Cantata Coffee Company

Great coffee… Great price! Bought 2 frufru coffee drinks and a triple espresso over ice… All 3 were great and it was only $ 13.

Love that they have homemade chai here. It’s spicy and only sweetened with honey, so it’s not over-​the-​top sweet. But it is $ 5 for 12 oz and comes with a good amount of ice. While it’s delicious, it’s definitely more of a once in a while treat.
Staff is stellar! Love the people who work here.
Boba is ok, I’ve gotten the taro flavor a few times, but again, pricey. Especially for standard boba.

Asked to use the restroom and was told it would be a $ 5 purchase. Fair enough but the staff was rude and generally ignored me afterwards as I was trying to figure out what to buy. I’d find another coffee shop. Most other areas in the city have better service than the spots on this strip of the Haight.

The boba was decent, not honey boba but well done and chewy. Not bad for Haight, but you could definitely get better boba for $ 4.95.

Here you can buy a cup of boba with only $ 4.95. You can choose many flavors for a single cup, such as Thai, Taro, Almond, Honeydew, Mango, Coconut, Strawberries, Litchi, Jasmine, Chocolate, etc. which is surprising to me. I chose Thai, Coconut, Litchi and Chocolate for the boba, which complemented each other very well.
The old lady was very kind and apologized to me sincerely when I squeezed the cup and water dropped on my jacket.
A bonus point for the store is the decoration. I love how they used colorful chairs and a tree branch on the counter. Overall, lovely design and good services.

Adorable coffee shop, held by a sweet couple. Try the deplicious oriental sweets (korabias) and a frappé. Their gellatos are the best!

Was in the Haight and craving boba. This was the only place I saw that had boba drinks. Ordered a jasmine milk tea with boba of course. Was pretty good. Nothing amazing but satisfied my boba craving.

Feenin’ for some caffeine while visiting this area that I’m extremely unfamiliar with, I did what I always do. Bust open the Unilocal app. When I saw that former Unilocal intern and all around bad ass, Rachel S had not only given it 5 enthusiastic stars, but also dropped knowledge on their dairy-​free milk choices, I figured I’d give it a go.
Being in San Francisco, we are spoiled by fantastic roasters. Ritual, Four Barrel, Blue Bottle, Sightglass, all come to mind as high end coffee shops that I would normally choose when in town. I don’t often go for the no name places as they don’t always treat their coffee with the most attention to detail.
I could tell from the moment we stepped inside that this tiny coffee shop was something different. The lady at the register that I can only ASSume is the owner? greeted us warmly as the bubbly barista engaged us in conversation. You can tell they have fun doing what they do.
Even if a place has five star service, that doesn’t mean the end product will be any good. That’s not the case here. Even after going to as many local (and not so local) roasters as I can, this ended up being one of the better lattes that I’ve EVER tasted. I’m not sure what exactly they do differently other than pulling the perfect shot, and steaming the soymilk to the perfect temp and texture. It was perfection in a cup. Whoever roasts these beans, deserves a ton of praise. Score one for the little guy!
And can we talk for a second on how smooth their to-​go cup lids are? Sounds like a trivial thing until you realize that your lips are gonna be pressed up against it as you sip away the coffee goodness. Taking good care of my lips is how I keep these PSLs kissably soft. Cantata Coffee respects that.
They seem to specialize in other drinks such as boba and matcha, that which while odd for a coffee shop, I’ll defer to the opinion of Rachel S, as «the best matcha drinks that I have ever tasted». High praise for sure and I don’t doubt it one bit.
They also stock the best Vegan prepackaged brownies from The Inspired Cookie Company. They just so happen to be gluten-​free but you would never know it. It actually has flavor unlike most GF crap out there.
I noticed a Ritual Coffee being built down the street. Even once that store is completed, I would probably still choose Cantata as my first option. It’s that good! Now if only they could do something about that pesky soymilk surcharge…
Note: Do not attempt to park and wait for somebody at the red painted sidewalk just outside. The po po in this area would rather harass otherwise law abiding citizens than go after the junkies openly doing drugs in public among other crimes being committed in the area. Lesson learned the hard way…

You know how sometimes you get a boba craving, and you desperately look around for the nearest fix? And you know you shouldn’t be getting boba from a «place like this» but your body tells you otherwise? That’s what happened here. It looks like a wonderful coffee/​tea shop, but this review is strictly boba review.
Ordered a thai iced tea boba. The thin layer of boba at the bottom was not sweet, very chewy, and more of a nuisance than an actual added edible delight. Strike one. The plastic cup was filled to the brim with giant ice chunks. Strike two. In the small cracks left between the giant blocks of ice was milk flavored milk with a hint of tea and colored orange. It didn’t taste like Thai iced tea at all. Strike three.
I really wanted to like you, but I think the only way we can make it work is if I don’t order boba. The other reviews look good and the pastries and ice cream looked good!

