Tea Rex

4 starts for the speedy and great customer service. I got the classic boba milk tea and my sister got a honeydew milk tea. Drinks were pretty good, but nothing too special about them. I would go back again.

3.6 stars
The pictures of the interior does not do this place justice. It is WAAAY cuter, creative and different (in a good way) in person. The multiple dinosaur heads coming out of the walls, purple lights that glow from the shutters entice my curiosity and keep my eyes searching sideways. The mounted twigs (assuming to feed the dinosaurs?), the beautiful wall mounted reference to Christ, multiple framed penciled dinosaur drawings give the place a child like, playful & rustic feel. The hanging flying triceratops remind me of the 3-​D dinosaur puzzles my 6 year old got for his birthday.
As I waited in line adoring the warmly lit ambience, wall-​to-​wall décor that was likely inspired by a 6 year old dinosaur fanatic or an adult that’s a child at heart, I really hoped I would love this place, would have excellent food, live up to the Unilocal hype and that it would become a regular place to take my kiddies & Hubby on food cheat days.
But…
One bite into the rainbow roll, & I was slightly grossed out. The rice was a tad bit stinky, the roll fell apart. My first bite was ewy & I was slightly disgusted. BUT I am frugal & it wasn’t completely inedible so I just ate it cuz I didn’t wanna waste my money.
10 minutes passed after we got our salmon teriyaki & rainbow roll, my seasoned green beans did not even came out, nor did my niece’s chicken. My friend who ordered the salmon teriyaki, whose fish portion was pretty on the small & janky side, was like. where’s the rest of our food? Come to find out, they forgot about my beans. Due to this, they gave me double portions of over seasoned spicy salty green beans. My coconut milk tea was bland. It tasted more like cream than tea or coconut. The lady didn’t even ring her up for the chicken and that’s why that didn’t come either,
Two other friends who came later had ordered a salmon teriyaki and her salmon was even smaller portion than my other friends. And she asked for extra cucumber, she didn’t get it. And requested her sauce on the side which she didn’t get either.
Ugh…
Maybe I’ll come back n try the highly acclaimed popcorn chicken or on fat days, I can try the pork ramen my friend raves about. But I doubt I will go back for the sushi, or the teas.

I’ve been here a few times prior and there has been so many improvements to their customer service and their store! I love the decorations and their food, this isn’t just a normal boba place, it really exceeded my expectations today. Keep doing what you guys are doing tea-​Rex! This is a must go place for ramen and bento boxes!

Food usually comes out quite slow, but they taste good. The place could be dirty some time.
The lady who I believe is the owner is very nice and attentive. However, the other young staffs look moody most of the time.
I always come here only because the food is yummy but do not expect the service to be impressive. Some of the items that I’ve had are tasty such as popcorn chicken, fried calamari, teriyaki chicken, and fried tofu.

Very cute tea boba café with unique drinks, food, and décor. I usually come here every other week to get my Thai tea fix. Their food menu is huge and they offer the usual boba café munchies along with bento boxes, sushi, ramen… even a ramen burger and your own personal shabu shabu! I only wish they had a larger drink selection of non-​tea/​caffeinated drinks. Staff is great and make sure to download the Perka app to get your drink stamp rewards!!!

