Bittersweet Chocolate Cafe

While it’s sad that they are closed… I can’t say I am surprised. I really love chocolate and hot chocolate and gave this place 3 tries. Each time I tried a different drink (Bittersweet, Mexican, and another one which I can’t remember).
I hate to be a dissenter, but none of them were good! The bittersweet was too bitter. The Mexican/​spicy one was off in terms of spiciness and not sweet enough either. I once had an excellent one in San Mateo and I was hoping it’d be similar… but nope. The one I can’t remember was obviously not memorable. :/​
Sorry bittersweet café, I tried really hard to like you (hence the 3 visits)! :(

Whatever the business reason may be, which resulted in the closing of the beloved Fillmore Street location of Bittersweet Café, it has been more sad than it is bitter or sweet. I normally do not feel emotional connections to physical places, not to mention restaurants or cafes. However, this one did.
Memories of family gatherings, business meetings, creative brainstorm sessions, and quick stops for cocoa were made here. The friendly employees, peaceful atmosphere, and complimentary WiFi were also wonderful aspects of the café’s offering. I will miss their San Francisco presence even though their other East Bay locations are still open.
Perhaps it’s melodramatic to even write about this. That’s okay since listening to too many Eric Satie songs can do that to a person. The impermanence of life is felt in many obvious… and also many surprising ways. For me today, it just happened to be in the form of a closed café shop.

(See pics)
Too bad this local place is now closed as I walked by yesterday, with a handwritten yellow pad note thanking for the 4 years.
Had a cappuccino here and a mini muffin recently. The coffee was a bit weak but the ambiance was colourful with lots of folks on their laptops. Kinda reminds me of a coffee shop that looks like a library.

Bittersweet Chocolate café is more than just a café with coffee and tea. Everything is accentuated by, well, chocolate, like the name suggests. We had a chocolate thai iced tea, iced mocha, and lavender lemonade (sorta a palate cleanser between the rich chocolat-​y drinks.)
Mocha is better than your average mocha because you can really taste the complex flavors of good chocolate, rather than just sweetened coffee. Chocolate thai iced tea was very interesting. It really tastes nothing like a normal thai iced tea, other than the fact you can tell there is some tea flavor to the drink. But more jasmine-​like. Very fragrant, rich, and flavorful.
Lavender lemonade definitely tastes like lavender and the acidity is quite strong, which nicely offsets the sweetness of the other two drinks.
Not a cheap place ($ 12 for 3 drinks), but it is comfortable with tables and chairs in the front and in the mezzanine area. Many customers don’t seem to be in a hurry to leave, probably because of free wi-​fi.

I am so lucky this place is over a steep hill from where I live, or I’d easily be fifty pounds heavier. The chocolate goodness is just too hard to resist. Their current special of a salted caramel hot chocolate is just heaven in a cup. I also enjoy their chocolate chai.
The staff is always nice and fairly patient.

We have one down the street from me here in Danville and I have only walked in and then out as I am not the chocolate fan my daughter or Toni is. While I was at my appointment at CPMC, the daughter did some window shopping on her own and then came in here for a hot chocolate. After my appointment, I met her here and had a taste of her hot cocoa. It was way to rich for my taste and she was a bit upset that it had cost her $ 6.00 for a mug of hot cocoa and that she, the chocolate snob thought it was just okay (and used her own money to pay for it).
Someday, we might venture to the one here in town, but I doubt it.

This place is quite magnificient. CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE. How can you say no?
You can get a variety of Hot Chocolates and I’ve always gotten The Classic because it has a mix of dark chocolate in it. They ran out of regular marshmallows one day (which might I add are made there) but they had passion fruit marshmallows. At first I thought the combo would clash terribly but it was actually refreshing to taste a hint of passionfruit (and yes, you really could) while drinking something so creamy and heavy.
All the employees here are very nice and the ambiance is better than the Danville location. The music is soft and it’s quiet most of the time so you can really just let loose and relax.
If you want to take something back, they have such a lovely variety of chocolates. From chocolate with bacon bits to free trade white chocolate with strawberries. I was really impressed at such out of the norm combinations of items. Too bad it’ll burn a hole in your pocket!

