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    Turn Cafe

    3.7 (89 reviews)
    Open 7:00 am - 10:00 pm

    Order Turn Cafe Takeout or Delivery

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    Business Info

    TURN CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Touristy
    Dogs allowed
    Happy hour specials

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    Recommended Reviews - Turn Cafe

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    Danice M.

    Wow yesterday i was going to meet my CMT and was early. Glad I found Turn Cafe. Very cool place and everyone was amazing. The service, atmosphere, coffee, yummy almond croissant started my day off amazing. Thank you!

    Outside. Storefront. Powell Street entrance. Located inside the Axiom Hotel.
    Daniel B.

    Short version: We liked this cafe and recommend it. Long version: Turn Cafe and Little Sweet are two names/brands for essentially the same business that operates out of the ground floor of the Axiom Hotel in San Francisco: https://www.yelp.com/biz/axiom-hotel-san-francisco It's a little confusing. The Turn Cafe opened along with the Axiom Hotel in 2016. I found its Yelp listing, but it was marked closed. Because the business never actually closed, I tried to reopen it and merge it with this listing for "Turn Cafe - Little Sweet." The reopen was successful, but the merge was not: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-turn-cafe-san-francisco Little Sweet is a local, San-Francisco-only bubble tea chain with seven locations, at the time of writing this review. The first Yelp review for this location was posted on March 4, 2023. On Instagram, in September 2023, Little Sweet (@littlesweetsf) described this location as their "newest pop up location." We ordered multiple times, both in person at the counter and with our phones by scanning the QR code on the TV in our hotel room. The QR code linked to a Little Sweet menu, hosted by Square, that included items from both Little Sweet (e.g., bubble tea, egg puff waffles) and the Turn Cafe (e.g., coffee, pastries). I admit there were one or two orders we made just because we wanted robot room service: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzRq_VEv32X/ Items we had included a High Mountain Milk Tea ($5.40) with Boba ($0.70), hot Vanilla Latte ($5.75), hot Mocha (6.95), Iced Vanilla Latte ($5.75), an Almond Croissant ($6.25), and a Cinnamon Swirl ($5.75). Everything was delicious. The milk tea had good tea flavor, but the boba was too soft. All the coffee drinks were solid. One detail we really appreciated about the hot drinks was they were sealed to prevent spillage, especially because we had those particular drinks delivered (by robot). The pastries were large, fresh, and satisfying. They hit the spot. Service was excellent. At times, there was only one barista and he had a lot of customers to serve. I wish I'd gotten his name so I could mention it here. He was friendly and had a great attitude. Along with ordering at the counter and online/phone, there was a self-serve touchpad kiosk just inside the Powell Street entrance. If I recall correctly, that kiosk was for Little Sweet only. The interior is beautiful and a big part of the Axiom Hotel's appeal. This is a boutique hotel with a trendy and chic interior design. The cafe has both classical and modern design elements, nods to the history of the building (built in 1908) and city, and a unique, stunning, contemporary chandelier. There's a variety of seating on two levels. The second level (mezzanine) is where the hotel's lounge is located. It has power outlets for devices, big-screen TVs playing sports, and arcade games. This is all located right next to the Cable Car Turntable on Powell Street at Market Street: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cable-car-turntable-san-francisco This is a busy, touristy part of town with a lot going on. Little Sweet was smart to put their branded bubble tea sculpture right outside the hotel entrance to draw customers in. Aesthetically, it doesn't exactly fit with the hotel's low-key storefront and facade, but it is getting people in the door. If you're nearby and need a quick refreshment or pick-me-up, Turn Cafe and Little Sweet are worth checking out.

    Inside
    Alisa B.

    I was in need of a boba fix and found this place nearby the hotel I was staying at. The variety is pretty standard here. I have tried the White Gourd Milk Tea in the past, which was okay. This visit, I tried out the Strawberry Matcha Latte. They were generous with the amount of strawberry they put in the drink and the matcha was pretty good quality, but I think the drink didn't have a good balance. The initial taste would be matcha, and then all I'd taste was strawberry after. I think if the strawberries were less chunky or had less seeds, it'd be more enjoyable.

    Mango Sago
    Neelu Y.

    Little Sweet is such a cute little boba shop inside of the Axiom hotel. The ambiance was super cozy with a handful of seats to choose from. It was busy when we went and there were practically no open tables available. My friends and I ordered through the kiosk, and our drinks were ready just about a minute later. I got the Mango Sago and absolutely loved it. It was delicious! The mango was super fresh and I loved the creaminess from the coconut milk. I really enjoyed my drink and my friends and I liked theirs too. I recommend paying them a visit if you're in the mood for a delicious drink to sip on while walking around SoMa.

