Kawaii House — Local services in San Diego

Kawaii House is overloaded with cuteness and adorable items you can ever find. The people who complained about the prices are the uncultured consumers who probably haven't been to Tokyo Central. Here at Kawaii House, the owners always ensure you never leave empty-handed. The first time I came here with my daughter, the male owner was so kind to give us tips and tricks on how to play the claw machines. In addition, the female owner also helped us by opening up the machine to rearrange the plushies so it would be easier for us to be a winner. We buy around $30-$40 worth of tokens and come out with 1-3 plushies. Sometimes the owners are so generous and give freebies to my 4-year old daughter. I can tell the owners enjoy making children smile and have fun. They are both hardworking parents themselves. It's an extremely heart-warming experience every time we come here.

TIP: make sure you stay at one claw machine until you win because the counter resets after a short amount of tries and you have a higher chance of winning a cute plushie!

I've tried their mini small claw machines (1 token) and won myself a keychain and I always attempt the random mystery ball machine (6 tokens). The rest of the tokens are used at the claw machines (2 tokens) and we usually come out with multiple goodies. Kawaii House has given me so many wins every time! They also sell a range of things like cute bags, stationery items, stickers, cute slippers, pins, lanyards, keychains, Pokemon cards, mystery blind boxes, tiny knickknacks, and many more. The prices are fair in my opinion because again, similar things at Tokyo Central are usually the same price.

I try to come here every month because this place is so cute, so welcoming, so kind-hearted, and so clean. I love that this place stays open late because it's a nice place to check out after getting dinner at Convoy. I'm always coming out of there happy and excited because spending money is so much worth it than other places and I always feel like a complete winner.

They also have an Instagram (follow them @kawaii_house_sd). They post updates and events, especially during the holidays! You definitely don't want to...

Edit: Thank you for your response. I understand that claw machines are designed with a certain level of challenge, and I respect that. My review was not intended to promote any other establishment but simply to share my personal experience and perspective, as I believe honest feedback helps businesses grow. I appreciate the opportunity to share my experience, and I hope it’s received constructively. Unfortunately, I will not be changing my review based on the non-customer-friendly feedback provided.

Edit: I’m surprised by how the owners respond to reviews here. When I first visited, I didn’t expect this to be seen as a charity — I understand this is a business, and I came as a paying customer. My initial review wasn’t intended to offend anyone, just to share my honest experience. However, after considering my visit further, I’ll be updating my rating to 2 stars.

I think everyone who goes here deserves to know that the claws are rigged. As explained by one of the workers, "stay at the claw machine maybe after 3 times and it is guaranteed win." After spending $100 there, the claws are weak the first two times, and then the third is guaranteed if you get the angle right. You can ask them to move the toys around and ask specifically what you want, but you need to be pretty obnoxious about it because most of the toys need to be arranged for that guaranteed win. Each machine is labeled with points ranging 1-2 with difficulties ranging from Easy-Hard. You can exchange the toys you get with prizes on the wall or walk away with them. The claw machines for small keychains and such are 1 token each while the stuffed toys are all 2 tokens each. Do I say it's worth visiting? Yes, especially if you're a fan of Sanrio characters and other cute things. It's a very small establishment, and few claws, but they have plush, stationary, and collectibles you can purchase at the back. Just be careful with the claws. I give a 4/5 because of the rigged system that they have. The staff is great and they are super nice. I just think the other competitors out there are more fair with their claws and point system, and it's worth the money to...

I’ve been a loyal customer of this family owned business as their original location is set in Murrieta. When it was announced that they were opening in San Diego, you can imagine how elated I was. Admittedly I was a bit nervous to see how this location was running in comparison to the other one but I can finally say (after 3 visits already) that the worry was all for nothing 😊

The prizes they have available at this store lives up to its name- they’re cute as heck! My eyes immediately lit up to the variety of prizes that they have and the amount of machines they fit comfortably in such a small space. My partner and I had intended to stay only for an hour at most, but time quickly went by to become 2 hours instead. The next day we decided to treat our friends out to this local shop and once again, we spent great quality time together for another hour and a half. Whoops!

The highlights of the experience that Kawaii House consistently provides to their customers is that no matter what, they want you to have fun. If needed they are more than willing to reposition prizes caught in difficult places, and at times provide us with a few more tokens to claim our win! Every time a prize fell down the chute, you can find the whole store celebrating with you and it’s amazing to experience that small sense of community 🩷 It was great having so many people celebrate our little wins whether from the claw machines and/or the blindboxes that the store sells as well. If you choose to purchase the prize instead of playing, there’s no shame in that. You can even exchange your smaller prizes to bring home a bigger one!

I will continue being a loyal customer to this small business as I have already brought many of my friends to this cute little spot. If you’re in need of some cute “me time” to destress, and maybe stress a bit more for some well-earned wins, then I highly recommend coming here. This little gem won’t...