Tea River

Farewell tea river, your diabetes and metabolic syndrome inducing macaroon party will be missed.

Friendly staff, hip and cool interior, clean and you can tell they pride themselves with just about every area of the shop. Even the bathroom was neat!
I always get the White Peach Tea (50% sweet) and it’s seriously HEAVENLY. perfect mixture to perk up my spirits and put me in a great mood. Their macarons are cute and delicious too – awesome little snack. LOVE that they have free wi-​fi and comfy tables/​chairs so I can work while enjoying the cozy ambience. Their music level is just right too – not obnoxiously loud.
This is my new hangout spot and I simply love it!

The Good:
— Open Late
— Lots of square footage to hang out
The Not So Good:
— They ran out of plain green tea (wtf?)
— Apparently their version of nonsweet means undrinkably sweet
— Cashier was unaware of how to operate Five Stars rewards at point of sale terminal
— It took upwards of 15 minutes to get two drinks when there was zero line (wtf?)
Should have paid for parking. Maybe they had a bad night but I won’t be back again.

There aren’t many venues in the Bay Area that cater to large groups, but this feature (a large sitting area) is the biggest draw to Tea River. Unfortunately that’s where the good vibes end. I’ve been disappointed twice (at great expense as far as tea goes) and I’m ready to admit, «Shame on me».
I ordered a mango ice jelly drink that I was told wasn’t very sweet. Unfortunately it was undrinkably sweet and I argued with the staff for way too long before they agreed to cut it with some ice. While less sweet now, it basically cut the volume of what I originally paid for in half. On top of that, the drink my buddy ordered was completely the wrong thing and we were forced to eat the bill because of the limited ability of the staff to communicate in english. The worst part is that they immediately charge you for the large version of the drink (most places start small and upsell) and I ended up with a $ 12 bill for 2 really poor quality, almost Quickly-​like, drinks.
Tea River has fooled me for the last time and despite the available group seating, I’m done with this place. Considering they’re surrounded by competition, they’ve done little to actually try to win my business. I don’t think they’ll be around for long unless they turn things around.
Food: ¹⁄₁₀
Service: ¹⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁶⁄₁₀

It’s a party in a box of toast! My sisters kept bragging about how good the toasts were so naturally, I had to try it. We got a mixed fruit one to share and it came with a small assortment of strawberry and couple raspberries and a few slices of kiwi and mango. We asked that it had green tea, mango, and vanilla flavored ice cream (you can choose).
Overall, it was okay. I liked the mango ice cream the best but everything else I can pass. There were very few pieces of toast so we were practically fighting for them. The outside part was crunchy and overly hard so it wasn’t that good. The fruit was out of season so it wasn’t as sweet as it could be and the ice cream was nothing out of the ordinary.
I give it props for presentation, but it’s nothing more special than eating ice cream with bread and fruit.

I really like the atmosphere and environment. There is a lot of space and tables which makes it a great place to hang out with your friends and family!
I’m not a huge fan with sweets, but our waiter was super sweet and gave me great recommendations of what to order. My friend had the lavender tea and I had the passion fruit tea and we shared a honey toast. The drinks were good, I asked for less sugar in mine and it still tasted great :)
I was so intrigued by their honey toast selection, they looked so pretty, it was like a paradise dream house and it made me not want to eat it! But it was delicious and it wasn’t too sweet, but just right.
You can take pictures and post on Instagram or Twitter and hashtag them. You will appear on their big screen, therefore you will have a few minutes of fame ;) I would definitely come back again with my friends, definitely a great place for a late night dessert!
P.S Oh they have some good EDM music playing the background, I had to Shazam for sure.

This place is pretty big. The atmostphere is relaxed and filled with tables and purple-​suede chairs. In the background, theres a mix of k-​pop and chinese music playing. The menu is on the wall, on tv screens and are pretty much by categories. Since it was our first time here, we had to look over the menu and figure out if we wanted hot or cold drinks. A worker walked over to the register and asked if we’re ready; that happened a few times within 5 minutes. I felt being rushed but I mean, I don’t want to get something I won’t like. So after a minute, another worker told us to sit down and just look over the menu. But there weren’t any other customers behind us, so I’m not sure what their rush was and it was not close to their closing time.
I went up to order and the woman taking my order seemed quite annoyed for some reason. There was a screen on the register where you can type your name and as I was doing so, the woman proceeds to ask me and typed in a wrong name but that didn’t bother me tol much. I ordered an iced matcha ice cream milk tea with half sugar, so I can even out the sweetness from the ice cream. The drink had a similar taste to a regular green milk tea. You can barely tell that it was matcha but I gueas I didn’t mind because I like the taste of the green milk tea anyway.
I’m not sure I’d recommend this place to others, only because customer service wasn’t so great but the drinks were so-​so too.

