Cafe Lab

When I first walked into the place, it was very welcoming. I wasn’t sure what to order, or how to, but I simply went with a pearl milk tea. A little pricy for the amount of tea that I usually get ($ 4.04). When I tried the tea it was very sweet. The boba tasted like tea leaves and were somewhat chewy/​hard. I want to come back to try the ice cream and other things this place has to offer. Overall it was a simple quick, and nice visit.

Poor Service. Poor taste. Not impressed.
I’m sorry, but being told 30 minutes after I order about how they’ve run out of something is unacceptable. What’s even worse is that my order came out in 40 minutes. Came in around 10:00pm, and it was only at most half filled. No music was playing so having conversation can be awkward. Drinks were way too sweet and were nothing to obsess about. The only reason I wanted to come here was how the desserts and boba drinks were served in beakers and test tubes, but if the taste isn’t appealing, this place won’t make it. Lots of parking in this area, really slow service, and overpriced items. Couldn’t even sit at a lot of the nicer tables because the tables weren’t cleaned yet the whole time my friend and I were waiting for our order.
We shared a Lab #2 Strawberry/​Mango and tried the Mango Green Tea with mango jelly (pearls ran out).
The mango green tea with mango jelly was acceptable, and good thing I ordered it at 50% sweetness. The Lab #2 was a basically a fruit slushy of mango and strawberry, and it was way too sweet. Originally wanted to order Lab#3 (something with mango & coconut), but I was informed that they ran out of coconut 30 minutes after I ordered it. The presentation was nice because of how it was served, but other than that it didn’t taste good.
My taste buds were disappointed.

This place is adorable. Being a science major, I just geeked out to the max. My friends and I bought from the ice cream lab, drink lab, and the ice cream bar. The menu is posted on a black board (oh nostalgia) but it is a bit confusing to comprehend. The order did take a while to finish considering there is a lot of components and probably only a few workers.
ICE CREAM LAB:
With the ice cream lab, it comes with ice cream inside a beaker + a syringe full of your choice of syrup + test tubes full of nuts or other products. The entire thing is served on a surgical plate. Although cute, it does make me question myself and how I’m not following lab safety protocols by eating the contents in the equipment. As for the ice cream lab option, it tasted decent but not too special.
DRINK LAB:
My friend got the mango drink with coconut milk from the drink lab. Her drink was huge and came with test tubes with mango bits and more coconut milk. The top of the mango drink was covered with the coconut milk & the mango drink itself was more slushy-​like. The test tubes were fun but did felt a little useless for consumption.
ICE CREAM BAR:
I got the ice cream bar because I didn’t get to try it in LA. I ordered the cookies and cream + 45 degree chocolate melt + almonds. The ice cream itself is $ 1.50 (I believe) and 50 cents is for the chocolate melt and another 50 cents is for the sprinkles. The bar was decent and the tiny bowl they put under the bar does help catch anything that melts. However, it does become difficult to eat when you near the bottom.
SETTING:
Their store is spacious and comes with games like monopoly deal and jenga. A few kids were in the store studying and doing projects with their parents when we were there. They have a TV with songs you would hear on the radio as well as their mv or lyric video. BBHMM was playing at one point and it wasn’t censored so I couldn’t help but think that the kids saw the lyrics on the screen.
Overall, this place is very clean and fun if you want to play with your dessert or hang out with your friends. I wouldn’t come here necessarily for the taste quality of their items but definitely worth trying once or twice.

Pros:
Very unique dessert options
Ample seating (with choice of group games)
Ample parking
Family operated?
Cons:
A bit more expensive compared to similar joints
Actual tea is only so-​so
Their desserts include items I’ve never seen before that almost never fail to impress. Their regular «staple» milk tea and regular tea have left both my gf and I a tad disappointed though. Come here if you want to try something different and special.

It’s a great little tea shop, decent prices and wide selection of flavors and drinks. The cashier who was also making the drinks was very friendly and honored the Unilocal check-​in deal for a free iced tea. My brother ordered a green apple slush and I got a strawberry iced green tea at 25% sweetness. He enjoyed his and I thought that the lightly sweetened tea was great!

