Cafe Tapioca

This is a nice, cozy café that seats about 10 – 12 (just a few tables and a couch). We ordered the popcorn chicken, a couple drinks and a Chinese tofu rice plate. Everything came out quickly and the flavor was on point. The employees were friendly and pricing is comparable to other milk tea/​boba places in the area. However, the major drawback is they do NOT have a restroom for customer use. This is baffling considering they sell a huge variety of drinks and have a seating area which encourages customers to linger. If you have young children, are accustomed to having a restroom handy to wash up, or just for general convenience purposes, this may not be the place for you! For this reason, I will not be returning to Café Tapioca.

This place used to be so much better. They used to monopolize the boba space in this area, but now they’ve got some stiff competition with other Boba places popping up. Came here at 6pm on a Fri, only one other person in the shop playing a video game. I later realized that the guy playing a video game was waiting for his drink! 3 ladies there and it still took 15 minutes to get a green tea crema with aloe. I asked for reduced sugar. The woman taking my order looked at me strange. In this market a boba store needs to be able to offer sweetner and ice customization options!
Bummer.

I ordered an Ovaltine milk tea and it tasted like water. It didn’t taste like tea or Ovaltine and it wasn’t sweet either. It tasted like they watered it down a lot. It was a hot day and I wanted to drink it on the way home, but I ended up taking it home and added my own chocolate powder and condense milk to make it drinkable. I will definitely stick with other boba places for quality tea in the future.

This place is located in a quiet plaza. Never had any problems finding parking. The only drink I have ever ordered from this place is the Royal milk tea with pearls (regular amount of ice). I’m not sure why I am not ordering other drinks. Nothing exciting but it is safe and always consistent. Service is good. The snack pics from fellow Unilocalers look appetizing. Maybe one day I will order something different.
Just wanted to let everyone know they do accept credit cards as of recently. Correction on my original review. ;)

Boba is always too overcooked and way too squishy with no good chew to it. The drinks are always overly sweet and there’s a good chance you’ll find some powder/​residue on the bottom of your cup. Customer service is whatever. Also, the extra charge for card transactions is one of my pet peeves.
Hard pass on this place, you’re better off driving a few more minutes to Sharetea or T4 or Westea or anywhere really.

A lot better then I thought it would be! I got a royal milk tea because I had no idea what to do, their menu is so overwhelming! Overall wouldn’t go out of my way to come here but its decent when in the area!

It’s a cute little boba place. Their menu offers a variety of milk teas/​boba drinks and snacks. I just wished I could have actually tried all of the drinks that I actually ordered but they messed up 2 of our drinks 3 times. How is this even possible even after repeating our order multiple times to us and we confirm that they got it right. But then when they repeat our order from the person taking order to the person who makes the drink in Chinese we get completely different drinks! Invested of grape slush we got grapefruit. My kids hated it as it was too bitter. Then they forgot hubbys drink. Then they make his as milk tea but we ordered as a slush. Luckily they got my order right but it was just too sweet and I actually couldn’t finish it.
So drinks are just okay… Maybe a good stop after a great lunch/​dinner nearby. But not something to drive up if you crave boba!
The service is great. The girls behind the counter are super sweet and friendly.

My heart breaks a little when I get my drink.
Matcha green tea creama is made of green tea powder rather than Matcha powder. It tastes bitter and worse than it looks in the picture.
Come on, don’t put MATCHA if you don’t even use it.

I usually come here because I don’t know many places around the area which have honey-​dew milk tea. Personally, the tea is a little above average on a good day. Nothing bad I can really say, the service is friendly and fast. The atmosphere isn’t bad but it’s usually not a place I go to hang out and would rather leave after I get my drink. All in all, if you can’t find honey dew melon milk tea anywhere else or you’re just in the area I recommend the place, but you’re probably better off at ShareTea or t4.

Overall: very nice pearl tea place that is not a well known BayArea-​chain. *big kudos for being an individual stand out*
Pros:
— honey green milk tea had a never nice jasmine aroma. Which can be rare these days to taste/​smell any tea aroma.
— mango milk tea — smooth and creamy. All my friends enjoyed it very much that I end up having to pour out/​split with all of them.
— Rose Creama tea — delicious thick creama, where it did not dissolve into my tea shortly after. It stayed in a nice solid form through out the whole drink. Sadly the tea didn’t have a strong rose aroma so I’ll get another flavor next time, but sure loved that thick dense creama foam! [very pleased]
–Service: nice customer service. They messed up my tea twice and was going to throw the 2^nd one away to make the 3^rd, but I felt bad so I told them I’ll just take the 2^nd one and put the extras on the side.
Small Cons: their pearls are tasty when fresh/​enjoyed right away but after couple hours — it does get hard. I made the mistake of saving a drink with pearls in it for a friend and after 2 – 3 hours, it was hard and nasty.
Extra pros: if you are a near by resident, you can find their coupon in the mailer, where it’s buy 2 get one free. *thumbs up*more reasons to return*

Everytime I’m in the Pleasanton/​Dublin area closer to stoneridge, it’s difficult to find a boba place. The closest quality one would probably be T4. So I found this place and it’s across the street from Ranch 99. It’s pretty hidden. This place is a low key boba shop that sells ice cream, snacks and Asian toys/​candies. The place is a little run down and definitely needs a remodel or sprucing. They have all the usual milk teas and snows, etc. I ordered their Royal Milk tea which is pretty much just a black milk tea with pearl. The drink took really fast to make, but probably b/​c there wasn’t much people inside. The milk tea was pretty good. It was anything special but I still liked it. I’m a sweet tooth so if it were just a tad sweeter I would’ve liked it even more. Their boba is good. It’s good really well and isn’t too hard or mushy. The large was a little over $ 4. They do take card here as well with no minimum.
Overall, average boba place and it gets the job done for when you’re craving boba.