Tea River seem to be the place to go… but falls short on what it supposed to represent-​good milk teas.
When Tea River was first opened, I was very excited. The exterior and interior décor draws you in. It is clean, has lots of tables with lots of interior spacing, offer a variety of desserts such as shaved ice and toast, and provide you with a decent amount of flavors and options for their teas.
I must admit, I come here a number of times to hang out with friends because they have some pretty comfortable velvet chairs and ceramic tables to kick back to. I even brought some work to do and chilled because it was so comfortable and quiet compared to other tea and coffee places.
Their shaved ice was just ok. It wasn’t very smooth and creamy. Best part about it is the portion is huge enough to share with a few people.
The same goes for their toast. The many toppings surrounding the toast was a feast for the eyes. The toast however, was a bit on the hard side and dry.
Then there are the teas. During non busy hours, the quality was ok. The are served in nice cocktail like designed glasses. Both the intensity of the tea and its artificial flavoring were very light. But because it wasn’t too busy, the person preparing the tea was nice enough to adjust.
During busy hours? Well, let’s just say I won’t be making any visits under these conditions. Not because of the wait, which is understandable. Instead, it’s because the tea is not worth the money.
I came on Christmas Eve because it was the only place that was opened past 10pm. Ordered an almond milk tea. The tea was way too hot, even with the sleeves wrapping around the hot cup, I can tell this was scorching. Took the tea home, waited for 30 minutes and it was acceptable to drink. Although I ordered almond, there was barely any hint of almond flavoring at all. At first I thought they forgot, but upon having an up close smell, there was almond… just very very tiny hint of it. There was also very little tea flavor, as if it was diluted. For something that was around 4 bucks, what was the point if I’m paying for what was closer to hot water than tea?
Tea River should focus on how to prepare their tea or else all the décor and ambiance of the store wouldn’t be able to save them.

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Came here one evening with a friend. I got my regular Thai tea. It was decent but not sweet enough to my liking. The pudding that I added was not bad either. Service was quite nice. Spacious area and somewhat comfortable seats. Place LOOKS clean…
Regardless, I will not be coming back for the following 2 reasons:
1. Found a fly in drink. Huge deal breaker for me. If I find a critter anywhere near my food or drink, I’m never coming back. Just the thought of it makes me want to gag.
2. They do construction during business hours. Now if I wanted to have a nice chat with someone, that was impossible because they were DRILLING THE WALLS. Seriously, do it when you’re closed.

Came here to get some green tea and mango snow ice but after we sat ourselves down and was ready to order, they informed us those two flavored machines were broken. They also told us they did not have any boba left…
We ended up getting a earl grey milk tea and a oolong milk tea to go.
Second time:
Came here to catch up with a couple friends. A great place to order a $ 4 boba drink and sit down. Ordered the peach green tea with aloe, 25% sweet. Lots of aloe pieces and had a nice tea flavor.
Be sure to enter in your five star number/​scan your card for some points! Apparently there’s a promo for high school students with school ID for a BOGO deal.

The ambiance of Tea River is an upgrade from most milk tea places around downtown San Mateo. The chairs are plush and there is definitely enough seating/​table space for groups. No feeling cramped in here.
The milk tea itself was awful. Their normal (100% sweet) coconut milk tea tasted like powder and refined sugar in water. No coconut flavor. I had to wait for the ice to melt so I can drink the diluted version. Still too sweet and still no coconut flavor.
There are so many other milk tea places in San Mateo. I’m chalking it up to the place being relatively new. At the moment this milk tea place isn’t worth it.

Wowza — this place is great! I went in during my lunch, and ordered a large iced peppermint green tea! It was delicious and refreshing!
The gentleman let me try their boba, and I had to get that in my tea as well!
Check this spot out! Quality tea, great service, and pretty interior!

They’re disorganized, understaffed, and they seem to still be trying to figure out how to use their cashier systems. They also never seem to know when certain teas are out of stock; and therefore charge me for it anyway, in addition to not giving me the correct change for my cheaper drink.
It may be a harsh review for a fairly new business, but I haven’t been back since I checked-​in for the 2^nd time which was quite some time ago during summer. Maybe they got their ish together since then, but i still won’t be coming back. Sorry

This place has a lot of tables!
The inside definitely looks new, with a very clean interior, bright light signs, and modern décor. The place seems to be run by a family, and they were pretty polite to all their customers. In terms of drink quality, the lemon honey black tea was ok – it was a little on the sweet side, so they probably went a little too much on the syrup part. They also don’t seem to have much brand awareness – the cups themselves have no logo on them whatsoever.
In any case, a decent drinks spot in downtown san mateo.

