The first brick-and-mortar Hello Kitty Cafe to grace the Bay Area opened to much fanfare last month at Santa Clara’s Westfield Valley Fair Mall.
Why it matters: The cafe marks owner Sanrio’s growing push into immersive food experiences, and I took a look around.
State of play: When walking around the mall, it’s hard to miss the cafe, decked out as it is in pink Hello Kitty decor. There’s usually a line out the door, but it moved fast when I was there.
- The store itself doesn’t offer as much merch as I’d expected since it’s focused on food products, but does still showcase mugs, stickers and enamel pins in its displays.
What to expect: The cafe menu includes a range of baked goods, drinks and seasonal specials like strawberry tarts.
- Pastries include cake and sugar cookies, while drinks cover the whole gamut from s’mores cold brew to milkshakes.
- I ordered the strawberry matcha mini donuts ($11), supercute dream drink ($9.5) and a sugar cookie ($5.5).
Zoom in: The donuts are made fresh, which you can watch being made, and were perfectly fluffy, powdered with matcha and laced with strawberry drizzle.
- The sugar cookie — in the shape of a 10 to honor the cafe franchise’s 10-year anniversary — was also sweet and buttery.
- My favorite was the drink, which consisted of raspberry, milk, whipped cream and a marshmallow paste. It was the right amount of tart, with a smooth, creamy consistency.
The intrigue: I didn’t get to try this, but you can also make a reservation for the cafe’s Afternoon Tea and Evening Delights experiences, which include a tea service and 10 sweet and savory bites at $70 per guest…