    Strawberry matcha tea
    Grace L.

    I got the strawberry matcha tea with boba and oat milk. I liked all the different flavors and textures - strawberry chunks, matcha tea, and boba pearls. There are non dairy milk options like oat milk, soy milk, and almond milk. However, there is no option to adjust the ice. About 60% of it was ice and I had a hard time getting to the pearls towards the end This place is also located at a hotel entrance and you order from a kiosk. It took about 5-10 mins for our drinks to come. Ambiance was nice, comfy hotel lobby. Seems like a great area for meetups and working.

    Chel M.

    DO NOT COME HERE!! I ordered a Thai tea and a milk tea with ice cream. The Thai tea was the worst thing i have ever tasted in my life. I took a sip and immediately spit it out and threw it away. There was absolutely no sugar and it was just bitter. The milk tea with ice cream was okay and you can definitely get it somewhere better. Don't come here and get the Thai tea unless you want your day to be ruined! Although, I will say the inside is pretty nice because it is connected to a hotel.

    Avocado toast, soy latte
    Annie W.

    It's located in the lobby of Axiom Hotel. Excellent location, fast service, fresh food, with chargimg ports, plenty table/seats far apart from each other, and WiFi for laptops, background music not too loud. Overall, great place to grab a bite and work in the middle of the day if you are in Union Square area.

    a cup of coffee on a table
    Anne F.

    While I was staying at the Axiom hotel I traveled downstairs to get my morning coffee from The Turn Cafe. I did not try their food options, but they had a pretty good variety and the prices seemed reasonable. The grilled cheese sandwiches.... I mean "artisan melts" sounded pretty delicious even at 7am. Both visits I opted to get the Axiom latte which I was told was a latte with caramel and vanilla. It wasn't too sweet and did the job to get me moving to my morning meetings. She told me that this was their "caramel macchiato" for the Starbucks customers. The first day I asked for them to stir mine instead of doing the macchiato layers, she seemed a little confused so I guessed that they don't do the macchiato layers. The next day I just ordered it without special instruction and I was treated to some latte art. The drink wasn't layered as a macchiato normally would be so I was pleased. I wouldn't come out of my way to visit this shop, but it was a great convenience while staying in the hotel.

    Super cute!
    Annie M.

    The Turn Cafe is a tiny little cafe/bar located in the Axiom Hotel right beside the San Francisco cable car turn around on Powell street. They serve cocktails, coffee drinks, food and deli snacks. I was pleased to have a sweet little bar in the hotel I was staying in and multiple nights grabbed an Old Fashioned at The Turn Cafe and took it up to my room for a pre-dinner treat. The Turn Cafe is just a small bar with a few seats. It is really cute and they seem to always have a mimosa or wine special for $5 or $6. I noticed a few people come in fro the cable car line to grab a quick drink and to warm up for a minute. They are open from 6:30am to 10 or 11pm so it's a great spot to just grab a coffee in the morning or a drink in the evening. I enjoyed the staff here. They were friendly and their aim was to make me a delicious drink. If I were in SF again, I wouldn't go out of my way to go back to The Turn Cafe but I was pleased that they were located in the hotel I was staying in.

    Priscilla L.

    The store front is cute and has "Little Sweet" on the milk tea. But the actual milk tea I got was literally 80% ice, no exaggeration! Sooo much ice! So little milk tea! Their union square location doesn't do this. For $9 it was pretty much a cup of ice with like 3 to 4 shots of milk tea in it. I barely drank much and all I'm left with was ice. Milk tea isn't alcohol. The proportions were just so off. I also had their breakfast burrito. It was ok and I finished it since I was hungry, but it basically tastes like an American high school lunch. The photos on their Yelp are pretty misleading. The photos all show the food presented very neatly on a plate making it look like a nice breakfast/brunch spot. When you actually walk in, it looks like you've just entered into a tiny front of a hotel or something. There are 2 stools to sit on for each of the 4 round tables. Though union square was packed with people, this cafe was pretty empty. I regretted coming here. Any other random cafe I could've walked into probably would've been a better choice.

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    2 years ago

    I got the bubble waffle and boba soo good and perfectly cooked definitely worth it if your looking for a quick bite to eat in sf !

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    I hope this place goes out of business cause the boba was absolutely disgusting do not waste 14$ there on two drinks

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