Cantata is a great place for tasty huge croissants, good cinnamon rolls and great coffee drinks. They have prominent signs featuring their boba drinks and I had high hopes. I’m a true boba lover. I will always remember the great boba shortage of 2013(the Taiwanese toxic food starch scandal). Well the boba drinks at Cantata were a disappointment. Unsweetened tapioca balls is a total boba maker rookie move. You’re chewing bland texture. Please sweeten your tapioca balls Cantata.

Had the hot Thai tea and hot taro milk tea — killer cookies — pleasant lady behind the counter — nice place to watch humanity walk by…

This petite café is a sweet spot in the Haight. If you’re having a vintage or chic shopping spree in this area, be sure to stop in and order one of their celebrity styled lattes; we love the Madonna (raspberry and white chocolate latte)! It looks like your average café, but Cantata has great ambiance and definitely serves fun and quality coffee. The baristas and even other customers are always excited to chat. As most coffee runs, it can get a bit pricey, but you can get your your fix exactly as you like it!

We tried the Italian soda here today and it was so damn awesome! It was creamy, rich and amazing! I’ve had this drink a hundred times many places, but this one was amazing. I got mango+raspberry and my buddy did Blackberry and apple. Both of us loved it!
The mediterranean lady at the cash counter was über friendly and super sweet! And big call out to the lady with the piercing who made our drink… you make a helluva great drink!

I got the James Joyce served hot.
The bestie got the John Lennon Iced.
Me split a dulce de leche cookie thing that was so delicate it immediately crumbled into a white powder pile and cloud upon us trying to break it in half, but whatever. Im sure it tasted just as good in snorting form as it would have as a solid.
The place is tiny but when we stopped in there was no one there except us and the incredibly lovely and helpful ladies manning the front counter.
Based on the 784 276 489 signs displayed all over the windows and inside, they have milk tea that I’m 100% down to come back for given the tastiness of my irish crème coffee.

The Signature Coffees were delicious! Hubs tried the Sinatra and I had the Hepburn and just *sigh*… yummy. No add’tl cream or sugar needed. It was made perfectly. Stop in first, grab a drink, a pastry while you stroll and window shop.

The only thing I got was boba. I just wanted regular, original milk tea with boba. The milk tea didn’t taste like the normal milk tea I’m used to (maybe that’s coming from SoCal, or maybe it’s simply not as good). I didn’t like the taste of the tea, and the boba was really hard and chewy. Overall, the experience was like consuming gummy bears that had been partially liquified and served over ice.
^^that sounds really terrible, but this boba was not for me. I’d say get your classic boba milk tea elsewhere.
***note: I went back to this place and they made me a smoothie to order with their gelato. It was delicious, and the people were super friendly. I’m improving my rating. I think this place probably does most things right, just not boba.

Came here for boba — was actually pretty good! The pearls were a good texture. We got almond and taro — both were yummy, but the taro was a little too creamy for my taste

I just loved this little gem in the Haight! I had the John Lennon and damn, was it earl grey good, with a nice nutella cookie. The two ladies working were just so damn nice and friendly. They had a great selection of super tempting desserts. As I was pondering my decision aloud two other customers (both regulars) chimed in with enthusiastic suggestions. The only draw back is that there are only a few seats but still… I LOVE this place.

At $ 4 for a cappuccino, I expect a lot. This clocked in at «Starbucks-​good,» which is to say it’s good, but not $ 4 good. (Are you still following? haha).
Cantata has a very cool selection of gelato in-​store, but we didn’t get to try it as we were heading to dinner soon. If you can, save space — I’m sure it was good! They had flavours such as Cheese Cake, Avocado, and the classic Pistachio.
My friend got the Madonna latte, one of their specials, and said it was okay.

Two legends, James Joyce & Madonna, two legendary coffees. The James Joyce, is strong yet sweet with some Irish cream kick to the espresso. The Madonna left me speechless and I think I have not stopped raving since.
The couple running the establishment are a charm! The lady made me a latte (Madonna), that was smooth white chocolate and just so amazingly raspberry-​ey. I honestly never like latte’s but this one, I went as far as telling her that it was the best latte I’ve had in my life. And I stand by it even hours later. The husband (is the cashier as well) was so happy, he took me behind the counter so that I could tell his wife in person and he gave a FREE cookie, which was super yummy as well. The charm of this little café tucked away in haight-​ashbury is just so mesmerizing.
I wish I could have you everyday ‘Madonna’! Please come to Dallas!
P. S. Their house speciality coffee list is so tempting and you wanna have them all. I hear the Audrey Hepburn is REAAALLY good.