It is so sterile in here. There is no music so if they’re not making drinks and/​or if no one else is inside, it’s silent. There are TVs but none were on either. I got the Taro Milk Tea and it tastes really artificial. I wouldn’t pay $ 5 for this again.

I got the hot almond and it tasted good. Check in for a free iced tea of your choice!
The fried ice cream caught me off guard. FRIED ICE CREAM?! I’m still not exactly sure what it is. I got the lychee flavor and they were in… thick flakes I guess and a harder texture, let it melt in your mouth. They have legit lychee ice cream here. There were real lychee bits. Cute cotton candy topping.
A bit pricey.

This place is cute and the desserts are just okay. It isn’t something worth any one’s time to be honest. The ice cream is ice cream, the chocolate is chocolate, the drinks– at least the teas, are not as fragrant as they could be.
The night we went was slow, there were two other groups sitting and enjoying their desserts and we were the only ones to order. While we were greeted right away, our order of desserts (the café lab + 2 drinks) took a while to be prepped. Like I said, there were only two other parties there with their orders completed and we only ordered two teas and one ice cream topped with chocolate, nuts, and two test tubes of jelly.
Black board menu was nice but the bottom portion was rubbed off.
If you’re looking for a study spot, this is not it. The music is loud and can be extremely distracting. It’s a good spot to kick it.
I expected more being that this place is so cute but the wait time and flavors could be improved

Been here for 20 minutes and and all I ordered was garlic butter toast. There’s no one here but my friend and I, it’s not busy and I can hear them on the phone causally in the back. Was going to order dessert after but that’s not going to happen with the service here. Don’t think I’ll be coming back or recommending this place to anyone.
Update:
Got the garlic toast 10 more minutes later and asked for them to take it to go. It doesn’t remotely look like all the other pictures since it didn’t have the garnishes. It was a waste of $ 5.

Okay, so first things first this is not at all what it seems like.
From the picture I saw on Instagram and everything and from the title I thought I would be able to make my own drinks.
Uhm, not really. The most you get to «make» is choosing your flavor. I ordered a mango strawberry smoothie. The drink comes in a flask and then in a test tube is mango bits. Which I’m assuming is where the cool lab part comes in where you pour it into your drink?
I don’t know I wasn’t really fond of this place. The drinks are over priced as well. It didn’t come with boba, when we asked the girl gave is a smirk and said «no» then walked away. There also wasn’t much variety to choose from.

Drove 20 minutes after doing a buncha mazes at Pirates of Emerson on Halloween. Honestly, I just wanted to go here because I thought their concept was cool — milk tea and desserts in cute chemistry equipment, how could I resist? We ordered a mango and lychee milk tea. They were served in huge beakers! Unfortunately wasn’t feeling dessert (but when am I ever) so I didn’t get to try the cool lab sets where you get desserts served in syringes and test tubes.
Although the milk tea wasn’t that good (was kinda thick/​creamy), they had tons of options on their chalkboard menu on the wall. I mean there HAD to be something to like with all the variety they provided for their customers. You just gotta be willing to give it another try… which I prolly won’t mostly because it’s out of the way.

The waitresses here are pretty cute :)
Went here on a date. The drinks are ok – pretty much what you’d expect at any milk tea place. The cups are all science beakers, which looks nice, but isn’t really that impressive once you get used to it. The good thing about it though, is that the portions are HUGE because they use pretty big beakers :)
The wifi is pretty good as well. There are also board games, and music videos playing on the TVs
Nice to check this place out at least once.

Dropped by on Halloween after pirates of emerson in Pleasanton which was like 20 minute drive for some boba so i had high expectations.
Thought i was going to get the fancy lab drinks but ended up just getting regular mango milk tea. It tastes like Tpumps in a way… thick mango flavored milk tea which didn’t disappoint but it didn’t create that WOW experience. Place was empty and the cashier was assertive.
Drinks came in these cool beaker mugs and apparently if you get the lab special drinks they provide you syringes and test tubes of flavors that u can add it in yourself which is probably the reason in what makes this spot different from others.
Overall, not a place i would drive minutes to get but a good quick stop experience.