I always wind up coming here with visitors because I’m normally not in this part of town, and parking can be a pain sometimes. I make the trip with out-​of-​towners though, because it’s definitely a worthwhile place to show off!
For those that haven’t been, Bittersweet Chocolate Café is someplace that I would call somewhat ‘rustic.’ I mean that in a great way, because it has a very relaxed, homey type atmosphere. The amount of people in the café can vary greatly. I’ve gone when it was practically empty to when there was barely enough space for me to stand to wait for my drink. Last time, I went with two of my girlfriends, and there was no more seating left inside. Thankfully, it was a nice, sunny day in SF and we got to enjoy ourselves on a bench outside of Peet’s.
So far, I’ve only tried the Bittersweet and the Classic. Although I’ve finally grown to enjoy dark chocolate, I felt as though the Bittersweet packs a bit of a punch. I still enjoyed it, but I like the Classic better because it tastes more like «standard» hot chocolate to me, although it is so much better than your typical hot chocolate! The Classic tastes like the Bittersweet, just diluted a lot with milk and more drinkable. I would still recommend that you try the Bittersweet at least once, because it is a very unique and delicious drink in its own right. It just tastes more like drinking chocolate to me, whereas the Classic tastes like actual hot chocolate.
Nice, casual spot to get a nice hot cup of something (and shop for expensive chocolate bars)…I would definitely go more often and study there if the parking/​area were more convenient! I would also like this place more if it had outdoor seating.

Expensive, but definitely in my top 5 best places to get hot chocolate in SF. As a bonus you can get marshmellows with your hot chocolate.
See:
Each hot chocolate is close to $ 5 which is pricey. They have tons of options like dark chocolate, white chocolate and spicy chocolate. If you’re into chocolate I’d suggest checking this place out.
The space is nice as well. Tons of room upstairs to sit with your laptop a bit.

I HEART DARK CHOCOLATE =)
After stuffing our faces in, we needed some dessert. She likes dark chocolate too, so it was only natural that we checked out Bittersweet. Plus it was a good walk from where we were just eating — have to work off that meal, ya-​da-​di-​mean?
Cute establishment: plenty of tables in the front, back, and even upstairs. If it wasn’t so far from my pad, I’d come here to study.
Barista was nice n’ patient enough to answer my ignorant questions on the various confections and desserts.
Sinned on:
*Bittersweet hot chocolate
+Holy flapjacks! Dark chocolate heaven, though I need to break sips
with a cup o’ water
*Since it’s literally dark cacao with hot water, it’s hella bitter
*Brownie bite
+Rich, dark chocolate-​y goodness with each bite, hot dayum!
*Canaille
+Dark chocolate enclosing in on fried cream — custard-​y texture and
taste (I LOVE CUSTARD)
Final Call:
Sweet joint. Great place to take a date after a meal to chat some more. Good for groups to shoot the breeze. Or to study. Or to drool over the DARK CHOCOLATE!

A nice chocolate nightcap on a cold SF evening.
Stopped in last night for a round of hot cocoas with the whole family, after a staycation dinner on Fillmore street. I had the classic hot chocolate, the kids had the kid’s cocoas, and my wife had the chocolate chai.
The kids’ cocoas were good, but the classic hot choc was much better. That classic hot chocolate was a beautiful mix of creaminess, warmth and choco love.
My wife’s chai was wonderful as well, the chai spices add fantastically to the hot chocolate experience, I will probably order this next time.
They also have a pretty nice selection of chocolates along the wall, including a selection from Theo, a Seattle chocolate maker that I like. We didn’t try any of the desserts, the hot cocoa’s were plenty filling all by themselves.

After Fleet Week festivities were cut short we needed a good spot to shop a bit, relax a bit & dine before hitting The Fillmore for a show & Bittersweet was too tempting
Both Sis & I got their Chocolate Flight
Let’s just say that purchasing the Flight was in itself bittersweet
WAY TOO EXPENSIVE! For $ 10, we got what amounted to one cup of cocoa… teeny tiny shotglass-​like cups of hot chocolate — when compared to the «regular» cup of hot chocolate we could have ordered, hmmmmm
…but on the good side, I found a go-​to flavor which was the Bittersweet. We liked all 3 but agreed the Bittersweet was best
* Bittersweet — deep chocolate flavor w/​just the right amount of sweetness
* Classic — lighter chocolate flavor than the Bittersweet & left an aftertaste
* Spicy — lightest chocolate flavor w/​quite a kick of spice. Burns on the way down & while we liked it, we agreed that Vosges’ version was better
We also tried the Chocolate Cannale — was a little bundt cake shaped popover covered in a thin chocolate layer. Sis & my friend liked it a lot; me not so much.
You can also find chocolate bars from various companies like Green & Blacks, Vosges & a whole host of others
Final verdict = when all other cocoa offerings are in the $ 4 — $ 5 range, save yourself the retail regret & just go for the individual cups… this of course will be during the multiple trips you’ll want to make to Bittersweet to try all their flavors

