Joy’s Place

Dropped by here yesterday with my gf and I. It was pretty packed, but we were able to get 2 seats by the window. We got the sweet potato latte and strawberry shaved ice (small). The latte is hella good, but EXTREMELY HOT… like SCORCHING HOT. It will burn you. I’ve never had anything really that hot before — very surprising, she burnt her mouth =(. The latte is really good though, there are potato chunks in it which is a plus and very delicious.
The strawberry shaved ice was really good too. Not too sweet, cold, creamy, and just very satisfying. I’d get it again. There were a couple of ice chunks on the bottom, but that’s OK. The shaved ice comes with a scoop of strawberry ice cream on top too! Note that the strawberry is not fresh. We would definitely come back, the price is a little on the expensive side though in my opinion. About $ 10 total for two small things.

My husband and I were vacationing in San Fran when we found this little local dessert/​coffee shop. So glad we stopped here! They have the best waffles served with vanilla bean ice cream. The waffles are sprinkled with thinly sliced almonds and some powdered sugar… and not overly sweetened! When you take a bite into the waffles, it’s freshly warm and soft. Then combined with the creamy vanilla bean ice cream… it’s pure «JOY»!
Also, Joys is a very cute, small, and cozy place so it’s great for date nights and/​or even study days/​nights. This will definitely be one of my go to spots for waffles and ice cream when I visit!

The waffles come with ice cream and whipped cream. Perfect size for a brunch. It is a bit too popular comparing to how many seats they have. I saw people walked out because all chairs are full. Well, take-​out is always an option.

PACKED! Small café with a decent amount of tables, it was hard to maneuver around the place. It’s cozy, that’s for sure. Lots of people saying it’s a good study spot. Personally, I like space. So if you don’t mind being pretty close to someone, then Joy’s Place is a cute café for you! It’s a slightly quiet atmosphere. For conversational reasons, it may not be a great idea to be talking too loud or anything too personal.
Menu is simple. Drinks an dessert. No real food though. That can be a pain while studying hungry. I ordered their Affogato. DELICIOUS! The espresso was very strong so the ice cream worked well. It’s more of a dessert than a drink though. So beware.
I also ordered a Honey toast w/​green tea ice cream. Presentation was pretty. The first bite was super sweet with a second taste of butter. Yes, too much butter. The toast began to be very very soggy. Not sure if it was due to the whipped cream or butter on top, but it went through all three layers of the toast. Not a super big fan. I like the thicker toast which is crispy from beginning to end. In the end, I felt like I was eating honey bread instead.
Not my ideal place for coffee in S.F. area. But it’s cute and I like the décor. I’ll be back for their Affogato whenever I’m in the area.

Came here last night to try out their shaved ice since it was quite convenient. We got the green tea shaved ice to share amongst two people.
The ice, itself, should not be called ‘shaved ice’, but rather ‘crushed ice’. I believe that the ice should be fluffy, but instead I was welcomed into chewing on some hard bits of crushed ice. The green tea ice cream was a sizeable scoop, but tasted rather standard. There were also red bean, almonds, and a skimpy mochi toppings. Overall, the taste and presentation was okay, but I really found it a chore to be eating the ice (which was scantily clad with green tea syrup).
Not my cup o’ tea and for $ 9, not too great.

What is this piece of poop.
Keep in mind I am a huge bingsu fanatic (had bingsu from all over the world, including the motherland– Seoul). I came in here expecting some nice bingsu due to the great reviews left by others, but had to eat a pile of poo instead.
Not only was it just crushed ice (with random large pieces of ice still intact) with red bean, pieces of mochi, and an ugly scoop of green tea ice cream with scattered almonds, but the presentation was terrible. Maybe I just came in at an off day. Maybe the «shaved ice» just sucked.
Whoever eats pieces of crushed ice with basic toppings thrown on– kudos to you. This place just did not meet my expectations.

