Tapioca Express

It’s a nice study area and quiet. I ordered the Cappacino with boba. It was alright but will go again and try it. Good study spot

Milk tea is delicious. A little expensive, $ 5 for large milk tea. There’s iTea in Irvine that has buy one get one for free milk tea that’s a better deal. (That’s why I gave it 4 stars, not 5.) But if you’re close to this place, you should stop by. Customer service is pretty good, too. The cashier let me try the milk tea before I purchased since it was my first time! Points for that!

Went here on a Boba craving for lunch. I like how they serve food at this location so you can one stop shop for lunch. Getting a large passions ice with a crispy chicken meal with chow mein came out to $ 13.50. A little on the high side in my opinion, but for convenience I’ll take it. The staff were friendly and the food was good, but not great. This is to be expected since the place isn’t supposed to be a culinary masterpiece or anything. Just a solid place for Boba and some side munchies. There’s usually plenty of parking in the underground structure. The Boba tea wasn’t the best, but since I work pretty close to it I will continue to visit to get my Boba fix. For it to be eligible for repeat visits and good Boba and food I give this place 4 stars.

Paid $ 12 for the basil chicken with a boba drink combo. Where’s the chicken? Don’t be so stingy with the protein! Low quality food.

Food was good, but the drink wasn’t, which was surprising. I got a regular milk tea with boba and the milk tea had way too much milk in it, I could barely taste the tea. The food also took a long time too and it wasn’t even busy at all. Super disappointing to me since I love the tapioca express on walnut. The combo idea is great, I just hope the milk tea is better, if I go back.

I been coming here for a long time. Was always good. Tonight I go in and pay for three. I payed for all three and I really got all three split into bags. I’m beyond pissed I payed for this! The women tonight had really bad attitude. The new girl does especially! You lost a customer

Very slow kitchen! Ordered my food and had to wait 20 minutes just to get my order of fried rice. At least the food was decent or it would’ve deserved only 1 star.

Very nice, moderate sized place to hang with your buddies or do some homework. Couches or tables, take your pick! Interior design aside, the food here is delicious and unique! I’m completely in love with the crispy chicken! I’ve not tried many drinks from here, but my friends have! Many approving looks from them especially because of their boba! The service here is also great! Everyone is always friendly and excited to familiarize you with your order if it’s your first time here! They also have a great taste of music here, which is just an added bonus to the already excellent atmosphere.

I love this place! I’ve been looking for a Boba smoothie place for awhile now! And I love this place!!! So many things to choose from!
LOVE LOVE LOVE.
**Snow bubble Cantaloupe** BOMB

Rats, I like this place and have come here several times but the last two times have been less than stellar. Today I tried the crispy medium spicy chicken and it was less than ok and left a bad garlicky after taste. They also provided no dipping sauce. Should t dipping sauce be standard? Did I have to ask for it? I also order potstickers and when I got my order the cashier had left it out. Not sure I’ll ever order food again.

Years ago, I remember hearing about the Tapioca Express in San Diego and how it was «so good.» Ever since then, I have always wanted to try it to see if it would live up to my high boba expectations. Considering the fact that this place is super duper close to me, I thought the moment of truth should happen where I would either dance with joy at finding a good boba joint in such close proximity to me, or be sorely disappointed.
Perks: They do accept credit card, contrary to many other boba places out there which makes you pay with that foreign currency called. Cash… What?!
There is a pretty extensive menu with probably close to a fifty drinks. I decided to go with one of their icy drinks. which probably was a mistake. It tasted just like that. Ice. Watery. Not much flavor at all, really.
I tried some of their little appetizers, the calamari was good! Two thumbs up.
Other than that, boba-​wise… I will stick to my familiar spots. Which may be a little further, but so worth it.

Love coming here. My favorite is Basil Chicken with broccoli. Drinks are not too sweet. just perfect.
Staff are friendly and very helpful..