«T» for «time out.» This is my first time here and I am not impressed with the food or the service. Several things happened that lead to this two star review, and it’s been awhile since I’ve written a review for subpar service.
Like most tea places, you order at the counter, pay, and wait for your order to be ready.
First: We ordered the chicken spicy ramen and chicken tonkotsu ramen… they ran out of chicken. Ok, no big deal; it was substituted with tofu instead.
Second: They do have popcorn chicken so we ordered that as an appetizer along with two drinks; taro milk tea and almond milk tea. We paid for the order and waited. Our milk tea was done first. Taste test and consensus: Both were REALLY sweet; like shockingly/​overbearingly sweet. Ok, no big deal… I just won’t drink it.
Third: The air was on blast. It was cold in the restaurant like they were trying to preserve the remains of the dinosaurs lol. I was excited that our ramen came out first, even though it was before the appetizer. We tasted the ramen, it was ok. Not the best but not the worse. While we were eating we saw the lady bringing out popcorn chicken but she walked past us; it was for the customer that came after us instead. We finished our food… Then waited, waited and waited. No popcorn chicken. We politely notified the lady at the counter that part of our order didn’t come out and she said «oh», walked to the back and disappeared. Didn’t come back to give us a status, just «oh» and walked off.
We sat there and just kept waiting. We waited for another ten minutes, still no status or signs of our food, so I told my husband to just tell them to cancel so we can go home. He went up to cancel with a different lady. She said it’s almost ready and brought the popcorn chicken out wrapped up to-​go; after we have already cancelled. At this point we didn’t want it anymore but we didn’t want to be rude about it; however, the craving for popcorn chicken is over; over! Lol we have already finished our food for a while now and was idly waiting for a period of time.
I understand if it was a packed house and it’s really busy so they forget orders, but it wasn’t. When we walked in, there was only one person in there and she was already served. The place was dead. Several people (2) came in after us but again, not crowded.
Conclusion: Mediocre food, drinks that are too sweet, PLUS bad service. Tsk tsk. The two stars are for the cool décor but tea-​Rex is not my «cup of tea.»

Every time I come here, it gets better and better! I ordered the popcorn chicken bento box — extra spicy. The owner served it to me, and informed me that she can make it spicier if needed. I love spicy foods; and that extra spiciness paired with their special seasoning on their popcorn chicken was seriously TO DIE FOR… *drools.*
The owner is really sweet and tries to please customers. Today, I saw her go back and forth from the kitchen to the counter multiple times, with drink samples every time for a customer to try. The owner wanted to make sure the customer was satisfied with the flavor and sweetness level. CUSTOMER SERVICE: A+
I so badly wish this place was closer! But I will gladly continue making the 20 min. drive for that bomb ass popcorn chicken!

Pretty decent boba place that’s not as pricey, in comparison to boba found in the Bay Area! It’s a solid establishment with a welcoming vibe. Not only do they sell boba, they also sell food items like hot pot, ramen, popcorn chicken, calamari. I skimmed through the tips before ordering and saw how great people reviewed the chicken, so I got that and people were not wrong! Definitely do try to popcorn chicken here. They also do not skimp on the amount they give, and the chicken has the perfect crunch texture. As for the boba, I got strawberry green tea, which isn’t as fruity tasting as Purple Kow’s, but it does do its job and is quite refreshing on a hot day.

This place is good. Cool décor… nice, clean environment. Food was pretty tasty. Had potsticker, spicy ramen and a bento box like order with popcorn chicken. The food was very flavorful! The ramen was spicy and the noodle was cooked good! Potsticker was very tasty. The bento box was reasonably good. The popcorn chicken had good flavor… good seasoning (it kinda reminded me of tap ex popcorn chicken… which was addicting). The sushi on there was pretty cold… felt like it was taken out of the fridge and not made on the spot. I think I would had been happier had I just ordered the popcorn chicken as appetizer.
Overall…pretty good experience. I would definitely go back and try other things.
Oh…also had a mango slushy… that was yummy!

I’m sure the boba is great and totally Tea-​riffic and so maybe next time I’ll try some but this ones all about the food.
Sadly, this was the first time ordering a bowl of ramen that I didn’t finish and I love ramen. But let me tell u… rollin up to this joint, I was starvin marvin! I came heavily equipped with a mammouth appetite and a positive mindset but oh how quickly things can change. Dun dun dun dunnnnn… The noodles were kind of soggy. The pork a bit overdone and chewy. The ramen burger lacked flavor but no doubt was an interesting concept. The deep fried dumpling was good but thats about it. What a Tea-​se.
Maybe there’s other tasty things that will up the an-​Tea on this review a Tea-​ny bit but that’ll have to be for another day.
Until next time.