3.5 stars
Green tea bingsoo until midnight in the heart of the city? What? I don’t have to go all the way to the Inner Richmond/​Sunset to fulfill my craving for shaved ice? Great hours and location serving a niche. But, with that comes high prices. The large green tea bingsoo cost a hefty $ 9. Sure, it was delicious. Green tea heavenly ice with deliciously creamy green tea ice cream, topped with almonds, red beans, condensed milk (basically the magic ingredient in all Asian desserts), and mochi (chewy rice cakes – trust me it tastes much better than it sounds). When our order came out, I noticed it did not have mochi… which is like the most important bingsoo topping ever. Thankfully, when I asked the servers about it, they gave us a cup of mochi because a mochi-​less shaved ice would be so sad.
I was pretty surprised by how crowded the place was around 11:00 on a Friday night. But, it’s smart for them to stay open late. Now I know where to go to get my late night shaved ice fix without having to drive too far! I’ve definitely had better $ 9 bingsoos… but this is pretty much the only one you can find in the city without driving to Inner Richmond/​Sunset.

This place is so cute! I’m loving the chalk menu and it’s a cozy place to study. Seating is comfortable and cute.
I got the red bean shaved ice and I’m actually glad it’s ice bits and not snowflake ice. I like the crunch and the mochi is a nice addition. Also tried the sweet potato latte. I was impressed and truly fell in love with it. Legitimately tastes like sweet potato purée. Next time I’ll be back to try the cakes!

Love the red bean shaved ice! We came here after having a Korean dinner at 707 Sutter and I was craving some sweets.
The red bean shaved ice is a layer of thin fine shaved ice mixed with chewy mochi, ground peanuts, likely some other sweet sauce, and topped with ice cream (I asked for green tea flavor). The small size is perfect for me.
The place has wifi and I see several folks parking there with laptops. The place is clean, well lit, and friendly feeling. They also have something called honey toast that I would come back to try next time!
Also kid friendly. I went with my 16 mo old toddler!

Went for a snack this evening.
We had the spicy chicken panini, which was basically a curry chicken salad sandwich on dutch crunch with some greens with a little splash of raspberry vinaigrette on the side. We also had the red bean shaved ice, the green tea shaved ice, and the honey bread.
The red bean shaved ice came with vanilla ice cream, toasted almond, condensed milk and mochi. The grean tea shaved ice was basically the same, except with green tea ice cream. The honey bread was a huge pile of warm bread with ice cream, honey, cinnamon, whipped cream and toasted almonds.
I ate more than I should have and now I dont feel good about myself. In fact I feel about how I feel after a meal at McDonalds.
Finally, a word about the people here. The counter help are nice, but the patrons appeared to be a mix of East Coast and SF doosh (who sits at a small crowded café with their stupid blue tooth in having a loud phone conference? Go outside already bud.)
I almost added a 4^th star just because they’re open late which is a really good thing, but then I sort of got stuck at the mediocrity that was the panini and Mr Big Important Loud Conference Call Guy. If you end up here because it’s late and nothing else is open dont get a sandwich. Get the red bean shaved ice to share. It will be enough, and you might not end up feeling totally gross after you eat it.

We found this place on Unilocal while looking for a desert spot on Christmas night… LOVED IT!!! We’re from LA so we’re very familiar with the awesome desserts Koreatown has to offer and this place definitely compares! We got the strawberry shaved ice with mochi, the waffle, and the honey bread. Everything was delicious! The waffle and honey bread come with huge sides of whip cream and vanilla ice cream… heavenly!!! I highly recommend this place which opens late if you’re looking for a sweet treat in Union Square.
Also the prices are pretty good!

Cozy spot with free wifi, great for travelers — Joy’s Place is near two different hostels I’ve stayed in. I really liked studying here, it feels tranquil. It does get loud at times though.
Not a lot of food options but it does the job. The grilled cheese isn’t bad!

Had the honey bread for $ 7.00 and it was overly sweet. This is coming from a person that thoroughly enjoys all sweets. It came with 3 slices of white bread, 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream on the side and topped off with whipped cream. Most other places that serve honey bread or bread box/​houses offer it very soft and fluffy. It was toasted here and was very toasty and crunchy.
Between each slice of bread was lathered with honey which made it too sweet. The ice cream melted too quickly after getting it. Not worth the money.
The place has free wifi and lots of seating area for people that want to study or chill.

Super cute korean café in SF near Union Square.
I ordered the green tea bingsoo (large $ 9). Portion sizes are huge (SPLIT WITH A FRIEND!) and they don’t skimp out on the toppings which include green tea ice cream, almond slices, mochi, red beans, and more! Really delicious and would come again.
Also a really cute setting to get some studying done (most people around have their laptops out)

That sweet potato latte is dope! Milky, smooth & full of flavor but not utterly sweet. Perfectly blended w/​sweet potato, yum!
It was so good that I came back twice while visiting for the weekend. …Need I say more?

