Sweet Bear Cafe — Restaurant in Allen

this place is absurd! ABSURD! i find myself running an annoying errand near fairview, so i decided to unnecessarily reward myself with some boba. i pull up to sweet bear cafe specifically because of the bear shaped taiyaki molds. (i like supporting businesses that do strange and specific things like this.)

going inside at 6:30pm on a friday night, i find it's crowded with customers, and it uses digital ordering only - no cashiers. once it's my turn for the kiosk, the first thing i see on their food menu is a 2-piece mozzarella-cheddar taiyaki plate with marinara sauce, named "pizza bears". this is when i realize i am in the presence of Steve Jobs-like marketing genius. i do not make it through the rest of the food menu. i order the pizza bears and a 50% sweet peach green tea with crystal boba, expecting the marketing to outweigh the product.

five minutes later i receive my fruit tea. with the first sip i am surprised to find both freshly made boba pearls AND little bits of peach in it. BOOM. unfortunately, every other boba place is now dead to me, which sucks for me because i live nowhere near fairview. i am now in a long distance committed relationship with sweet bear cafe.

i continue waiting for about 15-20 minutes for the pizza bears... i admit i was getting a little hangry because i sucked down my boba too fast. almost all the customers have left the building by the time my bears come out. someone who seems like the owner along with one of their employees come out and profusely thank me for waiting - i look down and instead of two bears, there are three bears and a little java chip ice cream waiting for me. every bit of misanthropy i possess leaves my body in that moment.

"what? why all this?" i manage to sputter out. the bears weren't coming out right, the owner said, so they let me have the extra less-aesthetically pleasing bear on top of the two that turned out correctly. and then they gave me a little scoop of ice cream as though i would somehow need a free ice cream to forgive them for giving me a free bear. (see photo below.) i feel like most places are inching towards serving their customers slop in a communal horse trough, so this moment of kindness broke my brain. my thank you's and reassurances were probably incomprehensible.

after running away from the scene, i ate my pizza bears in the car like a crazed animal. they were so delicious, man. and the marinara sauce was so nice and cold. and the java chip ice cream was delightful too. they didn't need to do all that BUT THEY DID. without any prompting! so that is why i am dutifully writing this review in the parking lot of the sweet bear.

the moral of this story... there's a very good reason that sweet bear cafe has 4.9 stars. i hope the people of dfw keep supporting these sweet people who make boba better than they have to, and treat their customers better than they could ask for. as for me, i am going back in to pick up a milk tea on...

Such a cool cafe to have here in Allen! The space is really cozy with greenery and fairy lights lining the walls. Lots of great spots to sit, they have made good use of the space to make plenty of space for people. Easy to order at the kiosk. Very intuitive and you can easily customize your order once adding something. The owner was there handing out orders. He was very kind and made sure everyone was happy with their orders and checking if anyone needed anything. They are still in their soft opening, grand opening is next week starting May 12th. They have some deals coming up that week that look like they are worth checking out! We ordered the taro milk tea, honeydew refresher, a honey and cream taiyaki, and a brown sugar cream taiyaki. Taro milk tea is a go to for us, so we had to try it and see how this one stands up. Have to say, this is one of the best, and creamiest taro milk teas! So good and will definitely get it again! Honeydew refresher is a non caffeinated drink. You can choose to get it carbonated or not. I choose to not get it carbonated this time. It comes with melon flavored jellies in it as well. This drink is for melon lovers! It is sweet, refreshing and delicious! Will be a good go to for summer! The taiyaki were both so fresh and tasty! The honey cream flavor was a little too subtle, wish it was a little more forward with honey flavor. But the brown sugar cream really brought the flavor. Will definitely get that one again! Excited to come back here and to have a tea shop on the east...

If I could give Sweet Bear Cafe more than 5 stars, I would! This is the best boba shop I have ever been to by far (and I have been to many around the area). The interior has a very boutique-y, warm atmosphere. The seating area is comfortable and there are bits of engaging things to do/see (such as slips of conversation starters on the tables, music videos playing at the front, and the couples' story). There is a wide variety of drinks to choose from, with most items on the menu being friendly to those who are lactose-intolerant. For each drink there are many things that you can adjust to make the drink suited to your tastes (ex. ice & sugar levels, and toppings). And the cherry on top is the shop-owners themselves. They are welcoming and hospitable, always cheerful and more than willing to thoroughly answer questions or make recommendations. 5/5 star experience,...