T4

Love their oolong roasted milk tea but hate the wait. I would highly suggest to call them before you come in. Believe me.
Other than the wait, the service is good and I have to say this is prob the best tapioca spot in town

This review is soley for the popcorn chicken. I saw some pictures with basil in the popcorn chicken but mine didn’t have any. Maybe it’s a separate item but I thought they all are basil popcorn chicken. Doesn’t really make a difference cause it probably wouldn’t have enhanced the flavor.
I got spicy level 3 which is supposed to be the highest from levels 1 to 3. But 3 was not spicy at all! It was fried nicely but after it’s finished they put it in the box and sprinkle a cayenne pepper like powder on the top of the chicken. So of course only the top of the chicken will be coated liberally and the bottom is not. It wouldn’t be too bad if the powder was spicy but nope. At least should throw the powder in and shake it.
The place itself is like a lot of T4 locations, same color scheme but different layouts. This one is bright and spacious with plenty of seats and a tv with a mix of kpop/​american pop playing for music.
Teaway will probably be the better option in Alameda for popcorn chicken.

I have never had a problem here until now. I was very displeased to find a piece of plastic in my matcha milk tea with lychee. I was in disbelief as I pulled it out of my mouth. I proceeded to hope that it wasn’t plastic and burned it. Unfortunately, it went up in flames. Purchased in the same day as consumption, I must say this is disgusting. Quality control is obviously not their forte and this is a concern for everyone’s health.

I like this T4 location a bit more then others since they have different flavored egg puffs! Matcha, Chocolate and Regular! Yum!
The tea is fresh and you can tell it ain’t that powdery mess from Quickly. Here is a rundown of the flavors I’ve had (note that they MAY not have some as all T4 locations vary and I’ve tried a variety at different places:
Elegant Rose Aloe — Elegant rose tea with aloe jelly. Super refreshing.
Potted Milk Tea — Regular milk tea with added crushed oreo topping. Kinda looks like «dirt» at the top. It was a good compromise if you want an oreo smoothie but also a milk tea.
Lemon Bomb — Giant cut up lemon in their lemon green tea with extra extra lemon flavor. What I like to do (And I’m not even sure if this is right) is use my giant straw to punch the cut up lemon at the bottom of the drink to squeeze out more citrus flavor. This is delicious if you like lemons!
Oolong milk tea — delicious and roasted flavor
Oolong tea with cream — I love half & half’s sea salt latte and I’m so happy that more places have it! So delicious to get on top of any tea you decide on.
Yogurt Green Tea — Like a green tea with a splash of yakult. Very good for anyone who loves Yakult or Calpico
Pear black tea — Meh, wasn’t that exciting… didn’t have any pear flavor.
Snacks to try: Popcorn chicken, Calamari (You can get the tentacles or rings! Yum), Egg puff. All are delicious and junky but so good when they are fresh from the fryer.

This is my favorite place to get bubble tea. The snacks are really delicious here. I have tasted their popcorn chicken and regular egg puff both of them are really good. And they Have different types of flavors i will try them next time.
The place is comfertable and the service is really quick even though they are busy.
If you want to hang out this place is a good spot to hang out.

This is my favorite place to hang out. The foods good here and the drink tastes delicious.

I have a love hate relationship with their basil popcorn chicken. That stuff is just soooooo gooooood (but obviously not the healthiest). We have to have it whenever we visit a location and it’s always as good. Also, the egg puffs are such a treat. Eat it while it’s still fresh and warm. Otherwise, it’s not «crunchy» and puffy anymore. Their curry fish balls are also good too.
As for the drinks, I usually stick with either a jasmine milk tea or a taro smoothie with boba. If you order the smoothie, you can still taste chucks of the taro root. Soooo good!

Very lively spot. Music a bit too loud for my personal taste. Floor could be cleaner. Service was quick and the folks working here seemed content.
Drinks are good. Nice variety too.

