Cafe Hielo

My boyfriend and I LOVE this place! We go here a few times a month and order the same thing– the mango and cheesecake bowl with green tea ice cream and the oreo shake. The quality is high and consistent, and Joseph is awesome! We always mean to try other things… but that mango cheesecake bowl is too good to pass up: D

We are so excited this place is now nearby! We love sharing the Milk and Red Bean shaved ice (serving is perfect to share).
It’s a cute storefront, the staff is friendly, and they also package things very well for take out. It takes a few minutes to prepare, so don’t plan on getting out in a hurry, but it’s worth it! :)

We came here because the 12 year old (boyfriend’s cousin) was looking for some sort of dessert and this was the closest one to the area we were in.
The shaved ice they offer is called «bing-​su.» Essentially they shave down milk flavored ice and then you can add all sorts of toppings.
They lady there was really nice as well. I’d recommend this place on a cold and warm day. :)

I took my nephews there for desert. And everything was so delicious I felt like I was in heaven. I will keep going over there and recommend it to other people to go there. Joseph was very sweet and caring and made everything to perfection. This was my first time going there I was in a quiet friendly atmosphere I def give 5 stars plus! I will be going back real soon.

not bad. It was open recently, so first time to come here. ordered green tea ice-​cream cup which has over 500 ml and 3 layers i guess, green tea icecxream on the top with tapioca bubbles and red beans then shaved ice so snowy, and red beans below. looks cute, tastes yum. sweet but not cloying. only the price is a little bit higher than we expected.
suggestion: offer different volumes with broader price ranges. for girls, we don’t need too much at a time.

I LOVE dessert and I’m always down to try something new, however, I just wasn’t feeling the shaved snow from café hielo. I got the choco mellow and it looks amazing when you first see it waiting for you at the pick up counter, but when I had that first taste it wasn’t very flavorful. I saw someone’s tip to mix everything, so I did, but that didn’t help too much. The actual shop was pretty inside and the service was good (the poor cashier was alone and handled a rush of customers really well) but I don’t think I’ll be coming back when I’m craving something sweet.

This place beats Iceskimo, not even joking. This is legit shaved snow, super smooth and soft. Not pencil shaving-​looking ice cream. I had the mango cheesecake bingsu and it was amazing! They were super generous with the mango and it was delicious to eat the green tea ice cream with the plain snow. I would highly recommend adding strawberries to this! I love condensed milk and honestly wish they gave a bit more but that’s probably just me. The employee was friendly and welcoming, the interior was clean and minimalistic. It’s a great place to study on a hot day and they give you the wifi password on the receipt! I would totally come again to try their other flavors and combinations.

I took some of my Korean friends here, it was really good! BUT this isn’t true, authentic ‘patbingsu’. Nonetheless I really loved it, and so did my friends! I actually prefer this bingsu over the crunchier authentic kind. In Korea they’re getting new bingsu places like this all over anyway. This has nice soft shaved ice that melts in your mouth the trick to the optimization of flavor is is eating a bit of everything at once! Don’t go layer by layer :(Highly recommend a try!

I love watching Korean dramas. When I watch these shows I get curious to eat what I see the actors and actresses eating… this is what led me to my two obsessions with diy Kbbq and tofu stew… so when I saw this place that had Korean shaved ice of course I had to try it. I mean I’ve seen many times in the midst of a love triangle or an evil boyfriend’s mother trying to split the couple up w/​money type plot, our beloved herione going out for a bowl of bingsu with a halmeoni who she’s trying to get to like her. And I watch them share bowl and feel so jealous like I wonder how that taste like. But before I go off into a tangent. long story short, I tried it finally today and the verdict is… drum roll please…
Well you already saw my 4 stars so it’s pretty positive. I did enjoy the ice. It was a very light and fluffy snow like texture. The only issue I did have was that I wish I had more condensed milk layered throughout the bowl. Because the ice was pretty flavorless. It just tasted like frozen milk once I got under the toppings. But I wouldnt mind trying it again. Also the bowl came up to $ 8.59 with tax which could be a little steep but it was a sharable size so I guess it’s kinda like 4 something a person. So it wasn’t too bad.

Tried this place tonight with the wife after eating dinner at sushi daily. we live in the hillcrest neighborhood so we are always looking for new places to eat at.
I love this place, the environment and the staff are good. The sun Diego is definitely my favorite! I’ll highly recommend and will definitely eat them more often.

