Hippo Loco
Cute Westminster tea shop pivots from desserts and banh mi sandwiches to spicy soups and fried stuff
When we first visited Hippo Loco shortly after its opening, we were in love: As it launched in 2021 along with so many other tea and dessert shops, our expectation going in was that it would be “more of the same, but cute.” Instead, we found that it overdelivered on food quality and fun.
Presented dryly without a wink, nod, or other jokey note, the hippo logo and “crazy hippo” branding piqued our interest just enough to make us wonder what was going on inside. When we arrived, we found cute decor, very nice drinks, and pleasant service, as well as something else: uniquely textured, nicely flavored matcha and chocolate crepe cakes, which we loved enough that we didn’t particularly care whether they were being made in-house or purchased from a store such as H Mart – something that would have made sense. Though there was no specific cultural undercurrent to the decor or most of the menu’s offerings, Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches were also available.
Following our visits, however, Hippo Loco pivoted from desserts and banh mis – the latter fully discontinued – to offering a collection of hot savory items, some with straight from Korean/Vietnamese supermarket vibes. Deep-fried skewers of fishballs, meatballs, and sausages, popcorn chicken, egg rolls, and mozzarella sticks are now available, as are spicy kimchi noodles topped with seafood and/or meats. We haven’t tried any of these offerings, but they’re clearly an effort to expand the menu with easy-to-prep items that, unlike the banh mis, could be reheated from frozen or reconstituted from dry noodles.
Our impression is that there may have been a change of ownership (or at a minimum, strategy) since we were last there, and the drink and food items we loved are no longer quite the same. There’s only one location of this relatively young business for the time being, so we’re interested to see whether Hippo Loco remains as-is, expands, or changes again.
Stats
Price: $
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2020
Addresses
16519 Magnolia St.
Westminster, CA 92683
714.594.3503
Instagram: @hippoloco.us