Tables were dirty… I asked to have my table cleaned, they gave me a smelly wet towel… and I had to actually clean my own table. Wow…
What other negatives do I have to give. All televisions were off, no soap in the restroom… am I asking for too much…

T4 ha been open for a while. I like how they’re opening all over the east bay. I am happy to see one opening in Alameda last year. They have done a great job keeping up their work. They let their area well cleaned. It’s has a very comfortable feel when you first walk inside. The inside is beautiful, has a lot of tables. The best drink I like is the grass jelly milk teas. The sweetness combination is great. Also their grass jelly is soft. It’s fresh.

I was been there with my friends. Unlike, they don’t like porn-​chicken in here, caused it tasted sour but they also experienced (price a little high than before).

I haven’t been here since it was once a Quickly’s. The remodeling they’ve done is just wow. It used to look so grimy and cramped but now there’s a new refreshing atmosphere. The décor is lovely and bright. It can get pretty packed here so seating can be limited.
While this place is a milk tea place, they mainly specialize in teas, hence (tea for u-​T4.) Quickly’s used to have all sorts of snacks, but T4 has a limited list of snacks to order.
Their drinks are pretty good. I always get Jasmine milk tea every where I go, and theirs is pretty good and refreshing. I also like the fact that they can adjust the sweetness and amount of ice you want.

Pretty disappointed as a first time patron. Got here around 11pm and joined the bearable line.
My jasmine milk was very light in flavor. Too much watering down. My friend agreed, saying his roasted oolong was the exact same– lacking in flavor.
Not good— nothing in the league of iTea or Gong cha or U Cha or Sharetea.
I’ve yet to be sold.

A good place to get your boba fix, but not if you’re impatient or in a hurry. My go to is a green tea topped with sea salt cream. It’s a nice balance of sweet and just a bit of salty from the cream. I also recently tried their mango royal tea topped with cream and it’s just as delicious! As for food, the basil popcorn chicken is crispy and yummy especially with a side of sweet and sour sauce.
I would’ve given another star, but they aren’t consistent with how sweet their drinks are and how much boba they give you. I’ve ordered a royal milk tea a couple times, one time with regular sweetness (way too sweet) and another time with 50% sweetness (it wasn’t sweet at all). I usually ask for less boba, but more often than not they put the regular amount. It’s not worth it to change my order because it would take another 20 minutes to get a new drink.
Even with the inconsistency and long wait, it’s still worth it to wait for a delicious cup of green tea or mango royal with seat salt cream!

There are numerous bubble tea places on Park street, and my family and friends told me that T4 was the best out of all of them. So, I had to try it. Oddly, the thought came to me that this place would be better than quickly or Tutte Melon, or other places like that. It wasn’t any different. It actually had the same taste as the other places. It was ok. Not a big fan of this place.
Parking was an issue as any place on Park street was and is an issue.
Rating:
Food: N/​A
Price: 3
Ambience: 3
Service: 3
Overall: 3

A crowded T4 for a Saturday, I ordered a large milk tea with pearl ($ 3.50). I like the fact that you can order the amount of ice in your drink. Many combinations of tea with flavorings and coffee. T4 also offers fried snacks, I do not like when you order a milk tea and it is 80% ice, strategic marketing but big loss for customer.
Good flavor and taste. First time to the T4, no more Quickly and there is the other tea place on Encinal Ave. Great location and plenty of seating.

I like the décor, typical T4 interior. They’re popping up everywhere! I ordered a hot oolong tea with no milk. When I walked out the door, my tea spilled all over my hand!!! Ugh. The workers need to pay more attention when closing lids for hot tea. –_​– at least they gave me some ice

First day for business is not going too well. I’m still waiting for my drink as I write, which I’m sure will be good, but so far I’ve noticed slow workers who messed up on people’s drinks. My friend ordered 5 drinks which 4 were done wrong, either the wrong size or not adding toppings. The cashier was also very slow at taking people’s orders, and although there were a lot of workers, they were slow. They’re extremely new to the job. I’ll come back sometime and hopefully they’ll be more experienced.
*UPDATED*
The service has definitely sped up, which is great; their drinks are delicious. The thing that irked me was the small portion of popcorn chicken. Maybe it’s just because I’ve gotten used to the Oakland location giving me so much but I felt really ripped off getting so little for $ 5. It tasted good tho lol

Decent speed service, good drinks. I haven’t tried their snacks yet, but will definitely give it a shot next time. However I did notice that we were being charged the wrong sale tax percentage, Alameda sales tax is 9.5% but they charged us 9.75%.