Who doesn’t like chocolate?
The hot chocolate is for chocolate lovers. Very rich and the flavor of chocolate is strong. I couldn’t help myself, so I had to buy a mini chocolate cupcake while I was waiting for my hot chocolate to be made.
If your cravings start to kick in, this is definitely the place to come.
The décor is very cute and cozy. Like all San Francisco places, it’s two stories but a bit cramped. I would come here to share a warm cup of cocoa with a friend if i wasn’t in the mood for coffee at a typical café.

After near exhaustion and on the brink of passing out from hunger after not getting to eat lunch till after 4pm! I managed to slip into this place for a quick «pick me up» snack, while running some more «errands» for work.
The shop is very cute and it certainly lives up to it’s name with nothing BUT chocolate. They have a variety of hot/​cold chocolate drinks, including the bittersweet chocolate without milk, which is just straight up melted chocolate basically, is what I went with. A bit pricey and although it was certainly chocolaty, I believe milk would have made it taste a lot better, not to mention getting it hot. I decided to try it iced on recommendation from one of the workers, thinking it would taste like Serendipity’s frozen hot chocolate a tiny bit. Well sadly, it tasted nothing like that.
I also tried one of their «Fleur Del Sol» (chocolate with caramel cookie) which was OK but I prefer the macaroon cookies at La Boulange down the block.
Overall, it’s a nice place to stop for some hot or cold chocolate but it is pricey but definitely a very high quality.
I plan on coming back (someday) to try the regular bittersweet hot chocolate with the milk.
Also, I do highly recommend trying the Chocolate Thai Iced tea. I had a little sample of it there and I thought it was very unique tasting but in a good way.

This café covers the 4 basic food groups:
1. Sugar
2. Chocolate
3. Caffeine
4. Dairy
Which are really the only 4 things you need to get through the day.
The very, very LOOONG work day.
BONUS: the milk in the «Classic» hot cocoa meets 100% of your RDA for Calcium! and you know what they say: Milk does your body good!

I have a sweet tooth (shocking, I know!) and have been meaning to try this place for quite some time. Whenever I walk by, there are always people inside getting their chocolate fix. Last Sunday, I finally entered this chocolate heaven! It was packed the first time Stacy and I entered, and decided to return later so we can find an empty table. We came back 20 minutes later, with no seats available, but decided to order our drink and goodies, and chance it, and table hawk it… snake eyes! :)
The counter has so many goodies on display, from cookies, muffins, brownies, etc., I had a really hard time choosing my snack. Good thing, there was a line about 4 people deep so I had a wee bit of time to make my final decision… a chocolate pecan chip cookie and a ginger pear muffin. Wow, the cookie was crisp with just the right amount of pecans and chips, with a huge pecan right smack dab in the center of it. The ginger pear muffin was so tasty and a nice non-​chocolate goodie to complement the richness of the Chai Hot Chocolate. Speaking of Chai…
I was a Chai freak a few years back, so I knew right away, my order would be the Chai Hot Chocolate. Holy Chachai Chocolatey goodness! This was an amazing drink with just the right amount of chai spice paired with the smooth and rich chocolate. My chocolate fix had been most definitely satisfied!
This place totally rocks. Love the colors and interior, and appears to be clean and well maintained. How can you not love a place with so many chocolatey goodies? There are even chocolate cookbooks and gifts (tshirts, etc.,) for sale. BTW, seating is prime here, especially on a cold and rainy day, so keep a lookout for empty tables and chairs on the bottom, as well as on the top floor! This is a great place to catch up with a friend, study and read, etc.,
Despite how crazy crowded this place gets, the staff are super friendly and efficient. The gal who helped me initially made it «to-​go,» but she changed it the minute she noticed that we found a table (without me knowing). I was fully expecting the bag for the sweets and paper to go cups when my order was ready.
Go and get your chocolate fix here. Undoubtedly, I’ll be back to Bittersweet!