I’m going to be completely honest, I happened to be in the area while my parents were doing business down here. It had been a long day, and I remember my best friend giving a boba shop here in Sacramento a 5 star rating. I just had to check it out seeing as he’s been to other places, but has only Unilocaled this one. That’s kinda the only reason I picked this one. It turned out he only rated it for the free drink smh! –_–
I’m not necessarily a boba enthusiast, but I do love drinking boba and have been to many different boba shops, mainly in the bay area. However, with that being said that doesn’t mean I don’t know my boba or a little of it.
Upon walking in, you can see the cute dinosaurs decorations hanging around the boba restaurant, matching the title of the place Tea Rex. That’s probably the only think I liked about the place… that isn’t really much.
When I walked in, I was immediately greeted with a welcome and after that things started to change. I asked a cashier for an Earl Grey Milk Tea (which is a common boba drink) the cashier did not know if they had one, had to look upon the machine to see if they had one, to me it really didn’t seem she knew what an Earl Grey Milk Tea was… so she ran away and got another person to continue to take our order, that person did not seem to know what an Earl Grey Milk Tea is either… smh you run a boba shop how do you not have this on the menu? This is the first boba shop that I’ve visited that does not have this drink…
Secondly, inquired upon a Red Bean Milk Tea, seemed as if they had this one, but then later inquired upon the Red Bean Slushy, was told they did not have the Red Bean Slushy… so you have Red Bean Milk Tea but no slushy? So we opted for a Passion Fruit Slushy, half sweet.
Thirdly, the Thai tea was no where near sweet at all, it was like it was unsweet? We only asked for the Slushy to be half sweet, on the receipt it shows the slushy half sweet… but yet the Thai tea was not sweet at all? Yuck.
I mean do I need to say more? Quite frankly, I’m astonished this boba establishment has maintained a 4 star overall rating on Unilocal,how??? (Might I hint, they have a sign by the cashier saying if you write a Unilocal review you get a free drink). Even with the 10% off for checking in, it’s still not worth going.
I bet if I opted for Quickly’s which is in the shopping center across the street, it probably would have been better than this place…

Oh boy… we (me, hubby and daughter) love this place, our daughter doesn’t like any boba place, except tea rex, their menus are interesting, you can get ramens, ramen burgers, hot pots, any snacks that you usually get at boba places they have it too and now they have chow main in their menu too.
We will come back for sure for hot pot

My friend and I decide to drop by to try their Shabu. So the way this work is that you go to the cashier to order your food and when your order is ready they’ll bring your order to your table. Water, utensil, and sauce you would get them yourself on the far right corner. My friend got a Seafood combo with Spicy broth and a passion tea with mango jelly. When you order a drink with your meal you’ll get 50% off on the drink. I order a Beef and Seafood combo with spicy broth and a green apple green tea with mango jelly.
–Download Perka to get a stamp for your boba drink
–Get your drink 50% off when you order your drink with a combo
–You only get 10% off when you return after you do a review on Unilocal
Beef and Seafood with Spicy Broth 2.5÷5 $ 15.99
The pot is a lot smaller than the boiling avenue, but it was filling. In my pot I had two pieces of tofu, enoki mushroom, 1 imitation crab meat, chinese fungus, 1 mussel, carrots, 2 baby corn, tiny pieces of beef, 1 small slice of fish, 1 fish ball, 2 large shrimp, cabbage, and a little bit of udon and vermicelli noodles.
I couldn’t finish my Shabu, I order a spicy broth which wasn’t spicy at all. I had to add three package of hot sauce, and I ask the staff to bring me 3 little sauce containers of their chili peppers, which it was still not spicy enough for me. One thing I would admit tho, is that their broth had a very bold flavor which I like. Now if only it was more spicy than I’ll be happy.
Things I weren’t happy with my Shabu would be that the baby corn and imitation crab meat didn’t cook all the way, it was still cold by the time I got to it which they were last item in my pot. The pieces of the beef was tiny and after cooking it in the broth it literally pretty much disappeared on me. The shrimp tasted mushy and the fire went out to quick that some items in my pot weren’t even done cooking. What had to bug me the most would be the two large shrimp that tasted mushy and gross. It was the same for my friend’s seafood Shabu as well, it was definitely a turn off. I felt like for what I ordered I over paid.
Green Apple Green Tea with mango Jelly ⁴⁄₅
The green apple green tea was good, it wasn’t too sweet with the mango jelly. I actually enjoyed my drink a lot more than then my dish. If I was to stop by again it would be because of the boba and not the Shabu.
Service:
The staff was really friendly. I felt bad that I kept asking for more chili but I really wanted my broth to be spicy.
Would I come back? Yes, I would because even tho I’m not a fan of their Shabu they have other things I wanted to try such as their ramen burger and their ramen noodle. But base on my experience today, I’ll have to give them 2.5 stars, since your over priced Shabu didn’t impress me. But two stars for the service and the boba!