Jadeite Royal tea seasalt cream with white boba tastes so amazing! My new favorite drink and I highly recommend getting it with only 30% ice whether you get a regular or large cup size. It has an after taste that makes me fall in love with this drink, very flavorful. I’ve also tried their green tea seasalt cream, was good too — I would recommend this if you like to have a more tea taste in your boba. Fried squid is delicious! It’s not overly battered like some boba places use to have it. Add a little spice powder and pepper that they have on the counter then you’re ready to go. The only downside is that the quantity is less for $ 4.50, I feel that they should provide at least a little more squids in one order then it’d be perfect. Their drink menu seems to have a lot of other interesting drinks that I can’t wait to try. There are tables where you can sit and hangout. I feel that it will only get more crowded. I’m happy that they finally have something like Gong Cha (but better) here in Alameda. I’d definitely come here more often since it’s closer to my house.

T4 is definitely a nice upgrade from Quickly’s. The décor is a nice step up and quite refreshing to see. It instantly smelled of tea when I walked in. The panda milk tea picture out front intrigued me and I’ve been really into pandas lately, so I ordered that. Ordering process and wait time was really quick. I wasn’t sure if the panda milk tea already came with boba in it, but it does. It comes with boba and these clear jelly balls. My friend described them as popping jelly balls. I don’t know the actual name for them but that’s pretty much what it tastes like. Overall, the panda milk tea was really good. It’s on the sweeter side though. It became a tad too sweet for me after drinking it for a bit and started irritating my throat, but I added some water to dilute it and it did the trick. Normally I’m all for sweet things, but my throat has been a bit itchy as of late, hence my need to dilute it. But overall, T4 is a most needed upgrade from Quickly’s. Plus their menu isn’t so over the top where you’re so overwhelmed with all the items. There are some pretty interesting milk tea flavors that I’d love to try the next time I’m in Alameda. Lastly, I tried the wintermelon milk tea that my friend order. It’s a definite must try. I’ve also heard good things about their rose milk tea too. Definitely on my must try list.

The new makeover from the old quicklys is a total upgrade! The place looks so cute and clean.
This is me & my boyfriend’s to-​go boba spot whenever I’m in alameda. We’re here quite often.
We always get a jasmine milk tea and a mango royal tea. We always get a 50% sweetness and 30% ice. The drinks and the snacks (try their popcorn chicken and their buns with condensed milk!) are delish and smooth, but I’m knocking a star off because the 50% sweetness of the mango Royal tea is still waaaaaaay too sweet for my liking. But it’s tolerable! Maybe I’ll try 30% sweetness next time.

FINALLY. Decent tea in Alamurda.
Green Tea Creama. Do it. It’s sweetened green tea topped with slightly salty cream foam. And DON’T get less sweetness or you’ll find yourself with a pretty bland tasting drink.
If you’re after a hot milk tea drink, get the Royal Milk Tea.

Super excited that I no longer need to go to San Leandro (15 minute drive?) to get quality T4 boba. In terms of boba, I think T4 is probably the best milk tea option you can get at Alameda (is that saying much?).
Some (out of the box) recommendations:
Peppermint Milk Tea — comes in a strange green color with an unusual minty milk tea taste.
Elegant Lady Rose Tea — also comes in a strange color, this one is red and has a fresh tea taste.

This location always makes the best roasted oolang milk tea! Ran out of tapioca one time so I tried it with grass jelly and now that’s the only thing I order :)
They have some board games to keep you occupied while you wait because sometimes it can get pretty busy!

Was definitely hoping to give this place the benefit of the doubt, but their milk tea really isn’t that good. I ordered their roasted oolong, 30% ice and 30% sweet, and it was very diluted, did not taste any tea. On a Sunday after lunch, there was no wait here. But I’ve definitely experienced better.

