Customers wait for two hours to spend $25 on a cup of Tiktok-famous chocolate-covered strawberries

It’s berry nuts.

New Yorkers wait up to two hours in the cold for a cup of strawberries, chocolate and pistachio cream for $25.

In the bustling Bryant Park Winter Village is the Strawberro booth draw big lines for its berry desserts. Its flagship offering is the $25 “Dubai Chocolate” with berries, melted Belgian chocolate, a pistachio cream imported from Italy, chopped pistachios and crispy pieces of kataiki dough – crispy phyllo dough popular in Middle Eastern desserts.

It has “the perfect balance of sweetness and freshness” with “a contrast of liquid and crisp elements,” said Vasily Malyshev, 33, who started the stand with his wife, Anna, 32.

It’s the first holiday season for the Strawberro stand, after debuting for a few weeks at Bryant Park’s Spring Market, and it’s been a huge hit after going viral on TikTok and Instagram.

“It’s been absolutely amazing,” said Vasily, who also works in software. “We certainly didn’t expect all the virality.”

The booth, which is the only location for Strawberro, is tucked away on the southern corridor of the market, next to the carousel and Gnocchi on the 9th stall, which is also quite popular.

According to the couple, the average waiting time is around 40 minutes, but on weekends it can stretch over two hours. A sign declares “Strawberro line starts here, sorry for the wait,” and the trail of hungry visitors curls around various posts, like the security line at JFK on a hellish day.

Around noon last Thursday, a crowd waited about 40 minutes for cups of chocolate and berries. Aside from the “Dubai chocolate,” the menu also includes simpler options such as the $15 “dark chocolate” (berry and dark chocolate) and the “ruby dream,” also $15 and featuring Belgian chocolate made from pink cocoa pods that add a slightly tart flavor.

People rushed by, took note of the line and muttered “is it worth it?” and “it’s just strawberries” under their breath. Vasily observed a woman who cheekily walked up to them at the front of the line and offered Venmo to someone who would place an order for her. He said they’ve also had people offer Strawberro’s workers $60 in cash to skip the line.

Taylor Sciandra, an 18-year-old college student from Buffalo, said she didn’t hesitate to try the Dubai chocolate — despite the wait and the price tag — after seeing it on social media.

“It looked so good,” she said. Her verdict? “I like the crunch.”

Sammy Kramer and Evelyn Kuroski, both 15, also said it was worth the hype after trying it.

Rachel Clair, a 52-year-old from Niagara Falls, Canada, waited over an hour. “We just came for this,” she said.

The Malyshevs, who live in Bergen County, would not say what their profit margin is on the $25 cup of strawberries. But Anna noted that Winer Village takes a significant portion of the revenue and that ingredients like berries and chocolate have seen huge increases in costs due to supply issues.

“We just use the best ingredients,” said Anna, who has worked in food for a long time and also has a booth dedicated to whoopie pies.

Strawberro is part of a larger “Dubai chocolate” craze.

Sarah Hamouda, the founder of Dubai-based Fix Dessert Chocolatier, is credited with inventing the trend, which has been reinterpreted by candy purveyors across the globe.

UAE-based influencer Maria Vehera posted an ASMR video of herself eating one of Fix’s pistachio cream and kataifi-filled milk chocolate bars for TikTok in December 2023. It has since attracted more than 100 million views.

TikTok and Instagram each have over 147,000 posts with the hashtag #dubaichocolate.

In the city, Nuts Factory, which has various locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, also sells Dubai chocolate. A pack of two large bars costs $49.99 on their websiteand they also do a cup of strawberries for $17.99.

Both have been quite popular. “It’s been great,” a store spokesperson told The Post.

After their Bryant Park residency ends Jan. 5, the Malyshevs are looking at opening a brick-and-mortar Strawberro in SoHo, the West Village, Chelsea Market or Hudson Yards. But first, the young couple, who have a new baby at home, need a moment to catch their breath.

“It’s been an absolutely crazy couple of months,” Vasily said.