 years ago
There's such a wide variety of boba, sago, etc. it's reasonably priced. Their boba are softest ones I have ever had. Soo yummy! read more
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Can someone tell me what's in those seasoning cans they have sitting out by the door?
Pepper Salt and spice seasoning to add heat to the finger food
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