When I first walked in the place, it was filled with 99% asians, which was a good sign lol. After glancing at the menu, I noticed that they were more of an authentic boba place like the ones I’ve been to in Taiwan.
For those that are not aware of what I mean by authentic, I mean their milk teas only consist of different types of tea (green, oolong, Rose, etc) and not flavored milk teas (mango, almond, strawberry). They do however have flavored drinks and slushies.
I got the Milk Green Tea with pearls 80% sweetness and 80% ice. It was pretty refreshing, but even at 80% it wasn’t that sweet. I heard from other folks that at 100% the drinks are way too sweet, but perhaps the person that made mine goofed up?
Just based on that one green tea, I give the place 3 stars. I like that you can taste the tea flavor, which hopefully means they’re using real tea.
The waits pretty long and it gets pretty crowded. seems most people stick around a while playing card games and going online.
I’d come back again if I was in the area.

Ordered the large Milk Tea with coffee jelly with 30% sweetness and 30% ice. Was pretty well executed. Similar to iTea but without the cute chubby cups.
I thought it was a little distasteful of the owner to berate her employee for not charging the previous customer for a cup of water. She was talking in Chinese and telling her «the cups aren’t free ya know, next time charge him 50 cents.» I thought to myself she can’t be serious because this guy looked like he bought a bunch of stuff. I hope karma comes back to bite her.

This post is about their drinks only.
I decided to try this new place out since I’ve tried all the other boba places in Alameda and have yet to be satisfied with the likes of TapEx and Quicklys (what used to be here). Tea Delight is the only other one on my list.
This place is similar to many other Taiwanese boba shops. They offer a variety of tea and milk tea flavored drinks as well as toppings. You can customize the sweetness level as well as less/​more ice. They also offer stamp cards but apparently were out when I went. Lucky for me they offered to stamp the back of my receipt which I can bring back to get redeemed.
Now for the drinks, I ordered an osmanthus green tea with boba half sweet to test out their sweetness levels. This is one of my go-​to drinks so I know what it is supposed to taste like. Even at 50% sweetness the drink was too sweet. I am not sure what additional flavoring they added but it was very sugary. I’m going to have to try 30% sweetness to see if it will be ok. I could hardly taste the tea and this is a rather plain tea drink so I was disappointed. The boba texture is soft and chewy, decent quality.
Service is ok here. Counter area can get a bit crowded when there is a big rush because it takes them a while to make the drinks. Maybe because they haven’t been open for too long, but they need to establish a better system so that the turnaround time is less. With the number of workers they have, there should be a dedicated person to handle orders while everyone else is completing the drink orders. Luckily there are a handful of tables to sit while waiting and there is free wifi!
Don’t get me wrong, the drinks here are better than TapEx and Quickly for sure. It’s just not up to the usual standard I’m used to. I’m a big tea drinker so I like the slightly bitter taste that comes with it and don’t want a drink that’s too sugary. I’m going to have to experiment with different drinks here but I’m glad that they are opening up better boba/​milk tea places in Alameda. We have been lacking one for a long, long time.

Yes! so glad T4 took over the old Quickly’s. Out with the old and in with the new slogan comes to mind. I have always liked T4 in San Leandro and would sometimes drive out there just to get some good, quality, boba. Now I can walk to this place!
Good: Store is clean. my Favs: Roasted Oolong, and Okinawa. Customizable sugar and ice levels. Popcorn chicken is good too.

Bad: Wait times are long. Wonder if its because this place is still new. No happy hour deals yet.
Tip: Get your roasted Oolong to be warm/​hot on a cold day.

Your odds of finding parking is much better at the public parking garage by CVS rather than finding street parking.
The set-​up is the same as the old quickly’s but much brighter and more open. I ordered a Classical Rose Milk Tea with boba and 50% less sweetness. The drink was still too sweet and overpowered the tea flavor. I would come back to try their other drinks but it wouldn’t be my top choice to get boba.

