Kissaten Hi-Fi Review: Matcha With a Vinyl Soundtrack

There’s a moment at Kissaten Hi-Fi where someone flips the record, the Klipsch speakers come back in, and waiting for your matcha stops feeling like waiting.

Kissaten Hi-Fi is the Inner Richmond’s Japanese-kissaten-meets-Filipino coffee house, and the matcha is really good — just don’t come expecting a place to sit. It opened in March 2026 on 6th Ave just off California St, pouring single-cultivar matcha from Fukuoka and Uji under a house slogan I fully endorse: “morning amplification.”

What to Order at Kissaten Hi-Fi

My order: the iced matcha latte, which is really solid on its own. But the creative end of the menu is the show here — the Ichigo Matcha runs on house-made strawberry puree, the Banana Cue latte tips its hat to the Filipino street snack, and a drink called The Letter from the Shogun involves Okinawa brown sugar, Milo, espresso, and thick cream. Everything’s built slow-bar style with in-house syrups, and the people behind the counter could not be friendlier about walking you through it.

The One Catch: Nowhere to Land

The slow bar is real — my wait ran long — and once you’re holding your drink, seating is close to nonexistent. I keep wanting matcha spots like this to be places you can actually hang out. This one’s a take-your-matcha-for-a-walk spot instead, and the walk is at least a good one: quiet Lake Street one direction, all of Clement Street’s eating the other.

The Verdict on Kissaten Hi-Fi

• Best for: Vinyl-soundtracked matcha to go · creative-drink adventurers
• My order: The iced matcha latte
• Know before you go: The bar moves slowly on purpose and seats are scarce — plan to stroll
• Where: 189 6th Ave, Inner Richmond (Google Maps) · @kissahifi

The Richmond is turning into a proper matcha district — Kiss of Matcha’s Clement shop is two blocks away — and my best matcha in San Francisco ranking keeps score across the whole city.

For more of where I actually eat, start with the best restaurants in San Francisco — and subscribe to my newsletter if you want the new reviews (plus my writing life) in your inbox. I spent five years rating restaurants around the world in my travel guides — now the fork points at my own city.