BEST hot chocolate EVER!
What’s not to love about hot chocolate on days like these?

I must confess I’m a chocaholic! On Black Friday, after bravely hitting some shops in the East Bay and SF Centre, my lovely cousin and I hit up Bittersweet Café to satisfy our sweet tooth and reenergize after all our hard work.
I had the chocolate chai and she had the white chocolate dream. We shared the BEST chocolate brownie and a chocolate cheese plate!
Like my review on their Danville store, this place has the best chocolate ever! If you want to give the chocolate lover in your life a gift, stop by here. They are fully stocked with all kinds of chocolate to make any chocaholic happy!
I love love L-​O-​V-​E this place. Cute place to take your date to after dinner for dessert.
Oh and they’re brownies are to die for! They’re the best I’ve ever have.

An inspiring spot along a beautiful stretch of the Fillmore. It stretches back with random furniture. Tables, chairs, and a couch upstairs. A thick, hot, chocolate beverage with a marshmallow on top. A $ 5 treat for the taste buds.
Everything seems to fade in and out of my life. Old friends. New friends. Old places. New places. Some you let go. Others you hang on to. A constant, reliable change. One that you wish would slow down, so that you could savor just one of the moments.
Bittersweet.
I wish I lived closer, so that I could «treat» myself more frequently. I have a frequent buyer card. For every ten, I get one. Coffee is Blue Bottle and is a significantly less expensive treat.

If I weren’t going to eat a real dinner on Fillmore, I would eat chocolate for dinner. I’d start with a Red Fire Vosges skull as an appetizer, then have a few squares of Poco Dolce, wash everything down with a chocolate chai and then have a double chocolate macaron for dessert.
The Bittersweet Chocolate Café has a great selection of every fancy named brand chocolate bar out there, fresh pastries and bars, as well as a café bar list that rivals any Starbucks or Peet’s out there (substituting chocolate for coffee, of course). If you forget your sweet tooth when walking into the Bittersweet Chocolate Café, your mouth will be mad at you. This place was made for sipping and chompin on the cocoa beans.
This Fillmore location is five times as big as the one in Oakland. It’s blanketed all over in orange. I feel like its pumpkins and Fall year round here. There are tons of tables and its the perfect place to relax. You will see lots of people working on their laptops or reading a book. I love everything about the Bittersweet Chocolate Café and it took a lot of will power to walk out empty handed. Dinner first, then dessert. Besides, The Bittersweet Chocolate Café is open until 10 pm on weekends. Plenty o’ time!

Oompa Loompa, doom-​pa-​dee-​do
I have a perfect puzzle for you…
Oompa Loompa, doom-​pa-​dee-​dee
If you are wise, you’ll listen to me…
What do you get when you guzzle down sweets?
Eating as much as an elephant eats…
What are you at getting terribly fat?
What do you think will come of that?
Words to live by, my fellow Ooompa Loompas… since this place may force out the demonic glutton you know is writhing inside you like how Bill Clinton feels at the drive-​thru window at Carl’s Jr. Fancy chocolate bars everywhere. Cookies. Cupcakes. Brownies. Truffles. All sorts of chocolate drinks… hot chocolate, chocolate chai, chocolate milk, oompa loompa…
It’s on the nicer part of Fillmore north of California and seems to pick up its décor cues from the surrounding stores — rustic French farm tables and chairs in front, big framed European-​style posters on the walls. Surprisingly, it wasn’t particularly crowded on a Friday evening, so my friend Maggie and I held court at the front table for a while with a couple of mini-​cupcakes and the pecan cookie. We were peckish… OK with you?
The mini-​cupcakes were decent… with a wisp of peanut butter on top, I was hoping for a Reese’s-type concoction, but my hopes were dashed when I just tasted chocolate. Luckily, the evening was elevated by the fact that they serve Blue Bottle coffee. I have to admit I’m not a major chocolate guy, but I think Augustus Gloop may have trouble here. Remember he was the one who tried to drink up the chocolate river only to fall in and get sucked up into a pipe headed for the fudge room?
FOOD — 4 stars… you want chocolate… they got chocolate
AMBIANCE — 4 stars… eet eez like a French chocolatier, mon ami… ou est Jacques Torres?
SERVICE — 4 stars… how do the servers manage to be so skinny here… inquiring minds want to know
TOTAL — 4 stars… a nice respite in a guilt-​ridden world