The idea of this place: very cool, especially for us science nerds.
However, service was slow and blah! We were watching a man make the fried ice… He kept leaving and talking to his friend… He never once acknowledged us. Now, I’m not asking for a show… But don’t stand there with a cold shoulder as if we’re bothering you by watching you. Cover it up if you don’t want people to see!
Anyway, the milk teas were pretty good and the rest of the desserts were decent. It’s fun, though, so if I was ever craving ice cream again I would drop by with some friends.
Random thought: I think everyone should suggest to the business to make a Buko pandan flavor with coconut bits… I feel like this would be the most popular flavor for the ice and I would definitely come back more often if they had it!

Stars: 2.5
What drew me to this boba shop was their cute beakers that they serve their drinks in.
My boyfriend got the pearl milk tea ($ 3.69) and I got the peach green tea with boba ($ 3.69 + $.50). Our drinks took quite some time, probably a little more than 10 minutes, yet it wasn’t busy at all. Once the server brought me my drink, he asked me to try my drink first, because the person who made it forgot whether he or she added sugar or not.
The peach green tea was refreshing, but I probably would’ve enjoyed it more if I did ask for some sugar (I thought it was fine the way it was at first and was too lazy to ask for some later haha). The boba was a bit too chewy for my liking though and did not complement my drink very well. I definitely enjoyed my boyfriend’s pearl milk tea a bit more.
There were a lot of other types of snacks that I wanted to try, such as the fried ice and shaved ice, but their steep prices made me decide otherwise.
I did however, like the interior of the place. The seats and tables are perfect size for a chill night with a group of a friends. They even provide games, such as monopoly deal and jenga.
I don’t regret coming here, but I think I’ll stick to Sharetea and Sno-​Crave.

2.5 Stars
The nerd in my was really excited when I saw the pictures from Café Lab.
We tried the Drink Lab (#4?) which consisted of mango slush & coconut syrup and mango bits. I actually really liked this one, sweet, mangoey but had an Asian dessert aftertaste. It comes in a cutesy beaker with a test tube of mango bites and coconut syrup on a test tube rack. It was a little hard getting the mango bites out but i thought the drink itself tasted unique and refreshing.
We also ordered the Green Apple Green tea. It was just okay, nothing spectacular about it. I would say it almost taste the same as if you were to get it at Tapx or Quicklys. Other than coming in a beaker, nothing different compared to local competition. That was my mistake of not ordering the other unique items they have on their menu.
Their menu can be a little overwhelming. Its written on a HUGE chalkboard wall near the register. I almost think its too huge.
The girl that helped us was nice. Only thing was they take FOREVER to get your order. I’ve never waited so long to get a drink. There was a handful of people in the store at the time but it wasn’t overly packed where it should’ve taken that long to get our drinks.

My boyfriend and I decided to try out Café Lab because it was a new boba place near our town and we thought the measuring cups that you drink out of looked pretty cool.
First thing you notice right when you walk in is the really nice interior they have. Fancy white seats with a fake rose on top of each table. DAMN. And then when you look to the left there is a BIG ASS MENU. Like literally… the menu is huge! Written in chalk on a huge chalkboard.
It was a slow kinda day and no one was there, but service was good. Staff seemed friendly and they were quick but our items seemed to take a while to come out (mainly the food).
The boo and I decided to order a Hazelnut Milk Tea and the Green Tea Waffle so we can get our free flavored tea (Peach Green Tea). Apparently they now offer a Unilocal check-​in for a free flavored tea with any purchase but it’s only between 1−5pm. But when we went we were able to get it during any time but we had to purchase a food item that is $ 5 or more.
The Hazelnut Milk Tea was a bit bland but the Peach Green Tea was pretty good and refreshing :) I wouldn’t say the Green Tea Waffle with green tea ice cream was the bomb. It was good but it didn’t satisfy my craving much. Wish they added another scoop of ice cream: P
Overall, I’d give this place 3 stars. I’m a bit picky when it comes to boba shops and I’d have to say this place was ooookaayyy. Cups are neat and I might come back to try their pop bars and/​or syringe shizzz. :)

