Panda Tea Bar

Very disappointed in this place. I thought it was a separate tea bar but it is actually located in the Panda Express. The panda milk tea was bland, mostly ice, and in my opinion not really worth it. Stick with the bubble tea places in downtown alameda and just go with the Panda Express food here. When they took my order, they didn’t ask sweetness level ice level, or what kind of tea I wanted in it not any extras. Not only that but I had to wait for the cashier to help the people in line after me before even starting to make my drink.

We were in the neighborhood and have never seen a Panda Tea Bar connected to a Panda Express before so of course we had to try it out. The tea was okay but definitely didn’t taste like authentic brewed tea like you would get in some of the taiwanese boba shops. If you need a fix while you are eating orange chicken it’s worth a go but otherwise I would not come here just to get my milk tea fix.

Great milk tea

I was excited to see that Panda Express now has milk tea. Apparently it’s the second Panda Tea Bar to open in the Bay Area. Unfortunately this was just a little area off to the side of the regular Panda, and the Panda workers are the one making the milk tea. They have a very limited menu with maybe 3 milk tea options. You’re also able to specify what percentage of sweetness you want.
I ordered a regular sized green milk tea with lychee jelly for an extra .50…25% sweetness. Instead the lady rang me up for a large sized which was .50 more. Whatever, not a big deal. But it wasn’t until I left, that I realized I never got the lychee jelly that I paid an extra .50 for. How annoying! Two strikes right there, so now it IS a big deal. I had already driven away so it wasn’t worth going back since it took a while to even get my order in the first place. The same people ringing up food orders are the same people ringing up the tea.
After paying $ 5 for milk tea that wasn’t even done correctly, I will never come back here for the drinks and will instead stick with TapEx or Quickly which costs around $ 3! The only good thing that this place has over the other 2 places, is that they accept credit cards.

Panda Tea Bar is to the left of the register. no separate line. ordering done at cashier’s. milk ice tea has 4 flavor options, (thai, mango?, almond, and ?), infused tea has more options. add ons (+.50, chia seed, boba, etc.)
drink: almond milk tea (L.3.9)green/oolong option, choose green tea.
–ordered no sugar. surprised amigo making drink asked me again what the tea was
and did i want «no sugar».
–tea not tasted, came from prebrewed tea in canisters.
–syrup came from «italian soda» bottle (da vinci?).
–drink flat to slightly bitter. (tea influence?)
1.5 stars
take outs:
–definitely not a good value
–not full flavored, tea not tasted
–sugar obviously needed to spruce up drink
–service ok once i got it.

The Panda Tea Bar is a part of the Panda Express at this location. The tea bar must be the first for Panda Express because I don’t recall seeing one at these two Panda Express locations — Bayfair Mall in San Leandro and Westfield Shopping Center/​Food Court in San Francisco.
The clapboard menu located in front of the restaurant caught my eyes, especially the mango freeze.
The menu selection of the milk teas, brewed iced teas and fruit-​infused teas is limited to a few choices on hand. One can customize the drinks for an additional charge on the order, with the following selections: honey boba, lychee jelly, aloe vera or chia seeds.
Since I like just about anything mango flavored (gummy candy, milk teas, cake, jello shots, macarons, etc.), I asked for a regular size mango freeze with boba. The drink was not overly sweet, the mango flavor was subtle and mild (not pronounced) and I could barely taste the honey in the boba (3.5 stars). Cost of regular size drink: $ 3.20. No additional charge for the boba… it was comped.
Service was prompt and server (Kelong Y) was very helpful. Rating is rounded up to 4 stars.
I noticed that Panda Tea Bar serves Sparkling Ginger Lemonade. Hmmm… I will go back and order an Arnie Palmer with an Asian flare…½ of the sparkling ginger lemonade and ½ green tea during the summer… lol.

Finally! The Panda Express in Alameda Landing has opened! This review, however, is for the first ever Panda Tea Bar in the Bay Area. I first heard about the Panda Tea Bar from a friend who posted about it in Maryland.
I’m more of a fan of the fact I have one so close to my house! It is only the second day they are open, so they have some work to do. I’m thinking with more time and training they’ll be able to get everything right (a lil slow and didn’t quite get our orders correct). :) So 4 stars to being hopeful and just damn excited I have one near me!
We ordered a lychee infused tea with honey boba, grapefruit infused tea with lychee jelly (actually wanted aloe, something they mixed up) and a panda oolong milk tea with honey boba. TIP: Infused tea is tastier than their milk tea. I ordered my oolong milk tea with 50% sweetness, but i think they did 0%. Perhaps it’ll be tastier next time? Also, honey boba doesn’t really have honey and is very standard. Not warm or chewy, or that flavorful. The infused teas were good though and can’t wait to try the other flavors.
With competition just across the tube with Cha Time, i-​Tea, Quickly, Share Tea in Berkley and a bunch of other tea places – Panda Tea Bar has a crap ton of competition.