Honestly, everything here tastes like crap, either too sweet, too dry, too icy, or too watery.
I ordered pretty much everything on the dessert menu, namely honey toast (which was lathered in way too much cinnamon and syrup), green tea shaved ice (too chunky with ice bits, and the green tea flavor tastes artificial), opera cake (this type of cake is my favorite chocolate cake, but Joy’s place completely destroyed what a true Opera cake should be), green tea latte (way too sweet, couldnt even finish 10% of it).

Honey bread. If I had a mic, now would be the time to drop it. But seriously, the honey bread is ridiculously amazing. I wasn’t expecting it to be that good. I wanted more, but the serving size was so big that I could barely finish it (and didn’t want to seem like a fatty cake getting another order for the road). Not to mention, I just came here as a chill place to study. I definitely wasn’t expecting to find good eats along the way.
Great place to go if you need to hit the books, looking for a nice day date or a place to just hang out and people watch (this place always has a nice crowd rotating in and out). Despite the heavy rotation, it’s not too loud, so you’re able to still get some good studying completed.
Likes:
–HONEY BREAD
–hot tea with Honey bread
–any food or beverage option with honey bread
–good place to study if you’re looking to capture that coffee shop vibe (or just like studying in coffee shops)
–variety of small bites and sweet treats to fuel your study endeavors
–moderately priced
–oh, and did I mention the Honey bread?
Dislikes
–doesn’t cater to groups larger than 4 (some people try and meet in bigger groups here, but it’s hard to find and/​or together seating for everyone to engage in a natural manner)

Perfect place for Korean Bingsoo (shaved ice)! Whenever I buy shaved ice, i get more ice than anything else. But not in Joy’s Place!
I tried their Red Bean Bingsoo (small $ 5 and large $ 9) and it was soo good! They dont overload your dessert with ice, they were generous on the condensed milk, redbean, mochi and ice cream! Real good deal for $ 5
This is a cool café to study too! If you’re a college student and your room is too distracting, come here! They have free wifi and large tables.
Cheers!

I loved their shaved ice! Two friends and I shared a large green tea shaved ice and thought that it was big enough to make all of us quite full afterwards. They were generous with the red beans and mochi as well. If I lived somewhere close I can imagine coming here almost everyday.
Next time, I’ll try the sweet potato latte!
Also, I noticed that most people here were studying/​doing their own stuff. My group was the only one there to chit chat and chill. It didn’t bother me but I’m concerned we could’ve bothered other people studying. Something to consider.

LOVE their shaved ice and honey toast! Super chill and cute café in SF Union Square!
FOOD: The 3 of us shared a large red bean shaved ice ($ 9) and a honey toast ($ 7). The portions were huuuugee and we were SO FULL by the end. I HIGHLY recommend both! I loved everything that was in the red bean shaved ice — a scoop of ice cream, red bean, mochi, almond slices, taro pieces (?) and shaved ice! Everything went so well together! The honey toast, which came with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and a giant whip cream with cinnamon powder, was just as tasty. You should definitely try eating the toast w/​the ice cream! Yum!
PRICE: With tax the total was around $ 17 (about $ 5.5/person), which was not bad at all! Definitely worth it for the quantity, and more importantly, the quality of the desserts!
SETTING: There are 5 – 6 tables inside and a few more chairs. Very spacious and but kind of hot inside too… There are street parking available but just make sure to read the parking signs!
SERVICE: You order and pay up front and they’ll call you when the food is ready. We waited about 5 minutes.
OVERALL IMPRESSION: Love it! Probably the best dessert place I’ve been to so far in SF.

Ein kleines Café in Downtown. Der Service war nett und zuvorkommend. Zum Frühstück wählten wir ein Käsepanini.sehr lecker und frisch zubereitet (der Beilagensalat war der Hit, Daumen hoch) eine Waffel (war leider eine Fertigmischung, sorry… die war nicht ganz so toll) und ein Schokopastry. Das Törtchen war gut. Der Kaffee war sehr gut (unser Bester in SF!!!). Anstatt der üblichen Plastikbecher, wird der Kaffee hier auch in Tassen serviert.