What8ver Express

Located in an unassuming strip mall located behind a main road. This is what fast-​food boba is supposed to taste like. Nothing incredibly special, but you’d be surprised how many places don’t get it right.

Delicious fried snacks. Store was revamped, remodeled and welcoming. You can sit here and chill, catch up with friends, watch tv or listen to their deliriously played a-​pop (asian pop music). I’ve come here on several occasions but mostly for their crispy chicken and other fried morsels (fried green beans, tofu and the like).

Not the best tea place, but it does its job.
I use to come here every now and then while working across the street in the Cupertino City Center. Since my lunch is only 30 minutes long, I don’t have much time to venture too far for more quality dranks and snacks.
ALWAYS be sure to carry cash with you, because unlike most boba places, the minimum charge for card here is $ 20 and NOT $ 10. So all y’all who are complaining about that $ 10 card minimum, just appreciate that you have it good.
I was upset the first time I came because I ordered a green tea crema and instead they gave me a black tea crema. :(I didn’t realize thsi until I had already left, because like I stated, I only have 30 minutes for lunch.
I mean, I guess the tea itself wasn’t too bad, but I’m not a huge fan of black tea, so that made me pretty sad.
I’ve also had their peach and lychee green tea. The flavor of the tea really comes out, but at the same time it’s too sweet for my liking, even with adjusted sweetness. Perhaps it has to do with the add ons that I had once.
In any case, the popcorn chicken here is pretty good! Oily deliciousness in my tum tum. I’d much rather pay for the popcorn chicken here than down the street at Super Cue because I get more bang for my buck here at What8ver.
They have a ton of food options, so I’m definitely going to come back to check those out in the near future.

I haven’t been here in ages, but decided to stop by while I was at Marina Foods the other day. Even though the name of this place has changed (used to be Tapioca Express), it’s pretty much exactly the same. It seems like they’ve added some more snack and drink items to their menu, but I decided to just get standard boba milk tea. I went for the earl grey milk tea with large pearls. The milk tea itself was pretty good – not too sweet, and you can still taste the flavor of the tea. The pearls sucked, though. They were like almost soggy and they left a strange after-​taste. Next time I’m probably just going to get the milk tea without pearls. So overall, this is a pretty average boba place. I’d choose Tea Top over this place in a heartbeat.

The second time at What8ever was not great as the first time. Perhaps it was because I visited them the other day (Saturday afternoon). Therefore, there was a line out the door. So, the service was worse.
As a result of this visit, I will not return. I rather go to either Bambu or Ten Ren in Cupertino Square instead.

I went here with my cousin two days ago, I ordered a basic Honey Green tea since I was super congested and didn’t want anything milk based. My cousin ordered the Plant milk tea i believe? She said it tasted like an oreo milk tea (:
I was very happy with what I ordered, I didn’t expect much, of course since i was getting a basic drink but it was so refreshing and had the perfect amount of sweetness. The green tea was present as well so you didn’t just taste the sweetness of the honey.
One reason I didn’t rate it 5 stars because they don’t accept credit cards unless the bill reaches to $ 20! First of all, why would someone ever spend $ 20 at a boba place? especially if you’re coming alone just to grab a drink on your break from school? ridiculous! Disliked that very much. No one carries cash anymore so they should consider to lower that amount down. I probably won’t be back for a while because of that unfortunately, I’d rather use my card and save a trip to the bank since my schedule is busy enough as is.

I believe this place used to b Quickly. oh how I love that milk tea places r quite abundant in the Bay Area! every couple of blocks I can find me some good milk tea. I’m not so into the pearls/​boba cuz they r just filling for me. (totally need to save room for the grub later.)
this place is a constant for me n my sis cuz it’s got custom teas. (customize sweetness, amount of ice, toppings.) they also serve Taiwanese bento boxes for lunch n dinner. it’s always great to b able to order some food with your milk tea when it’s lunch hour. so convenient! n Taiwanese snacks like Popcorn Chicken r the best. so yums! the only reason I’m docking 1 star is cuz the place is too small. there’s never enough space to sit if u get there during prime eating times. it’s quite annoying to b pushed by rude Asians rite?

