The Chai Cart

tried all of their tea and love every flavor, especially when it’s chilly.

I used to live in India so I’ve had a LOT of chai in my day… and I love love love the Chai Cart! I just got married and we had the Chai Cart deliver chai at our wedding and everyone loved it and they were super easy to work with. Yay Chai Cart, we love you!

Smelling spice.
One way to wake up:
Another way to wake up: Masala Chai brought richly to life with a blend of spices, whole milk and sugar. $ 3 for 12oz was just enough to enjoy but not overdue it.
Enthusiastic service. Endearing cart.
Soon a night of not enough sleep was just a dream.

Wonderful service and refreshing chai tea. Definitely get out here and enjoy some sun with your tea.

the largest cup of SOY chai tea was NOT enough!
It was not too sweet and the spices were in perfect harmony. Will try to drink the entire pot of soy chai cart next time I see it.
The owner also does Organic Indian Food Catering called Green Coriander. I had the food and it was also very good.

me and a friend stumbled across this cart when we were shopping on valencia, got some chai and fell in love. hours later, after lunch at el toro taqueria, we had been planning to go to bi rite for dessert but we both craved this chai, and ended up having more of this as dessert… ITS THAT GOOD. does not have an extremely sweet fake taste at all like starbucks or peets chai.

From an Indian’s perspective… the chai is quite good, but not great. The cup I had was heavy on the cloves but could probably have used a tad more eliachi (cardamon) and ginger. The sweetness level was spot on for me, though, which is quite nice — usually when drinks are presweetened, they are far too sweet for me.
So why 3 stars instead of 4? Price, really. $ 2.75 for a small is a little ridiculous. Still, it’s a good product that everyone should try at least once!

My chai wallah dreams have come true. I can’t drink coffee anymore due to the acid, but my ritual of coffee is replaced by a once in awhile chai from The Chai Cart. I am grateful for black tea and I really love the rose chai, it’s a mild and light rose flavor.
I have done the go to India travel thing and I agree that their Masla Chai is not quite up to par but I am still a big fan. Please move the cart to 24^th St BART station area on Sundays!

I have been wanting to try this for a while so to compare to my own homemade chai. Today I did. I tasted the rose and ginger, which were good and pleasant. But I love my chai thick and spicy so I chose the Marsala. However, I was a little disappointed. It was not sweet enough for me but the main thing was that spices did not tasted «thick» enough and it was a little too watery. I guess if it’s on my way and I want something akin to hot tea, this would be great. But for those who have a grinder and are willing to put in a little effort, homemade chai is far superior.

Very friendly and willing to talk about their little business. Enjoyed sampling the Rose and Mint flavors but ultimately could not pass up the Masala.
Rose and Mint were mildly flavored. I think both can be overdone and these guys do a good job not going that route.
Masala is great, though could use a touch more ginger. I like ‘em a little stronger than what was served. $ 3.50 for 12 oz.

Watch out, Ritual! This guy is as friendly as your baristas are aloof and his cart is as unpretentious as your digs are douchey.
It’s always a happy surprise when I see Dennis the chaiwallah earnestly hawking his wares on the weekends. Unlike other street food, which is secretly just as expensive as what you pay at a restaurant and less good, you’d be hard pressed to find chai this tasty anywhere else. Five stars.
See you next week, Dennis!

My friend found this cart on SFMade one Friday night, but was dismayed to find that its weekend location was nowhere near her. So it was clearly destiny when we stumbled upon this cart the next day after taking a random turn on Valencia instead of following the Google Maps directions to our lunch destination.
Strokes of luck aside, the chai here is some gooooood stuff. I went with the rose chai, which was true to its name in being fragrant and light, yet refreshing and filling. The chai here’s definitely not like chai bought at grocery stores or coffee chains; if you’re expecting the sweetness of juice or ice cream, you should either go somewhere else or be prepared to dump the entire sugar jar into your cup.
The cart worker — vendor? owner? — was super chill and nice. The customers before us paid with a $ 100 bill and had nearly cleaned him out of change, and yet he was totally cool with giving me change back for my $ 20. He was also very friendly in offering us free samples of both flavors that day (rose and masala).
The chai here is a little too pricy for my blood for me to stop by regularly — a small is $ 2.75 while a large is $ 3.50, although there is an option to get 5 large cups for $ 16. However, if you have a moment of serendipity and come across the cart, it’s worth a splurge.

The cart popped up on my route to work in the morning, so I thoguht I’d grab a cup instead of my usual coffee. Tried both the rose and the masala, found the rose a bit too light for my taste so I went with the masala. Sweetened it with a teaspoon of sugar and voila, chai deliciousness. Adding the sugar, even though it was just a bit, did really help to bring out the depth and complexity to the spicing. Will definitley be chai-​ing here again!
Only real complaint was that it was molten hot and I had to let it sit for a bit before I could drink it. I’m a hot-​beverages wimp, though, and I think they’d just started serving, so this probably isn’t a common issue.

The chai cart sounded interesting. 2 varietals available, rose something and masala. since there was a misfunction (vendor’s advisory) with the rose, i took masala
locale: phono de sol (⁷⁄₁₆)
sampling: masala (lg3.50)
–nice cinnamon infused drink, kind of watey though 2.5 stars
foodnotes:
–no lines
–cash only

It might be cause I was just in India for a while but the masala chai was just a bit bland. I got sort of accustomed to this smack you over the head type flavor complete with whole milk available whenever wherever.
still better than the swill you’d find in starbucks but i was hoping for a but more of a kick

I’ve been looking forward to trying The Chai cart for some time now. I love chai and make it almost everyday and have had real chai in India many times.
Today I finally checked out The Chai Cart when it was in Palo Alto but unfortunately I was not impressed. I had the mint chai and found it very watery and bland? Maybe it was made with non-​fat milk? Maybe the organic ingredients made it «light»? I’m not sure… being Indian and a real chai drinker it just didn’t live up to the hype. :(
Also, it was a hot day… perhaps a nice iced mint chai would have been nice… just an idea.

I love chai, but I don’t like to make it myself and those store brought brands can’t compete with the real deal… I’ve had some friend’s versions, but they are nowhere near as good as Pawaan’s Chai Cart. She’s the Mistress of Heavenly Cups of Chai.
Pawaan uses organic and creates zero waste when she makes it. Also, she’s got lots of lovely flavors like lemongrass, cardamom and I hear the malt and chocolate chai are super-​delicious. Like other people have said, her chai tea is very balanced not overwhelmed with spices or sweetness at all. Once I tasted it, I immediately started following on Twitter. The Chai Cart rocks!

Love the new homemade malt chai!
Note: the custom cart has been fixed already, 3^rd leg was added.

I became a fan as soon as tried her free sample.
I tried both the mint and cardamom.
Both were good, but I preferred the cardamom.
Follow her tweets!

Chai on a Cart. Well its more like on a table taken there in a custom cart.
The cardamon chai was what I am accustomed to (I am new to chai). It wasn’t heavy like other chai I have tasted in the past. It was much more refreshing. Mint chai surprised me. I would start with the mint and finish with the cardamon as she suggested.