I’m sorry Tea Rex for abandoning you for two years! After seeing an influx of photos and reviews about their new shabu dishes, I had to give it another shot. Turns out it was the perfect choice for this rainy Sunday evening!
The hotpot choices are on the pricier side, $ 11 – 13, but those are average prices compared to other personal hotpot places. I went with the beef shabu with spicy broth. I subbed ramen for the udon, because I was torn between the hotpot and ramen originally so why not get the best of both worlds? You can also get 50% off any drink with the purchase of a hotpot so I went with the Nutella milk tea, off of their «not so secret secret menu.»
Hotpots tend to be a hit or miss with people. They literally stay hot FOREVER. Mine stayed on extra long, even when I was already done. I think they need to put a smaller crystal in so it doesn’t stay as hot, plus it’s a safety hazard, right? Aside from that, it was packed with ingredients and it was tasty. I wouldn’t say it was spicy though — it just seemed like miso broth with a few chili peppers thrown in, so the broth didn’t get that depth of spice until I was already done. I’d recommend they cook a separate spicy broth instead of throw in some chilis right before they bring it out.
Food came out super fast which is a plus since I remember it used to take forever for anything to come out when they first opened up. They even apologized for the wait. but there was hardly a wait to be mad about!
We also had the halo halo snow — they serve shaved snow here now also like most other boba shops. It was good but the consistency didn’t bring this snow at the top of my list. I’ll be back here for sure to try more ramen dishes (my boyfriend raved about the broth) as well as the customizable ramen burgers! Happy to be a Tea Rex fan!

After not coming to Tea Rex for probably a year, we decided to give it another try. They have revamped the place. The décor is a less sterile and they have big fun chalkboards for their menu. Speaking of menu, they expanded their menu A LOT. It used to fit all on one board but now there’s a lot of variety. In this visit, we did not get any drinks. We had them before the revamp and they were good.
This time, I can with my husband and two boys. My oldest son and I got ramen. The bowls were HUGE! They’ve started using real bowls and plates now which is awesome! (Before everything was served in disposable containers.) The soup was full of flavor! The pork was super tender. The toppings veggies were plentiful. My son ordered his with tofu and there was a BUNCH of tofu in the bowl.
My husband and my youngest son got chicken. My hubby got the popcorn chicken bento box. He said the chicken was excellent. I ate his California roll since he doesn’t like sushi and it was the best CA roll I’ve ever had. I usually like to eat more complex rolls and I have NO idea why but this 3 pieces of CA roll were just delicious. My son got orange chicken and he loved it! I ordered him the chicken by itself and a side of rice. $ 6 for both, he was able to eat it for three meals. Mind you, he is only 6 and doesn’t eat much but I felt like I was getting the deal of the century b/​c orange chicken is usually about $ 10 by itself.
Overall, we are really happy to have given this place another chance. With it’s new revisions, Tea Rex is a contender.

