GARDEN GROVE, California (NV) ― It’s called Sweet Cup, but maybe a better name would be Sweet Taco.
See, Sweet Cup is the new kid on the block when it comes to desserts in Little Saigon. And word is spreading fast about its rolled ice cream tacos, and its popularity has taken the Vietnamese-owned shop to great heights. After all, about 33.8 million viewers have checked it out on Thrillist.
“We have customers driving from Phoenix, Arizona, just to try Sweet Cup, and [they] said they were going to come back,” said Kenny Tran, 29, who owns the eatery. “We have customers from Tennessee, Texas, etcetera.”
So just what makes Sweet Cup so sweet?
It’s a cup of milky, colorful and flavored smoothie mix poured on an ice cold flat surface, which hardens the mix into ice cream. An ice cream maker cuts, infuses, spreads, decorates and rolls this cold blend into ice cream rolls, which then are put into colorful, sweet taco shells. That’s how Tran and his team create the latest Instagram craze: Sweet Cup rolled ice cream tacos.
A first in Little Saigon, this 15-minute artistic and creative process was conjured up by Tran, the youngest child of a Vietnamese immigrant family that came to the United States in the 1990s through the Humanitarian Operation program.
So how have Tran and his brother, Donovan ― a business consultant who has helped him launch the shop ― made it stand out in this highly competitive food sector in Little Saigon? After all, there are shops serving the traditional Vietnamese desserts, such as che, xoi and banh ngot, also will as sellers of shaved ice cream, tropical fruits, puddings, cakes and more. They’re all vying to capture a customer’s sweet tooth.
“It’s just in my head and from experiences working at boba shops, I know what works with what flavors,” Kenny Tran said. “I can just make any flavors and create new flavors.”
Tran combined the experiences and tastes of his family’s origins with the uniquely Southern California multi-cultural environments in which he grew up. The result is the colorful taco shells with boba-based infused flavored ice creams.
And Sweet Cup’s customers seem to like the product.
Bich Giao Pham, who drove about an hour from Redlands, Calif., to take her children and her nephews to the shop for the first time, said, “My friend posted [a picture of Sweet Cup] on Instagram, so I thought I would stop by.”
Pham’s son, Nolan Nguyen, 15, was more curious about the new location and the local expertise rather than the sweet itself. “I already knew about rolled ice cream from Instagram but I didn’t know about this place. I just wanted to try it out. I saw a video online about it about three months ago.”
On the other hand, Justine Oshell, 32, a resident of Irvine, Calif., found Sweet Cup by accident. She took her 12-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son to the shop after a Yelp search for ice cream.
“We came to try the rolled ice cream tacos, and they are very delicious,” she said of the treats, which cost about $6.50. “We would come back again. We already decided what we are going to get next time. We will get rainbow rolls, cookies and cream.”
During the store’s peak hours, the wait can be long. However, food enthusiasts said they anticipate the wait and usually do not mind.
Pham said she timed her visit just right.
“I’m happy there’s not a long line because on Yelp, people said there is such a long line. They said to come early. My children were shocked and said, ‘There is no line, Mom,’ but then they looked inside [and saw] there is a crowd.”
Tran said he hopes even more people will pop in to try his creation.
“I know it’s a lot of competition around here, but drive down and give us a try.” Tran said.
The store is at 9930 Garden Grove Blvd. It is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
For more information, check out the store’s Instagram and Facebook pages.