Greatest service among all boba stores I’ve ever tried. They always smile no matter how busy it gets. They used to mistake my order twice, and both of the time I got their polite alology and wiling to change the drink.
Great Crispy Chicken and Calamari. I haven’t had a chance to try their snow ice. My favorite drink is Mocha, Oolong Milk Tea and Earlgrey Milktea.

Cheap and authentic Taiwanese shaved ice. Run by teenagers for teenagers. Never tried the food, but really like the Taiwaneae shaved ice. No complaints at all, other than the cashier was picking his nose in front of the customers when I visited tonight.
For the nose picking, I am taking off two stars.

Located off De Anza and Stephens Creek Blvd, What8ver Express offers a variety of drinks and Taiwanese style snacks and foods. Parking is plentiful, since it’s located in a shopping plaza and shares a large parking lot. Walking in, the dining area is a bit cramped, there’s a booth that goes along the side wall, and small tables for 2 around it. There’s a TV on the back wall, great if you like asian music videos, and a decently sized collection of manga as well.
I have been multiple times, and really enjoy the plant milk tea. It looks adorable, like a tiny plant. The soil is oreo crumbs, the «plant» is a mint leaf — both tastes are complemented by the milk and black tea. I have also ordered the guava green tea, but that was just OK. Get the plant milk tea.

I like to come here because the prices are good and the décor is nice and there is almond jelly!
One of the things that is weird is that they have this like jelly plate at the front so you can see all the different toppings you can order, but ??? you can’t tell what each jelly is !! How am I supposed to know the difference between like 4 whitish colored jellies and what color each fruit flavor is, etc …
I plan to come here to eat one day …

So my friends and I wanted to go out for dessert/​boba after dinner one night, and I was really craving one of those plant milk tea. I don’t know why, but I did since I’ve yet to try it. So, I came upon this place after searching on Unilocal to see which boba place offers it. I thought there were more boba places that offer it, but apparently not. And since I’ve never been here before, I thought I’d give it a try.
This place is at a random plaza in Cupertino. I am not too familiar with the area, but it was easy enough to find, especially with the GPS. It was probably like 8:30pm when we got there and it was pretty empty. That’s when I know that this place wasn’t as great as I thought it to be. They have a pretty extensive menu on the wall and it was kind of overwhelming just looking at it. Since I already know what I wanted, I ordered right away. If you don’t know already, the Plant Milk Tea is basically a milk tea with oreo crumbs on top along with a mint leave. Because of the oreos, it looks like a plant, hence the name. My friends got the Thai Tea and Wintermelon Green (or Black) Tea, respectively.
The drinks were only okay. My Plant Milk Tea is really cute, but it only taste okay, very mediocre at best. Their milk tea is average. I am not a huge fan of just the regular milk tea so that might also be why. I couldn’t drink the milk tea with the oreo together so I guess I didn’t get the full effect. But during my whole time drinking it, I kept thinking about the place as «whatever.» It really is whatever to be honest. It could also be the fact that they named their place «What8ver,» which also makes me feel the same way about their drinks.
Overall, this is only an okay place for your milk tea craving. It’s definitely not the best and you could probably find a better place in the area. But it was worth a try. They also offer a lot of Taiwanese styled food and snacks, which looked pretty decent. I probably won’t be back just because it wasn’t that special and it’s kind of far for me.

This place is good for their price and for their hours. My friend and i ordered milk tea and agreed it was of tapioca express quality, but cheaper. I ordered a food item as a late night snack… pork over noodles and it was actually pretty decent. 2 drink and a noodle dish for 10 bucks nearing 12am. I’d say it was worth it. The place itself looks like a mccafe turned boba bar, but it still looks pretty nice.
Also, they should really have a sign saying cash only T_​T

I really liked their advertised tea drink. Unfortunately, I can’t remember much about it except that it was tea leaf based and I added a lot of pudding and mini boba (so hard to find!!!) which ended up being so delicious.
However, I have to say that I was sorely disappointed in the cleanliness level of their bathrooms. I was disgusted and felt that I could smell the toilet pipes. That alone is enough to deter me from coming back again. It’s also pretty small inside so if you come with more people, you have to sit outside where all the smokers are.