Good place for some a little above average tapioca.
Parking was not a problem because of the large plaza parking lot. Store it self can sometimes be a little musty/​humid like many other boba places. I came here and ordered a peach black tea with lychee jelly which was pretty good. Many asian drinks such as this and milk tea give me headaches or stomaches because of the high amounts of sugar, but this one did not. Service is the same as any other asian run tapioca store. My drink came out quickly and overall I don’t have much to complain about. I would probably come back here if I was craving a boba drink and was in the area.

All the drinks taste a little artificial, but the snacks are yummy… the location is convenient for me, and there probablt no other boba options similar to this within a 10 mile radius. I frequented this place twice in 5 years and have no desire to come back. Nothing special.

Been here twice during slower times. Boba drinks I ordered were fine. Appetizer calamari a bit tough.
Interesting place to hang out. I may try this place again.

I really like this place.
Pros:
The staff is friendly, they take credit/​debit card, the menu is very extensive, there are food options, they have a fun little old-​school arcade machine, and they sell random Asian snacks and trinkets.
Cons:
Their boba is really hard. It’s not soft and chewy. I mean it’s particularly hard to where it was literally the biggest thing that bothered me.
Conclusion:
This place is near Target, Chipotle, 99 Ranch Supermarket, and a whole bunch of other stuff so it’s very convenient to swing by after running an errand or wanting a sweet drink after you eat. I’m definitely coming back!

Bring cash or else they charge you a whole $ 1 extra for using a card.
I got their honey milk tea and it was a sugar overkill. I had to dilute it.
Interior is small and it is located in a plaza so parking is easy.

Please? Can we customers request owner-​intervention regarding product and efficiency? I spent my lunch driving there at 1130; opened at 11. 3 customers (list revenue) walked out because the yea wasn’t ready and the tapioca wasn’t ready. It’s like Starbucks being out if coffee. If you brand yourself Café Tapioca, PLEASE have your name
Sale product ready by 1045 since You open at 11. I’ve Made 5 wasted trips there on lunch only to walk out empty handed because the tapioca isn’t ready. Could you please be mindful? Thanks.

It’s been a warm boba minute since I’ve been here and I can’t believe I have yet to write a review. When I first moved out to the tri-​valley– I was like pfffft good luck on the boba-​front.
Then one fateful day as I was getting lost (again) looking for Amakara (again) I somehow found myself in front of Café Tapioca.
The suburbian heavens opened up and said, «April– Here is the milk tea and boba place you’ve been bugging me to find… Now please pray for something useful like world peace…»
I digress…
I come here for the green tea milkshake w/​tapioca (boba, pearls, round-​chewy-​yumminess) around 5 bucks for a large and the tapioca typically on point… There were a couple of times I found hard centers so I always make it a point to ask for 1 small boba to try to make sure it’s fresh.
They do have creamas but not what I’m used to which Cremas that are more of the whipped cream cheese type topping but it’s ok.
The smoothies are made with fresh fruit and definitely yum!
They are CASH only. Always have been. Seriously-​if you don’t have cash with you– You really need to rethink the luxuries of dining/​snacking outside.
FYI: Always pay for food/​snacks/​meals with cash-​so then you know how much is really coming out of your pocket when you dine out!
*hopping off soapbox*
All the fried stuff is yum so get it if you’re looking for something to snack on as you sip on your milk tea and surf the web on their free wi-​fi :)

I’m not a boba tea fan by any means. I have yet to order a drink from them. This shop is located in the same shopping center as my work, so I sometimes come here for the butterfly shrimp when I want something else to go with my lunch. My boss ordered them one time and they looked good. A few of my employees get the drinks and love them.
The ball things just freak me out. And I’m not a big fan of milk. Therefore, the combination of the two don’t go over too well with me for a drink. I have read over their menu when I’m in there though, maybe one day I’ll get the smoothies.
Like others have said, this is a cash only place. The people that I’ve noticed working here are younger people, maybe even high schoolers. They aren’t rude, but I wouldn’t say that they go out of their way to be friendly or show any enthusiasm to work there. There isn’t much seating, but if you want to sit on a comfy couch or play a video game, you have the option to do both if they’re available.
One day, I may try you boba drinks. But for now, I’m sticking to the butterfly shrimp.

Café Tapioca is a small mom and pop boba shop. We’ve come in the past when my sister and brother in law were new to the area. They used to love collecting and reusing their durable plastic cups.
Most recently, we dropped by after dinner one night for a boba fix. I was glad that they were able to make my drink less sweet. I got their almond milk tea (hot) and it was ok. My sister got the cold version less sweet and it was still too sweet.
If you are in Nor Cal (East Bay area), this maybe one of the closest shops to you. Although not the best I’ve ever had, it’s decent for the area.
Unilocal 100 Challenge — 20 of 100