Rawr! Located off the I-​5 Elk Grove Blvd exit, U-​turn at Harbour Point between Grace Coffee Roasters and the Goodwill Donation Express. If you know where Oz and Flaming Grill are (W. Taron) it’s across Elk Grove Blvd from there.
I always knew this was a boba place, but they really have an extensive menu selection! Patrick Y. hosted a UYE here. Unilocal check-​in gets you 10% off your order, or a free drink. At the UYE there was no problem, when I went on my own this past weekend the cashier said that discount was only if I’d written a review.
They also serve made-​to-​order ramen burgers, ramen soup, ramen chowmein, bento boxes, sushi rolls, popcorn chicken, calamari and boba drinks. Seating is limited to 36 people, small space but good food! Prices vary from $ 1.49 to $ 14.99. Eclectic dino décor too.
First visit here, per Patrick’s recommendation, I went for the mini shabu-​shabu/​hot pot combo beef and seafood, with the Tea Rex special broth for $ 14. For another dollar you can add a side like California Roll, but I went for the 50% any drink and got a Taro milk tea with boba and taro pudding. Actually, I only ordered a regular size drink, but they were out of the taro pudding so they were nice enough to sub in egg pudding and upgrade to a large size drink. Sweet.
The hot pot was a fun experience — I’d only ever been to Shabu Japanese Fondue on 16^th St and this individual/​personal size was more than enough. Apparently I need to try Boiling Avenue or Heat Shabu Baru. Here, there was quite a lot of broth so once it began vigorously boiling that was interesting. There was beef, squid, crab stick, scallops, fish filet, mussel, and two jumbo prawns, as well as bok choy, cabbage, taro, daikon, udon and glass noodles from what I recall (check menu for precise ingredients list). Mix some of the broth with the chili paste and garlic powder for a good dipping sauce too. Super filling, by the time I finished my taro milk tea I was stuffed!
Some of the other Unilocalers each had their «moments» too with different elements of the shabu experience — but the restaurant did compensate… I won’t go into details, but I’m sure we can laugh about it afterward!
On my more recent visit I tried the popcorn chicken bento and my dad got the teriyaki salmon bento, wasn’t as impressed for the price. The cucumber salad was good, comes with CA roll, rice, and orange slice. No miso soup? Served in those plastic trays like Safeway sushi (without a lid for dine-​in). Water cups are Styrofoam self serve, but sodas are by the can and they only have the plastic boba cups for ice. Will probably stick to the soups next time.

Tea Rex is a very small restaurant and boba drink place next to the AM/​PM gasoline station in the shopping center on Elk Grove Blvd. and Interstate 5 onramp. They may be small in size but very large on the size of their menu. They serve hot pots, ramen, sushi, boba drinks and more…
This is my favorite place for Miso Ramen with Pork Belly… for an additional $ 1 you can add more pork belly which will satisfy any pork belly craving. The broth is very tasty and filled with seaweed, lettuce, cabbage, tofu, and even a ½ boiled egg. The prices are very reasonable and they also reward you for buying drinks there with the «Perka» app on your smartphone.
My son recently hosted a «UYE» there during the week and it was very successful with close to 20 Unilocalers attending. Since they recently added «hot pots» to their menu, a majority ordered one of their tasty creations.
Looking for «Ramen», «Ramen Burgers», Sushi, Bento Boxes, Hot Pots, or Boba drinks… stop by
Tea Rex…

What can I say? I’m quite really enjoyed for this Elk Grove’s tea café and mini restaurant combo located near I-​5 entrance! This place named «Tea Rex» brings the customers to serve their delicious teas, ramen style burgers, chow mein and soups, and of course new here is their creations of Shabu-​Shabu! Wednesday night on 2÷24÷2016, my Unilocal buddies and I were heading there to have a special dinner gatherings, and of course, this is my first timer here by coming to that place. Inside, the ambient is much more dinosaurs props feel which you can see many prehistoric creatures across the whole room! The concept is very modern made filled with wooden materials and simple IKEA style decorations.
The employees are doing a great job for making the customers like me a delightful service. I noticed that there’s a small bump here because of the customer’s orders are sometimes arrived incorrectly despite the full amount of arrived guests. Hopefully, they need a smarter check-​out to improve their orders right next time. Otherwise, no cons at all!
Now onto the food! I ordered a Shabu combo meal. I received the Seafood/​Beef combo with a choice of broth which I chose the Tea Rex’s signature broth. Then, I can choose 2 options whether if it’s a sushi or a half-​off drinks. I did ordered a half-​off drink offer after ordering the Shabu. I have the green tea with a mixture of strawberry and kiwi flavors and black bobas. As I ate it after boiling the rocks of amber were lit off completely, it tasted irresistibly good! The broth is top notch which I can feel the flavors of chicken, seafood, and pork. The rest of the ingredients and topping for my Shabu cooked magnificent, and simply delicious! Additionally, the CYO drink is also remarkably good too! Not a bad meal at all costing me less than $ 15 after discounts!
There’s plenty of parking spaces available, so you can park anywhere you want near or far.
In the end, Tea Rex is the finest tea café and mini restaurant combo that I’ve ever visited for the first time! Perfect for friends and family gatherings! A worthy visit! My rating: 4 solid stars.