I used to visit the Tapioca Express here every time I was in the area. I really enjoyed their Peppermint Snow Bubbles, but those aren’t on the menu anymore. They’ve remodeled the interior with more wood panels and an incompetent staff. When I visited, I asked if they still had Peppermint Snow Bubbles on the menu, which caused a few minutes of confusion in which the cashier (who I’m not sure understood English very well) asked the guy making drinks whether this was possible. Then we went through a lengthy exchange over the popcorn chicken and how spicy it would be.
Then, after she’d told me the total and I handed over my credit card, I was informed that there was a $ 20 card minimum for purchases, which is kind of ridiculous considering any individual who just orders the average drink and snack will only be spending ~$ 10. Anyway, it was a total waste of time. I could’ve gone to the bank and withdrawn some cash, but I was too irritated by then to give them any of my business. Their food is fine, but not worth the trouble.

I love that this is a Taiwanese bubble tea joint, but there’s nothing special about this average boba shop.
The great thing is the convenience and location – What8ever (what’s with the 8 anyways?) is right next to Marina Foods grocery! So if you’re on your Asian roll, you can get groceries and swing by to grab a pearl milk tea. The quality of the boba is awesome. ALMOST Tleaf awesome. It’s chewy with the right amount of soft. BUT the tea/​milk teas are watered down and just average.
Staff deserves 5 stars though! They speak Chinese AND English and they are polite and efficient. There’s plenty of seating inside the shop and a few tables outside if the weather is good. They have a TV that plays music videos (lulz) and their music of choice is Top 40. It’s a bright and clean space with Wifi!
There’s nothing to complain about here, but with so many other boba options like TLeaf, Tea Era, and Ten Ren (my faves in SoBay) What8ever pales in comparison.

The Thai tea smoothie was yummy. I liked the icy texture and the thai tea was not weak. The mini boba is good with it too and did not clump together. The milk tea and the regular sized boba are just ok.
Overall, it’s better than TapEx and the drinks are ok. It is a small space but it has some seating. What8ver is not my favorite, but it’s not bad.

Still the best crispy chicken place I’ve found to date! Tends to be a bit spicy so I stick with spice level of ½ or at most 1 which is Mild. Prices are increasing but they’re still relatively okay in my opinion. My go-​to orders for drinks are now just the grapefruit green tea with boba (still like my old review) and the passion fruit green tea with boba. What I really love about the grapefruit green tea is that they use fresh grapefruit which is really different from all other boba shops. The passion fruit taste is pretty strong and not too artificla either.
The reason I am now giving it –1 star is because of the boba. I find that every time I go now it tends to be super soggy and soft… not chewy like it used to be. Pretty disappointing :/​If they can bring back the chewy boba, it’ll get back to 5 stars but in the mean time, –1 star for the soggy boba :(

What8ever Express is… whatever.
It’s usually pretty crowded during lunch time on weekdays. They do have a lot of rice box selections, but seats are limited and interior is compact so it hasn’t been tempting enough to give it a try. I guess I could try takeout next time.
But back to the drinks — I would say it’s okay or… whatever. Tea’s flavor in all of the drinks I have tried so far is definitely not strong… or should I just say weak? If you go with 50% sugar like I always do, it pretty much feels like drinking water. Booming up the sugar level just to get some taste out of the drinks seems to defeat the purpose. Their bobas are okay… definitely not honey boba because they are definitely not sweet, but chewiness is acceptable.
Don’t really have a drink that I can recommend here, but I guess it’s the convenient location that will bring me back again and again.

How can you resist their artsy drinks ?
I cannot, therefore I had to get their cute looking plant milk tea.
I liked some of their drinks. A little too sweet for my taste. However, their regular milk tea with pearls was legit.
I hope you give this place a try. It’s clean, spacious, and friendly staff. Cheers!