Banan - Noe Valley — Restaurant in San Francisco

Low rating for 1) poor product promise, 2) just OK soft serve, and 3) low capacity seating.

1. For all of the “dairy-free” marketing (it’s emphasized even in pictographs on their menu) I was disappointed that the locale is not truly dairy free.

As someone who is incredibly lactose intolerant, I was counting down the days with excitement for this opening so that I could finally go somewhere where I didn’t have to worry about asking “is this dairy free?”, but I found myself doing exactly that once I saw the toppings. And thank god I did ask because the answer was NO. Specifically, when I asked if the caramel had dairy (here I was thinking it was a super cool house-made dairy free caramel) she said she didn’t know and then proceeded to take out a giant tub of caramel from a brand I would never consume.

I don’t think I’d be writing as low of a review if the expectation of a fully dairy-free experience wasn’t manufactured by the pre-opening marketing covering the front facade. I was imagining being able to top my soft serve with multiple dairy-free pickings, worry free!

2. Now, regarding the dairy-free soft serve itself: it was OK. More grainy/icey than I was hoping for. Not really smooth and “soft”. Soft and creamy completely dairy free soft serve is possible! I’ve had it elsewhere (more on that below) and it’s devine.

3. Additionally the layout of the locale is very inefficient. There were 8 of us wanting to eat-in, but they were only able to accommodate 6, which meant we awkwardly stood by their merch wall. Instead of an entire merch/decor wall, they should opt for a long bar against the wall with more capacity for enjoying the soft serve indoors.

So, for truly amazing creamy soft serve with delicious dairy free toppings, go to Mamahuhu just down the street where the ENTIRE soft serve experience (they have 2 completely dairy free soft serve + toppings options) is a 5/5. They also have a higher seating capacity, including bar stool seating which is perfect for a quick dessert. Good thing Mamahuhu is just as close, because I’ll be going there for all of my dairy-free soft...

Went to banan today for my second time to get an amazon (acai) bowl. The acai bowl itself is good but definitely overpriced. The real reason why I’m writing this review though is to call out the poor behavior of one of the employees.

There were two employees serving the store; one employee made the bowls and the other manned the cash register. To the black woman who made my bowl, you were so polite and made my bowl really well — thank you! To the asian woman cashier who was rude to the employee making the bowls all because she gave me one extra strawberry — you are a horrible coworker who should learn to be more polite to others. For context, the woman making the bowl gave me TWO sliced strawberries (which should be standard for a $15.91 acai bowl after tax). The cashier then scolded the employee making the bowls and told her that was “almost triple the usual amount of strawberries” that usually come in a bowl. The attitude and tone you used was uncalled for, and you could definitely just pull the employee making the bowl to the side later and let them know what they did wrong in private. Speaking with such disrespect and attitude to a coworker is shameful especially when saying all of this in front of customers. Your poor treatment of a coworker creates a really poor image of the store.

Edit: This happened today on 8/16/24...

I'm so glad I found out Banan opened up their location in SF through Tik Tok!

It was one of my favs and must-stops when I frequented Oahu travel.

I ordered an Amazon Bowl $14 -swirl with banana banan -mochi +$1.25

There is an added 5% SF employer mandate. The total was round ~$17, which is on the pricier end for sure.

That being sad, if I lived in the city, this would be a weekly treat for me! The banana soft serve isn't too sweat and has a great consistency. Ingredients are very fresh. For my personal taste, I likely will sub out honey or leave it out in the future, although my gf thoroughly enjoyed the honey.

A bowl can definitely be shared with 2 people...so if you think of it in that sense, it might be ~$7-$8 per person which isn't as pricey.

Staff is friendly and made the bowl relatively quickly.

For a cold Sunday evening, the inside seating was all filled up and quite busy! There is some seating inside, but also across the street.

There are some very unique flavors available...and I can't wait to be back!

Thanks Banan for expanding...