I wasn’t sure that I was going to like the desserts here. First off I’m more into savory foods than sweet. The portions are really big so they seemed overwhelming to me. Second, a lot of condensed milk on top of other sweet ingredients made me expect an overly sweet concoction.
I was wrong and I really ended up liking the desserts a lot. You can customize anything you order so if you aren’t sure about the condensed milk or want something less sweet, they can work it out for you.
I decided to order the Herb Tree as is and see what happened. It was delicious and not overly sweet at all. I loved the shaved ice in the dessert as it made the dessert really light and kind of refreshing. I’m not into rich and heavy desserts so this was perfect for me. I was pleasantly surprised and can definitely see myself going back again and again.

Sigh… I’m just not into it.
Here’s the good parts: Great atmosphere, friendly staff, interesting variety of fruits and toppings for your shaved ice.
Here’s what I didn’t love: the shaved ice. My son and I got a peanut butter cup shaved ice and a strawberry shaved ice. The tops of each of them were delicious — mine was covered in whipped cream and strawberries. DELISH. My son’s was covered in mini peanut butter cups and cheesecake. Also delish. But then I got to the next level. And that’s where my confusion began. The consistency of the shaved ice is interesting. Yes, it is definitely like snow. That’s cool! Alas, it doesn’t taste much better than snow. It didn’t have much taste at all. The menu said it would have a sweet flavor, but it didn’t. It was flavorless. My son and I took bite after bite and couldn’t get into it.
As a side note, the second layer of strawberries in my cup were all frozen in the shaved ice, which is really unpleasant to eat.
So I’m just not into it.

This place just opened so it was really nice and pretty inside and the service was amazing! The guy was super friendly and sweet and was working alone and we got our dessert within 5 mins! Definitely want to go back again!

It’s okay for what it’s worth. You can find another place somewhere in Convoy that has more of a legitimate shaved snow.
The employees were nice. I believe this place is new? We came here after eating at Bronx. We ordered one of the shaved snow in the cups. It was good but they forgot one of the main ingredients, cheesecake bites! My boyfriend was mildly upset but we never mentioned it since they were so nice.
But besides that incident, I enjoyed it. Could be better though.

I really enjoyed the shaved ice! I got the «to-​go» version which was in a cup. I decided on the Sun Diego which had mango and cheesecake. My favorite part was actually the ice itself which was so light and refreshing. To top things off, it was not too sweet which I like. My roommate got the bigger version of mine which was toppled with green tea ice cream and he really enjoyed it too!

YAY for yummy new treats! 25% off for opening week! Awesome & warm welcoming energy! Joseph the store manager was SUPER sweet and friendly! You just don’t see customer service very often like that anymore. I will MOST DEFINITELY be coming back! #SnowingInSD #RessesPanda

We had a few minutes to spare before Cinema Under the Stars so we took a walk down Washington Street. We were craving dessert and Café Hielo came to the rescue. It only had a few reviews but trying Korean dessert sounded different. We had the sweet snow which was mixed berries, whipped cream, cheesecake, ice cream and the shaved snow. It seems like a huge cup but it was a nice size to share and doesn’t leave a lump in your stomach as the cheesecake and ice cream aren’t s huge portion but is nice to add balance. The bottom half is filled with the snow which isn’t too bad on its own but you definitely will want to mix it with your toppings. The shaved ice made from snow is quite unique, and is the only one in Dan Diego according to the worker. So get over to Café Hielo and try the unique Korean dessert experience.

What a fun, brand new place that hadn’t even had their grand opening! They have a unique Korean dessert concept that has shaved ice made from milk, which reminded me of eating snow it t was so light but with a hint of richness from the milk, and topped with fruit/​cheesecake/​Oreos etc. (I posted photos of the menu if you want to check it out ahead). It was different from anything I’ve had before and was yummy and refreshing– ours had their signature milk shaved ice topped with berries cheesecake and ice cream… relatively healthy cause it had fruit and milk in it right? ;) The employees were really friendly and helped us figure out what to get. The atmosphere is cute and spacious for a dessert place with several tables and chairs so you can sit and eat your dessert there if you want to. Try it!

I’m really glad that they have a korean dessert place in Hillcrest but… I wouldn’t call it korean. More like taiwanese shaved ice because it’s blended with milk. Price is a little steep and the thing was a bit too sweet for my liking. But they do have themselves a friendly crew!

Oh my!
It was the PERFECT time for something nice and cold. I was just seeing Café Hielo on my instagram feed from my friends earlier in the day, and as I was driving home up Washington St., I saw this location. I immediately told my friend that I wanted to check them out. So we hopped in her car and drove straight to there.
We were greeted by the friendly staff that had just told us they opened up the day prior, and haven’t even had their soft opening let alone a grand opening. They were very informative and swayed us away from getting two items after showing us the size of the berry berry cheesecake snow.
Ermahgerd. It was GLORIOUS.
So THAT’S what snowmen do in summer.