T4 replaced Quickly & I’m happy about that. They changed the interior design and it’s really pretty. (But that’s maybe because I love the color)
Their drinks tastes good and not so fake so I enjoy them. Their boba is amazing. I love their boba. It’s not soft on the outside with a hard center. It’s not super soft where I don’t need to chew it. It’s just the right amount of chewy.
The bad part is they are extremely slow. But it’s ok since they just opened and it’s packed. What I don’t like is how they try to rush. I saw this guy toss my drink in the cup sealer machine from far away where a bunch of the drink splashed out. I was annoyed because I ordered a large but the amount I got was not a large anymore. I didn’t check the rest of the drinks when I got my order because the lady was just putting into the bag. But when I arrived home, one of the drinks was not properly sealed and it was leaking…
Also, they don’t have a button for every drink so make sure they entered your drink correctly. They will just click the closest drink they think is right and let it slide. And they hope you won’t notice. They’ll apologize once you say something and fix the label…

I was excited for T4 coming to Alameda, at the location of the old Quickly. Being a fan of the T4 in San Leandro, I was hoping for consistency at this location, and they NAIL it.
I ordered an Earl Grey Milk tea and Ginger milk tea. The ginger milk tea was good, as usual. You could taste strong ginger flavor with bits of ginger in the drink. However, I was disappointed on the Earl Grey Milk tea. It tasted like regular Black milk tea, while I was expecting to taste the Earl Grey Tea flavor.
Service was kind of slow and we had to wait a long time after placing our orders. Although the store spacious, I felt like there are less seats than the previous Quickly. Staff here didn’t seem too happy or friendly, maybe they are overworked? but I would like to feel welcomed as a customer at your store, hopefully this T4 can improve on customer service and efficiency.
I am very happy for a T4 replacing Quickly in Alameda, but I wished they could have the happy hour deal as well!

Returned for an update, because I felt like this tea place was too new when I came by the last time.
I must say that the staff probably made a much bigger improvement in the past 3 weeks. I ordered the milk tea with coffee jelly, the boyfriend ordered the French Pudding milk tea.
This time I took the initiative with stating my ice and sweetness preferences, to make their lives easier hehe.
Anyways, yummy tea taste and spot on with my preferences! I’m very satisfied with their teas and have yet to try out their snacks so far.
The staff is very friendly and I think that this tea place will be very successful as long as they continue working out whatever kinks they encounter as a new tea place in a bustling downtown. I can see that it’s already really popular, and it’s conveniently located next to a Karate place!

Wow! The place looks 100x better than the old Quckly’s that was here before! Love it!
First time at T4 and ordered their panda milk tea with 50% sweetness and 0 ice! It was alright because 50% sweet is still pretty sweet. I’ll probably go with 30% sweetness level next time!
They have a huge menu, so I’m definitely interested in trying out their other drinks!
Free wifi!

Wow! The place looks 100x better than the old Quckly’s that was here before! Love it!
Cold drinks, I’ve tried their panda milk tea and roasted oolong milk tea, both with 50% sweetness and 0 ice and both were delicious!
I’ve tried their hot earl grey soy milk tea and it basically taste like a London fog tea latte! Love it!
They have a huge menu, so I’m definitely interested in trying out their other drinks!
They have egg puffs, but I didn’t like them, they weren’t crispy! They were super soggy!
Free wifi!