I do not love Tapioca Express for their drinks. I actually find them overly sweet or syrupy for the most part so I just stick to the basics when I come here.
With TapEx being less than a 5 minute drive from work, my coworkers and I come here for their Meals and their Combo deals (weekdays only). A Meal is only $ 7.87 + tax and if you make it a Combo by getting a drink, you will get $ 1 off your drink.
MEALs come with a side salad and your choice of Chow Mein, Fried Rice, Steamed Rice or any of those Half&Half.
— Basil Chicken
— Crispy Chicken
— Mushroom Chicken
— Orange Chicken
— Spicy Chicken
— Pork Chop
— Broccoli Beef
— Crispy Chicken Salad
Personally I usually get the Pork Chop combo with half fried rice and half chow mein with a honey green milk tea. My coworkers really like their Crispy Chicken combo and they really like the earl grey milk tea, thai tea or lavender milk tea. We like how the portions are pretty big and we can save half for dinner.

People here are really friendly and their drinks are yummy! They have a cozy lounge area with comfortable couches where you can hang out and have your treats too!

1. OVERPRICED
2. The boba inside my milk tea tasted like plastic and it had a really burnt after taste.
3. The drinks took a really long time
Overall I had a really bad experience here. I was craving boba and decided to give Tap Ex a try since the one in SD is amazing. i felt like I did not get my money’s worth and I wasted my time waiting for my drink. Do not recommend.

Wow. I am impressed. Coming from the old location off Barranca to this one is a huge difference. One may think that my photo belongs to a furniture store or some medical office. This has got to be one of the nicest looking boba places I’ve been to in many years.
What I Had: Thai Iced Tea (soy substitute) with boba, half sweetened
The Good:
Amazing décor inside
Comfortable seating
No huge crowds
Clean, furniture is not stained/​filled with food
Boba was on par (not the best)
The drink was okay, I’ve had better but it did the job
Customer service was fine
The Bad:
I feel Tapex can explore something different by going into more defined drinks such as more emphasis on ingredients
Location is a bit obscured here (in the Dupont plaza)
Tons of competition in Irvine — I want Tapex to succeed!
Parking might be an issue during rush hour
The one star docked is due to lacking ingenuity that the boba industry fails to achieve over time. I’d want to see more care put into drinks/​food. If that is done, I will will return and review again.

Considering that we’re in the OC, Tap Ex has some major competitors, but with that being said the drinks and snacks are still quite satisfying. So if I could I would give this location a 3.5 just because, if I had to be quite honest, I’ve had better milk tea and tea drinks elsewhere but I will even admit that sometimes I do crave me some tapex!
Just two things: 1) If you want a snack/​drink combo, those are only served on WEEKDAYS! & 2) If you’re looking to get a coffee-​based milk tea, slush, or whatever you can now only get it in a regular size.
The service I’ve experienced at this location has been good thus far and I have no complaints.
This particular Tap Ex is an excellent study spot if you can get past the sounds from the blenders! But there’s free wifi (ask for the password), ample seating, couches, and power strips! Also, at least the most recent night I went there… the music playlist was on point!

Came in with a friend after dinner. The girl behind the counter was nice and friendly. There were sofas and comfortable seating areas.
I got the Honeydew with Tapioca and my friend got Strawberry yogurt with lychee jelly. Both drinks were delicious.
If in the area, will be back for sure!

Oh man, this place brings back college memories for me.
Whenever I head to UCI, I always go here. Always. Order is always the same: almond milk tea with boba. The consistency of the quality here is always spot on. It’s not the best and it’s not the worst, but it’s highly predictable. When you go to any Tapioca Express, it’s all the same. Personally, it’s mostly knowing that I can return here after months of not coming here and it’ll still be the same quality, same drink, no surprises.
Service is always good here. Usually just kids that are going to UCI and working through school. I feel it’s good to bring business here to support kids working through school too.

Ive tried this place several times since I go to the church thats connected to this plaza.
Many times I craved boba right after service and would come here (to avoid the hassle of driving and parking at Diamond Jamboree) and have been fairly disappointed.
Ive tried some of their flavor teas and didnt think they were as fragrant as other tea places. Have also tried their slush with boba and pudding and although their boba has a good consistency, the pudding is just meh. Their snacks are VERY greasy. I mean, not only do the paper bags become translucent, but also the table ends up oily.
Today I wanted to try something different and had the matcha red bean milk frosty. It came with red beans, boba and pudding. To me, there was too much going on and nothing really stood out, it just left me feeling blah.
Next time im in the area, ill stick to the Jasmine milk tea or passion fruit tea which is not bad, but for other boba cravings, ill drive somewhere else.