I’d come here to hang out with friends in the nice sit-​down environment, but I’d go elsewhere for better milk tea.
Out of all the Asian dessert and drink shops in Downtown San Mateo, Tea River differentiates itself by being fancier than the usual grab and go spots. Purple velvet dining chairs furnish the interior, drinks come in large glassware, and desserts are served on ceramic tableware. Despite all the investments in nice décor though, they’ll give you plastic utensils and paper plates for sharing.
Snow ice seems steep at about $ 8 per bowl, but the servings are huge to justify it. Even big eaters would have a hard time finishing it alone, so be sure to share! Instead of being soft and creamy, Tea River’s was dry and flaky. The flavor was more subtle and light than snow ice I’ve had elsewhere, leaving more to be desired. Additional toppings can fix that, and they offer a variety of $ 0.50 regular toppings or $ 1.00 premium toppings like fresh fruit. I prefer getting the green tea snow ice because it already includes red beans without having to pay extra.
Their milk tea portions are larger than average but fall short in quality. Their regular sweetness level was perfect and not excessive like a lot of other places are. You could taste the tea flavor in both the hot and cold black milk teas, but the overall drink can’t compare to the quality of ShareTea.
I’m not inclined to go back, but Tea River is a good spot for groups to hang out and split the large drinks, desserts, and prices.

New boba/​shaved ice place in san mateo open till midnight! My friend and I were closed out of B Street and Vine and wandered into here to continue hanging out. We ordered hot taro milk tea and milk tea with boba. They come in teapots and you can adjust the sugar level. It was a perfect way to close out the evening.
The place must be new because the owner kept walking around and talking to all the customers — she was very sweet! I definitely want to come back and try the honey brick toasts and the shaved ice snow. The place has a lot of seats available and is perfect for hanging out with a large group.

When I started Unilocaling, trendy and enjoyable treats like ice cream, cookies, frozen yogurts, cupcakes, macaroons, snow-​ice and micro-​brewed beers have drained everybody’s wallet and energy. In come the boba drinks which have now become the popular and luring treat to this date. Personally, I can’t keep up with these ongoing trends. Plus I already have trouble keeping up with my own egocentric life.
Thus I have landed in San Mateo, where the downtown area has opened another boba drink place. The same shop also sells couple of the trendy aforementioned treats; macaroons and snow ice.
Unlike the other drink shops such as Tpump and Bambu, this shop has a larger dining area to enjoy your beverage and treat.
I took advantage of the spacious dining area and ordered the two trendy treats. For $ 4.00, I got an unsweetened Thai iced tea in a fancy glass and a tiny $ 2.00 coffee macaroon. The Thai iced tea tasted like an iced tea supposes to taste without the excessive amount of sugar. For me, the macaroon lasted only one bite. I was never a big fan of the tiny treat. And if you order the tiny treat from here, expect a long wait.
There are more of these blended drink shops on the way. We will foresee how long this fad will last.

This review is based on a visit a week ago — first week in July. It was a soft opening and they were having happy hour with free drinks.
Nice ambiance with actual tables and chairs. Lots of seating rather than your grab and go boba shop.
Not sure if the team is still trying to get used to making the drinks but there is some room for improvement. Light sweetness was still really sweet. Also my milk tea started to separate — tried the passion fruit milk tea with boba and lychee jellies. The tea was overwhelmed by the sweetness.
I’d like to give this place another try but prices are relatively high and will give them some time to shake out any new opening issues.

First of all, my friends and I were pretty surprised that they didn’t have wifi. Secondly, it was pretty hot in there — but I guess that’s why you get the Iced Tea.
However, my friend pointed out that the Iced Tea is rather flavorless. Initially, you taste something but then, it goes down almost like water. The Rose Green Tea, for example — it goes in rosy but you’re left with a bitter aftertaste. The Mixed Fruit Tea — it wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad. The Mango Smoothie is not really a smoothie — it was more like a Mango Freeze/​Slush.
We ordered the Macaroon Party Honey Toast and we split it between the three of us. 3 Pocky sticks, 3 macaroons, 3 scoops of ice cream all piled on top of a block of honey toast. It was quite filling. It was pretty good. However, we couldn’t finish it because the toast «wall» was quite hard.
There are definitely better dessert/​boba places in the area but let’s not judge too harshly since they’ve just opened. While we were ordering, some handymen were putting up the «open» sign by the window a table away from us.

First look: big. While the max. occupancy sign says 24, this place could definitely hold
more than that. They have a good amount of tables and the seats were comfy. And bonus: bathroom located in the back!
This place is located on the same block as Red Brick Pizza and parking is all on the streets and parking garages.
The staff and the owner were both equally friendly. They have 2 people giving out samples in the front, 1 working cashier, and more people making drinks and food.
Drinks do not include boba. Boba cost an extra $ 0.40. Drinks are pricier than Tpumps, but I find the quality much better. Their boba was soft which was appreciated. And their tea? They don’t use powder. The owner said they brew their tea with loose leaves so it’s au natural which is awesome.
My boyfriend and I got a white peach black tea with boba and a taro milk tea. Both were yummy and would probably get again.
Overall, would I come back? Uh, duh. Friendly staff + yummy drinks = happy Asian. I have yet to try their food (‘cept for a small sample of their honey bread which was good), but I think I can say that they’re going to do very well in San Mateo. :)