Time: 12:37pm/57°F partly cloudy
Purpose: Stop by to expose myself to T4 offerings. It’s one of those place that never excites me, but another one opening in Oakland and I was call here.
Ambiance: T4 replaces Quickly with similar offerings. No major transformation has been done here. Walls and trimmings with mostly turquoise/​white color while L-​shape counter standard aligned with intermittent neon glow. Furnishings are close-​together tables with faux leather stitch chairs. One cushion bench with back against wall seater in middle. Total seats about 38+ with a few high table/​chair. Some poster size company logo plaster area where its needed. As far as entertainment goes only two television (off) at the time. During peak lunch nearby high school students will pack place. Not ideal to to come at that time.
Staff: Four workers with one lady late 30s barking orders at back of house workers. Feeling bad for them as they can’t defend themselves. My cashier on receipt name Minyi, I feel for her and know how she feel. Tone of voice from older lady just gives me goosebumps. Attitude is like, if you don’t like it, then GTFO. This is what happen when owner feel high and mighty. My word is, it may be fun and all now, but your last golden years are the worst. Seen this happen many times with former business owners. Nothing new to me. It was a disaster from the moment I order. People walking up were handed wrong drinks. Some people have order with number in 30s, but #41/​42 were made first. So, people with #30s wait longer while others leaves. Wow!
Cleanliness: Grade A, place is clean since not much food are offer just simple finger food. However, cups handed over were sticky and dripping not wipe down after machine sealing. Asking them to do so, and you’ll get a death stare. Better to just wipe it yourself by grabbing some napkins.
Eats/​Drinks: Matcha milk tea w/​boba $ 4.95 after taxes. Color looks good with 0% ice and 30% sweetness. They follow through and comply how I requested it. Powder matcha blended with fresh milk producing a pleasing taste. Boba was just how I like it. Smooth, silky, chewy and slippery goes through straw with no effort. No hard or caking center. Perfect! Not overly sweet was my main concern. They really knows how to produce a decent boba. Can you believe that?
Main Features: Top ten T4 drinks on menu with star (*) mark.
Products/​Services: Golden reputation, Taiwan classic, smoothie, special flavor, snacks, choose your preference, add on/​size up (extra $.50), free Wi-​Fi.
Punch Lines: Happening, better than average, close-​together table, pleasing flavor, modest cost, no experience staff, wrong orders given, always buzzing, laid back, devotees, light bites, lively atmosphere, can’t go wrong, casual, nothing out of the ordinary, crowd pleasing, kept its standards, struggling service during peak hours, satisfactory.
Tradeoffs: Good drinks/​snacks, with great location, but inexperienced staff may hamper business in the long run. There’s room for correction, its not too late.
Final Thoughts: Boba places are poping up in modest neighborhood these days. It has me thinking when ever I meet with asian owner (s) before they even open their mouth. I immediately think fish ball and boba. Pretty soon it’ll become a staple having one in every corner like Starbux. Nothing bad about the trend, but remember froyo trend? Look what happen to those places. It seems like everyone wants in on this trend. There’s no competition anymore shops are trying to out do each other. Easy to obtain a permit with no knowledge or skills. Just drinks and frozen package snack toss in fryer, but at least there’s a demand for it.

T4 of Alameda had their soft opening I believe last week. The location they are at used to be a Quickly’s. I’ve been to their San Leandro location before and really liked their food and drinks. A big plus is that they’re open super late.
I really like their grass jelly black milk tea and their fried basil chicken.
All in all, I think this is the best tasting boba spot in the Park Street area (good value as well). Give it a try if you haven’t had it before.
Also, I am hoping that they will bring their happy hour deal that they have at their San Leandro location to the Alameda location haha. Drinks are $ 1 off after 9pm (until closing).

T4 takes over the Quickly spot. décor is vastly improved. some seating available too. unfortunately tea almost similiar to quickly’s taste, not the higher
quality experienced in other T4 stores.
drink: earl grey milk tea (reg. 2.75) no sugar/​ice
–noticed powdered cream used
–tea flavor very weak
2.5 stars
drips:
–very clean, more seating than before.
–service not a problem, no waiting.
–3.5 stars for the ambience…

I understand it’s a soft opening but I think the employees should be already know how to work the registers. The took forever to take down our orders & the messed up 3 times.
We asked if they had any soft opening specials/​deals & the cashier said no. He charged is regular price for our drinks. Once we paid, his coworker came out with a sign that says «ALL DRINKS $ 2 FOR SOFT OPENING»…we went up to the cashier& said «I thought there was no specials!!!» He also refunded my friend & I the wrong cash btw.
Hopefully once they get into the swing of things, it will get better. I love t4 at their other locations!