When I heard there was a new boba shop in Newark, I got super excited. My sister had told me that they also serve their drinks in beakers and test tubes, and the nerd in me got even more excited. So, of course, we rushed over as soon as we could.
The menu is HUGE. Literally. They have an entire chalkboard wall that lists out the various items they serve — everything from milk tea to fried ice to waffles to customized ice cream bars. After scrutinizing the menu for a few minutes, I opted for their Drink Lab #3 (mango and coconut milk) and my sister went simple and ordered a guava green tea with boba. (We also took advantage of the free fruit tea Unilocal check-​in offer.)
Seating is pretty spacious and comfortable, and they have a few card games like Uno and Monopoly Deal as well as Jenga to keep you and your posse occupied. Our drinks came out after a while, and they sure looked pretty enough to Instagram. Their tea is strong, and you can definitely taste that they use real tea. Everything else, however, was… just okay. The boba was a bit stale, and the Drink Lab #3, while tasty, didn’t seem worth the over $ 7 we paid.
Staff is super friendly and the flavors and creativity are there, but the price level for this place is just way too above average for me to say that I’ll be a frequenter here.

— THE FOOD
My friend and I ordered the mango shaved ice and peach black tea to share. The only good part about the mango shaved ice was the mango ice cream and mango chunks. The «shaved ice» is more like the type you get at kid’s carnivals with syrup on top, not like the shaved snow you would find at places like Snowflake. The ice didn’t even soak up the syrup so we were just literally eating ice. It was a pretty difficult to eat because the beaker they serve the dessert in was tall and our spoons were only so long so you couldn’t reach the flavoring at the bottom. The peach black tea was terrible. It tasted like a mixture of nasty coffee, chinese herbal medicine, and syrup.
+/​-​THE ENVIRONMENT
Ok, I have to admit I wanted to come here just because it looked cute. The beakers really gave it a cool feel, like you were in a lab. I loved playing with the little syringe to squeeze the syrup out. The huge chalkboard wall with the menu gives the place a cool hipster vibe. However, one thing that really bugged me was that it was a hot 90° day outside and the place didn’t turn on A/​C at all! It was so stuffy inside the place and I could barely stand it.
— THE SERVICE
The one girl working at the place looked like she hated working there! When we walked in, she was just sitting at the register playing on her iPad, earphones plugged in and all. When we asked her some questions, she was too busy playing on her phone… Be grateful you actually have a job!

Always busy and packed here for nighttime snacks! Draws in crowds of teenagers and 20 somethings. But don’t let that stop you!
Café Lab is like a boba place that uses equipment from labs! Beakers, syringes, all that stuff. Pretty neat! You gotta try it!
Items:
Peach Green Tea–
–Light and sweet
–Not too overpowered by the peach
–Good drink to cool you down
Mango Shaved Ice–
–Comes with a syringe full of mango sauce
–Ice was the size of crushed ice from a fridge (still in big pieces)
–Generous amounts of mango pieces
Mango Fried Ice–
–Comes with pink cotton candy
–Texture is very different but cool
–Mango pieces mixed with the ice
–Melts in your mouth
Service:
Both times I came here they seem to be understaffed. Using a total of two people working in the store while it’s crowded. The person in the back dealing with the food items. While the cashier having to make drinks in between customers, asking them nicely to wait a moment to make a drink in between each person. I didn’t see a help wanted sign but it would help if they got another person around there. They still were able to get items to customers, but it was obvious some people were distraught and impatient. Both times it took about 20 – 40 minutes for the shaved/​fried ice and drinks to come out.
Pros:
–Very spacious seating area with assorted sized tables
–Large menu with various drinks and snacks
–All items come in beakers or with syringes (like a lab – Café Lab)
–Cashiers are always friendly
Cons:
–Always seem to be understaffed (2 people total for a crowded line)
–Snack portions are a bit small
–Prices are reasonable-​expensive for what you get (snacks come in smaller portions but the drinks are worth it)
Tips:
–Try the Fried Ice (Mango or Strawberry) comes with cotton candy!
–Tables get taken fast so grab one while it’s open
–Try out some games there
–Night time is more crowded than afternoon
–Crowds = Lower quality and amount in items
–They finally got their new cotton candy machine
–If you check in you get a free drink with purchase of $ 5 (must of be the first 12)