Lamb Shabu, pork belly ramen burger, and tonkutsu grilled chicken ramen soup. And not so secret menu drink loco slushy.
Drink.
Loco mango drink slushy — ordered this drink because its a combo to the lamb shabu hot pot, where the drink is half off. The drink came in a good size with tons of fresh mango chunks in it. I was so bummed i forgot to add boba in it. The drink is super cold and refreshing and tastes like a mangonada.
Fresh lemon green tea — requested 50 percent sweet and yes it is true to the sweetness. On first sip the drink is bland like water. Not enough green tea strength and not sour enough with fresh lemon. This drink is a c minus for my rating. Boba is fresh, chewy and tastes good.
One thing that turns me off about the drinks is the flavored syrup behind the counter where you can see it when you pay. I would cover it so at least we can imagine the secret ingredients and see that its just made with artificial syrups in my drinks.
Food
Lamb shabu — the presentation is very cute and appetizing. This little pot is filled with lots of goodies such as napa cabbage, taro, pumpkin, vermeceilli, lamb, carrots, enoki, onions, lotus, all in a szechuan mild spicy broth. This is comparable to boiling avenue and is a bit cheaper in price. I would come back for shabu for sure.
Pork belly ramen burger — presentation didnt look good when it came out. When it was time to cut this the noodles were not crispy crunchy enough. It was kind of soggy. The protein i chose was pork belly. The pork belly is perfectly cooked brown but it had no flavor, well very bland. The 2 sauces were on the side jalepeno ranch and spicy mayo. If it wasnt for the sauces i dont think there would be much flavors.
Tonkutsu ramen — i had requested extra noodles for a dollar more. For sure there was plenty. The broth was good but not the best. The presentation was yummy. The ingredients inside was good with a good mixture of seaweed, half an egg, and etc. This was accetable to me.
Dessert
Mango lover shave ice — i added mochi to this item. It comes with tapioca, mango chunks, mango jelly, and mango flavored shave ice. The texture is too rough not soft enough. Overall it is ok for 8 bucks. Big portion and enough to share with 3 people.
Overall this is how this place works. You go to the counter and order and pay. Then find a seat and they will bring the food to you. When the drinks are ready you go up to the counter to pick it up. Cute ambiance inside with dinosaurs and i feel like im in elementary science class all over again ;). Mostly kids and parents come in while i was dining here. I will be back for shabu and thats pretty much it. Back to cool tea bar for my fav boba drinks.
Ps.
Drink reward when you buy 8 get one free drink.
Write a Unilocal review get a free drink.
Or check in onto Unilocal for a 10% off your total bill.

Looking for a meal to go with your boba tea? Tea Rex is the place for you!
Most tea places will offer snack or appetizer type foods with their beverages. Tea Rex offers a wide variety of noms from snacks, bento boxes, sushi rolls, ramen burgers, hot pot meals, and desserts. We have been going on a regular basis these last few days and have yet to make it half way through the different items they offer.
Their drink prices are average for the area ($ 3 – 5) depending on what you add on. Their food prices are pretty decent. Appetizers are $ 2– 9. Spam musubi is $ 1.99 to 12 piece pot stickers at $ 8.99 and everything else in between. Sushi is $ 5– 8. Bento boxes are $ 8 – 9. Ramen are $ 8 – 11. The meals offer a good variety and are very tasty. Granted, it’s not world class cuisine, but it’s a way better choice than fast food and most median priced restaurants in the area.
My niece really loves their ramen and pop corn chicken bento. Like someone previously mentioned, the pop corn chicken has crack sprinkled on it because it’s freaking addicting. The sushi rolls are tasty, especially the California roll. The salmon teriyaki bento is also good, although sometimes the portion size is kinda small. The pot stickers are also tasty and they definitely give you a lot (12 pieces).